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Kettlebell ROTK

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If your jerk technique is good, you can put a lot more weight overhead that way, and it's also a wonderful first thing to do with a new, heavier weight - jerk up, hold, walk, yielding press.

This makes sense to me in theory, but I have yet to experience it in practice. Have done very few jerks, and those I do are no heavier than what I can double press, or push press (dbl 16s fairly easily, dbl 20s with some difficulty). My back is just not comfortable with it, yet. Any magic tips for "jerk" beginners?
 
@Anna C, I have no tips for you that you haven't thought of yourself, I suspect, but here goes:

Practice it with a light weight and make sure you do not press the weight. It's all about keeping your arm and the bell in contact with your torso and using that to get the bell moving. If your arm comes away from your torso, e.g., what happens to most people to some degree or other in the front squat, you're sunk. To this end, experiment with your rack position - the rack for a press is the tightest, and most people need to be a lot looser with the rack for their jerks. The handle should sit a little lower on the pinkie side, and the focus should be on balance and connection, not grip.

First practice is simply dipping then jumping up and getting the bell to move up and away from your torso without you doing anything else.

It's very much a coordination thing - once you start the Drive phase, it all happens very quickly. You can pause at the first Dip, and you can pause at the catch (after the Drive and the second Dip, which happen in rapid succession) with bent knees and a straight arm, but you can't stop anywhere in between.

Let me know if some of that helps, and I'd be delighted to look at video for you if you want to email, PM, or post here. Allow me to say that you contribute a lot here and it would be my pleasure to return the favor in some small way.

-S-
 
Thank you, @Steve Freides, exactly what I was hoping for! That makes perfect sense and gives me something to focus on; the rack position and contact with the torso, then getting the bell to move up without pressing it. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Practice it with a light weight and make sure you do not press the weight. It's all about keeping your arm and the bell in contact with your torso and using that to get the bell moving. If your arm comes away from your torso, e.g., what happens to most people to some degree or other in the front squat, you're sunk. To this end, experiment with your rack position - the rack for a press is the tightest, and most people need to be a lot looser with the rack for their jerks. The handle should sit a little lower on the pinkie side, and the focus should be on balance and connection, not grip.

First practice is simply dipping then jumping up and getting the bell to move up and away from your torso without you doing anything else.

I tried this at my lunchtime session, and WOW, what a difference! I launched a 20kg like it was a feather.

I guess I always thought of a jerk or push press as a "fast press with momentum assistance from the legs." Clearly the connectedness to the whole body can launch a lot more weight.

Next thing I need to work on is the catch at the top on the second dip. I need to make sure the kettlbell ends up where I want it, lest I'm trying to stabilize or re-position a heavy weight from somewhere out in left field...

Thanks, Steve!
 
Well, I'm a little disappointed that whatever instruction you got at your level II didn't resonate with you, but very happy that what I said is helping it all make more sense now.

Fast press with momentum from the legs is a pushpress - another interesting movement, and arguably an important one for athletes who need to transfer power through their midsection to their upper body. FWIW, I generally don't practice the pushpress because it's easy enough to get the strict (military) press, the pushpress, and the jerk confused. If I was going to practice it, I'd try to wait for a cycle where I wasn't doing any regular pressing or jerks. Some folks manage to keep these three all sorted out, of course, just not my favorite thing to do.

The timing of the catch in the jerk just takes practice. You have to dial in just the right amount of Drive to meet the weight with a straight arm, so it will vary by the weight and, of course, vary by the person. If you can work up to 5 reps with the heaviest weight you've pressed or snatched, you should be able to go heavier with the jerk for a single.

The other thing we need to say about it is that it's an explosive lift with a pretty high skill requirement, so I very much prefer to see them done near the beginning of a workout or on variety day until technique is dialed in.

-S-
 
Well, I'm a little disappointed that whatever instruction you got at your level II didn't resonate with you, but very happy that what I said is helping it all make more sense now.

I haven't been yet :) Registered for SFG II in Portland in Feb 2017. So, this is prep....

Good point about doing them near the beginning of a workout.
 
i think that ROTK is underused part 2 of the process ;) also i don't really like HS jerk that much but when i will attempt level 2 i will need to work on it. But i never done ROP so i think that will be first on the menu. ROTK book itself was really good read and helpful with programming ideas also :) can't wait for Pavel new book..
 
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