Squat Jerk

How to do it

1. Take the bar on the front of the shoulders with a jerk grip, elbows up, feet about hip-width apart.
2. Dip a few inches by bending the knees, keeping the torso upright.
3. Drive up hard with the legs and, as the bar leaves the shoulders, punch the arms to lock.
4. Drop straight down under the bar into a full front-rack-width squat, arms locked overhead.
5. Settle at the bottom with the bar over the middle of the foot, then stand up with it overhead.
6. Lower the bar to the shoulders and reset.

Common mistakes

• Dropping under before the drive has finished. The legs send the bar up first; dropping early puts you under a bar that is still on the shoulders.
• Catching forward. The bar has to be over the middle of the foot at the bottom of the squat; a bar out in front cannot be stood up with.
• Losing the lock-out in the squat. The arms are straight and the shoulders push up into the bar for the whole squat; a soft elbow at the bottom will not hold.
• Standing up early. Settle in the bottom with the bar stable, then stand; rushing the stand hides an unfinished catch.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Quads

Secondary

• Calves
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Shoulders
• Triceps