Barbell Clean and Jerk
oec:barbell-clean-and-jerk
A full Olympic weightlifting movement where a barbell is lifted explosively from the floor to the shoulders, then driven overhead to full lockout.
Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.
Also called: Clean and Jerk, C&J, Clean and Jerk OL
How to do it
Setup
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, the barbell over the midfoot, and grip the bar just outside the shins using a hook grip.
- Lower the hips, pull the chest tall, brace the core, and engage the lats to establish a flat, rigid spine.
Movement
- Push through the floor with your legs to lift the bar smoothly past the knees while maintaining the back angle.
- As the bar passes the mid-thigh, explosively extend the hips, knees, and ankles while shrugging the shoulders upward.
- Pull yourself rapidly under the barbell, catching it across the front deltoids in a full front squat with elbows pointed forward.
- Stand up out of the squat to complete the clean, briefly pausing to adjust your grip and stance for the jerk.
- Dip straight down a few inches by flexing the knees, then explosively drive upward through the heels.
- Drive yourself underneath the bar into a split or power jerk stance, locking the arms out forcefully overhead.
- Recover by stepping the front foot halfway back, then bringing the rear foot forward to stand fully upright with the bar stabilized overhead.
- Lower or drop the barbell under control back to the platform.
Breathing
Take a deep breath and brace the core before the initial pull; hold tension through the clean and front squat, exhale at the top, take another deep breath before the jerk dip, and exhale after securing lockout overhead.
Cues
- Leg drive off the floor
- Fast elbows on the catch
- Dip straight down
- Punch the bar and punch the floor
Common faults
- Pulling early with the arms during the second pull.
- Keep the arms long and loose like ropes until triple extension of the hips, knees, and ankles is completed.
- Collapsing forward during the jerk dip.
- Keep the torso strictly vertical and dip straight down into the heels rather than hinging at the hips.
- Pressing out the jerk with soft elbows.
- Drop aggressively underneath the bar and lock the elbows instantly upon receiving the weight overhead.
Safety
- Perform on a dedicated lifting platform with bumper plates.
- Learn how to safely miss and bail the barbell both forward and backward.
Muscles
Joints
- Hip: Extension, Flexion
- Knee: Extension, Flexion
- Ankle: Plantarflexion, Dorsiflexion
- Shoulder: Flexion, Abduction
- Elbow: Extension, Flexion
- Shoulder blade: Elevation, Upward rotation
- Lumbar spine: Isometric stabilization
Details
- Movement
- Olympic lift, Vertical push, Squat, Hip hinge
- Modality
- Olympic weightlifting, Power, Strength
- Mechanics
- compound
- Force
- push
- Laterality
- bilateral
- Kinetic chain
- closed
- Level
- advanced
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Record
- Repetitions and Load
- Load
- external, total
Related
- progression of Barbell Clean
- progression of Barbell Clean and Press
Sources
- wger: Clean and Jerk OL, by M9 (CC-BY-SA-4.0)
This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.