There’s a reason why they call them Jerks

Nobody likes jerks, and that includes me. The Snatch used to be my nemesis when I was still training OAJ’s. Now that I’m training proper Jerks the Snatch is starting to feel like a walk in the park. At the moment my focus is on simply mastering the Jerk technique. I've decided not to use my Jerk sets as a conditioning tool just yet. That will obviously come later once I actually feel a bit more comfortable with the technique. The past week’s training went like this:

2010-06-14

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 8rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 7 rpm

16kg Snatch: 6 minutes @ 12rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20

2010-06-15

2x20kg Jerk: 3 minutes @ 6rpm

16kg Snatch: 6 minutes @ 12rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20

2010-06-16

2x20kg Jerk: 1 minute @ 6rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 2 minutes @ 6rpm

2x20kg Jerk: 1 minute @ 6rpm

16kg Snatch: 7 minutes @ 12rpm

2010-06-17

2x20kg Jerk: 5x1 minute work / 1 minute rest @ 6rpm

16kg Snatch: 6 minutes @ 12rpm

24kg Swing: 20/20

2010-06-18

2x20kg Jerk: 5x1 minute work / 1 minute rest @ 7rpm

16kg Snatch: 6 minutes @ 12rpm

32kg Swing: 20/20

I’m pretty happy with the progress I’m making with the Snatches. With the Jerks, not so much. Luckily I’m learning that patience is not a bad thing. One interesting by-product of my current way of training is that my strength and endurance are increasing in surprising ways. I started my current cycle doing 20kg swings (about 2 months ago). I worked up to 30 reps per hand and then switched to the 24kg. The 24kg bell felt about the same as the 20 so I could easily maintain the same rep range. Tonight, just for fun, I swung the 32kg bell and I managed an easy set of 20 reps on the left and then 20 reps on the right. I didn’t expect the 32kg bell to feel this easy but it did. Now the Jerks just need to start feeling easy as well!!!