12-04-06: Clean and Jerks

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Friday, April 6th, 2012

Sage Burgener demos a perfect clean and jerk.

Natalie Burgener nails a perfect clean and jerk in competition.

More weight than I can deadlift gets thrown overhead. Unreal. But freaking inspirational!

WoD: 15 rounds

• 2x clean and jerk @ 60% 1RM (95#) 

The best kind of oly lift workout: one based on practicing skills, rather than practicing shit form racing a clock or working with overly heavy weights. And not that I wish unfilled classes on the fine folks at Elm City CrossFit, but it was even more awesome having only two of us there for the 6:30am class: the entire workout getting personalized coaching… well, 50% of it.

Final analysis after 30 reps of clean and jerk at 95#: Despite my always preaching and repeating it in this very blog, I apparently really need to focus on keeping the first part of the lift a deadlift. Go slow, yellow light, keep the bar ON the legs, and don’t worry about the hip extension until the bar hits mid-thigh. Coach Vin had me really work on just deadlifting the bar off the floor, and then, in a nearly separate movement, triple extend. The result was a much straighter bar path in the explosive part of the lift, allowing for an easier catch and transition to the jerk.

Other observation from this workout: I can pretty much throw the bar up in the air over my head in the jerk at 95#, a good thing when your pinkies have slipped out after the catch in the clean, but still kind of scary when the bar goes airborne over your head, and you feel yourself literally searching for it. Happily, both times I did it in a major manner, I managed to find and catch the bar safely (by touch… proper form has you looking forward, not craning your neck to look straight up). You know its even worse when other people can actually watch it happen. It’s a dumb habit to allow, since missing a 95# bar directly over your head will result in trying to catch it WITH your head. No bueno.