Single-Day Tickets to the 2025 CrossFit Games Now on Sale! — GET TICKETS NOW

The Push Jerk

2
ByCrossFitFebruary 27, 2019

The push jerk is one of CrossFit’s nine foundational movements and is an efficient and effective means of getting weight from the shoulders to the overhead position. This movement builds strength, power, and speed along with a keen focus on proper mechanics to maximize the efficacy. Read further to learn everything you need to know about the push jerk:

  • What Is the Push Jerk?
  • Push Jerk Benefits
  • Muscle Groups Worked
  • How to Prepare for the Push Jerk
  • Equipment Needed for the Push Jerk
  • How to Warm Up for the Push Jerk
  • How to Perform the Push Jerk
  • Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
  • Push Jerk Modifications
  • Push Jerk Lift Variations
  • Common Push Jerk Workouts
  • Get Started Today!

What Is the Push Jerk?

The push jerk is similar to the strict press and push press in that all three exercises are vertical pressing movements that drive weight from the shoulders to overhead. For the push jerk, the movement is initiated similarly to the push press with a shallow dip to create knee and hip flexion and followed immediately by a rapid hip and knee extension to launch the bar off the shoulders. After elevating the bar, athletes now press under the bar and transition the feet out slightly to receive the bar locked out in a partial overhead squat position. To finish the lift, the athlete stands with the bar in the overhead position. Although complex, this movement can be instructed in a way where the mechanics can be learned at any stage of an athlete’s development.

Because athletes are now pressing under the bar to receive the load after using their legs and hips to help propel the weight overhead, they can lift quite a bit more in the push jerk than they do in the push press. With sound technique, athletes can expect to lift approximately 30% more load. The push jerk also teaches core-to-extremity timing and coordination as the muscles of the hips and legs must extend before the upper body presses under the hips and the hips and knees rebend. Once this movement pattern has been mastered, a rapid cycle time for multiple reps is possible, increasing the power output potential for this movement in conditioning workouts for any loading demand or rep scheme. Add to this the neurological benefits of this exercise — coordination, accuracy, agility, and balance — and the push jerk offers a lot of benefits for physical development. 

Push Jerk Benefits

The push jerk develops upper-body strength and stability, power, speed, technical skill development, and stamina.

Strength and Stability

The push jerk allows for significantly more load to be lifted than movements like the shoulder press and the push press. With sound mechanics, approximately 30% more load can be lifted than the aforementioned push press. Although the upper body does not necessarily assist with pressing the bar upward, there is a significant demand on this musculature to press under the bar and support the load actively. 

The lower body is trained by extending aggressively to propel the bar off the shoulders before using the upper body. 

Power and Speed

The rapid extension of the legs and hips in the drive portion of the push jerk trains the athlete to impart forces into the ground quickly or powerfully. Proper sequencing of the lower- and upper-body timing increases the power potential of this movement. As increased proficiency is developed, the athlete’s speed will increase. In addition, as the load increases, the demand on the speed of execution increases on both the drive phase and the ability to press under the bar. 

Neurological Adaptation

The core-to-extremity aspect of the push jerk is obvious as a powerful leg drive is used to elevate the load before using the arms to press under the bar. Performing the lift properly with the proper sequence, footwork, and receiving position of the load develops neurological skills like coordination, accuracy, agility, and balance. 

Coordination: Great coordination is required in the handoff, from the dip and drive of the legs to the use of the arms. In addition, the athlete is required to receive the bar with locked-out arms and must transition their feet into the appropriate position. Any slight misjudgment in the timing of these elements will negatively affect performance. 

Accuracy: The dip of the legs must be “smooth” and not a free fall to preserve the line of action and body position. While the drive must be explosive, the torso must remain completely vertical in order to launch the bar straight overhead and not forward. The athlete must press under the object in a manner where the arms are locked when the feet hit the floor and ensure the bar is positioned in the frontal plane. All of these elements must be executed with great accuracy for optimal performance in the lift.

Agility: A critical component of executing an effective push jerk is the rapid turnaround from the bottom of the dip into the drive, and the athlete must have the ability to retreat the hips quickly when receiving the load overhead. This dynamic change of direction develops agility and change of direction fundamentals.  

Balance: As the bar travels overhead in the push jerk, it must pass very close to the face and finish directly overhead. Keeping the bar close allows the athlete to stay balanced through the heels when receiving the load overhead. Every fraction of an inch the bar deviates away from the athlete’s body will cause the athlete to be pulled forward and potentially lead to a failed lift. 

Stamina

Because of the cycle rate and relatively high number of reps that can be performed in the push jerk with substantial weight, it is a great exercise for building muscular endurance throughout many regions of the body. There are obvious endurance demands placed on the shoulders for high-rep workouts. However, the lower body is taxed significantly due to the demands of elevating the load, receiving the load in a partial squat position, and then standing the load up to full extension. 

Muscle Groups Worked

Although considered to be a move that works the full body to some extent, the primary musculature involved is the legs, core, shoulders, upper back, and triceps.

Legs

The muscles of the legs — primarily the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps — contract powerfully to drive the bar overhead. This develops the ability of the athlete to drive forces into the ground quickly, which is important for movements like running, sprinting, and throwing. In addition, the lower body is used to receive the load in a partial squat position and to finish the movement by standing up the weight to full extension of the knees and hips. The action of receiving the load overhead is similar to the landing position of an athletic jump and also teaches the athlete how to absorb external forces. 

Core

The muscles of the core, including the abdominals and spinal erectors, contract isometrically to transfer forces from the leg drive, through the core, into the bar racked on the shoulders. The core musculature remains tight to receive the bar in the overhead position and aids in stabilizing the bar overhead to complete the lift. The core demand is often overlooked in the push jerk; however, the ability to maintain midline stabilization when placed under significant load in the overhead position is an amazing developer of core strength and lends itself well to the trunk demand found in athletic movement.

Shoulders, Upper Back, and Triceps

As the arms take over to drive the athlete under the bar and support the load overhead, the muscles of the shoulders, upper back, and arms, including the deltoids, traps, rhomboids, lats, and triceps, contract forcefully. The ability of this musculature to stabilize large loads overhead develops strength throughout these regions.

How to Prepare for the Push Jerk

Preparing to push jerk requires assembling the proper equipment and performing a general and specific warm-up to get the body ready to move through the range of motion required.

Equipment Needed for the Push Jerk

To train the push jerk, an athlete can use a PVC pipe or barbells of various weights, from 10 to 45 lb, as needed. The weights used should be rubber bumper plates so the athlete can safely drop the bar when needed. For conditioning workouts, the bar can be lifted from the ground to the shoulders to start the movement. When attempting this lift for near-maximum loads, it is recommended to set up the bar in a squat rack.

How to Warm Up for the Push Jerk

To warm up for the push jerk, the lifter should perform general movements that work every joint through its full range of motion. Air squats, ring rows, lunges, shoulder circles, inchworms, and push-ups are good choices for the general warm-up. Movements such as jumping rope, broad jumps, bar hangs, gymnastics hollow and arch holds, dumbbells or kettlebell presses, as well as medicine-ball throwing drills, also serve as great warm-up tools that replicate aspects of the push jerk.

For the specific warm-up, a variety of skill progressions can be utilized to build the skill of the movement and work the specific range of motion demands. The following progression, used at the CrossFit Level 1 Certificate Course, is a simple and effective means to build the skill of the movement:

Step 1: Jump and land with hands at the sides.

*Focus on hip and leg extension in the drive phase and landing in a partial squat position.

Step 2: Jump and land with hands at the shoulders.

*Continue to focus on hip and leg extension, but athletes can now focus on keeping the torso vertical in the dip. 

Step 3: Push jerk with no Implement (jump-punch-land).

*Focus on the timing of an aggressive punch occurring after achieving full hip and knee extension.

Step 4: Push jerk.

*Utilize a PVC pipe or barbell and execute the movement, focusing on elements like hip extension and the receiving position. 

How to Do the Push Jerk

The execution of the push jerk involves getting the setup correct, followed by an execution sequence of dip, drive, press under, and stand (with load overhead).

Setup Position

In the setup for the push jerk, the athlete assumes a hip-width stance, with legs and hips fully extended, abs tight, and the bar racked high along the shoulders. The athlete has a full grip on the bar with the hands just outside the shoulders and the elbows pointing down and out, and slightly in front of the bar. 

The Dip

For the dip, the athlete smoothly and under control flexes the knees and hips into a shallow quarter squat. It is critical the athlete’s torso remain completely vertical during the dip, and their weight is shifted back toward the heels.  

The Drive

Immediately upon reaching the bottom of the dip, the athlete drives through the heels and rapidly and fully extends the legs and hips to impart vertical forces through the upright torso into the bar. The athlete’s heels should remain in contact with the ground until the legs and hips have fully extended. For the push jerk, the athlete can consider this to be a jumping action to elevate the bar.

The Press Under

Once the legs and hips have fully extended, the arms are used to aggressively press under an already elevated bar. The feet transition from approximately hip width to approximately shoulder width. Legs are bent, and the hips should be back slightly with the bar placed in the frontal plane. The arms should lock out, either slightly before the feet hit the ground or at the same time. In the receiving position, the athlete should use the arms and shoulders to press up actively toward the bar. 

Stand

After stabilizing the load in the receiving position, athletes complete the lift by standing tall with the load overhead. Focus on maintaining stability with the upper body to ensure the lift is completed. 

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

The most common push jerk mistakes include those found in the shoulder press and push press, such as forward inclination of the torso, poor bar paths, and timing errors, while push jerk-specific errors tend to revolve around issues of hip extension on the drive phase and issues in the receiving position. 

Lack of Hip and Knee Extension

It is very common for athletes to neglect the full extension of the lower body on the drive phase of the movement to rush getting under the barbell. This results in the posterior chain and quadriceps not being utilized effectively and negates maximum power potential, and reduces the potential load that can be lifted. An initial focus can be on actively squeezing the glutes and quads on the drive phase of the movement, or to focus on jumping more aggressively. If the problem persists, the athlete can perform jump-and-land drills unloaded and progress to light loads with a focus on extending the lower body before increasing the difficulty of the movement. 

Landing With the Feet Too Wide

There is a tendency for athletes to jump their feet excessively outward to get under the bar to compensate for tight shoulders by keeping the torso excessively upright. At best, this is inefficient when performing multiple reps, and at worst, the knees can be compromised by the knees rolling inside the feet in the catch position. A general guideline is that the feet should land at approximately shoulder width or the athlete’s normal squat-stance position. To aid with this error, the athlete can place chalk lines on the floor outside their feet and focus on not letting their feet go outside the lines when they perform the push jerk. 

Bent Arms or Inactive Shoulder in the Receiving Position

Landing with bent arms or not actively pushing the shoulders toward the bar in the catch position does not support receiving a load overhead. Correct execution involves the arms being locked and the shoulder active when the feet meet the floor. To correct this issue, athletes can focus on punching the bar aggressively after extending the hips or perform a “tall jerk” drill to focus on the press-under aspect of the movement. 

Not Standing Up With the Weight Before Lowering It

Not standing tall after receiving the weight overhead does not demonstrate the complete range of motion of the movement. A goal of this exercise is to demonstrate that heavier loads can be lifted at the same distance when compared to other overhead movements like a shoulder press or push press. Potentially slowing down the transition from the receiving position to the finish position can aid with rushing this important aspect of the movement. 

Push Jerk Modifications

Modifications can be made to the stance, grip, and load to accommodate any lifter in the push press.

Stance and Grip

The stance and grip can be adjusted to meet the needs of the athlete. Some athletes may utilize a slightly wider than hip-width stance on the setup position to aid with keeping their torsos upright during the dip and drive phase of the movement. 

Widening the athlete’s grip may help them achieve the proper overhead position if they have tight shoulders. 

Load

The push jerk can be scaled down to a PVC pipe in order to drill technique and master the movement pattern. 

Alter the Movement to a Push Press

The push jerk can be altered to a push press if potential instability of the shoulders in the receiving position is an injury concern. This is not a recommended option and should be reserved for special situations only. 

Push Jerk Variations

Common variations of the push jerk include dumbbell or kettlebell push jerks and single-arm push jerks.

Dumbbell or Kettlebell Push Jerk

The push jerk can be done with two dumbbells or two kettlebells. These variations allow for a slightly different range of motion and require the athlete to stabilize each side independently of the other, thereby significantly stimulating the muscles in the shoulder and core. Athletes must keep their arms straightened directly above the shoulders or close to the ears during the receiving position. Dumbbells or kettlebells may also allow athletes to work around certain wrist, elbow, or shoulder issues. 

Single-Arm Push Jerk

Done with a single dumbbell or kettlebell, the single-arm push jerk provides a significant challenge to core musculature as the body attempts to stabilize the uneven loading overhead. Single-arm lifting permits more freedom in the movement pattern, allowing an athlete to work around flexibility, mobility, or pain issues. 

Common Push Jerk Workouts

DT (Hero WOD): 5 rounds for time of: 12 deadlifts/9 hang power cleans/6 push jerks (105/155 lb) 

Heavy Push Jerk: 2-2-2-2-2-2-2 reps for maximum loading

Get Started Today!

Comments on The Push Jerk

2 Comments

Comment thread URL copied!
Back to 190228
David Severn
June 22nd, 2024 at 9:07 am
Commented on: The Push Jerk

10kg sandbag ruck

60kg push jerk

Knees to armpits

+ 25 10kg sandbag step ups

Comment URL copied!
Tommy Roberts
March 15th, 2023 at 5:37 pm
Commented on: The Push Jerk

On shift inside gym


3X 115 lbs

3X 125 lbs

3X 145 lbs

3X 145 lbs

3X 145 lbs

Comment URL copied!