Timing and Bounce on the Jerk

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/18/22)

Let’s briefly address the “bounce and drive” aspect of the jerk. This applies to the split jerk, the power jerk, and the squat jerk. Note that we’re not referring to this motion as a “dip and drive” because we want the bounce of the jerk - i.e., the turnaround at the bottom of the movement - to be sharp and quick.

(Today’s topic is far more easily understood when watching it in action, so I’d strongly recommend watching the included video.)

By aiming for a short, quick, sharp bounce out of the bottom of the movement, we’re not only trying to impart as much upward momentum to the barbell as possible - we’re also endeavoring to take advantage of the flex (or whip) of the bar, and a sharp bounce does exactly this.

To achieve the proper “bounce and drive” that we’re aiming for, cue yourself “hard bounce” the next time you’re practicing your jerks. After the clean, immediately before starting the downward motion of the jerk, mentally remind yourself “hard bounce” and then try to get exactly that motion out of the bottom of the jerk.

As mentioned earlier, watching this motion in action is very helpful, so I’d recommend watching the video included earlier in this article. In the meantime, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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Never Make This Squat Mistake Again (fast fix)

Today’s topic is a mistake that is all too common - even in a few experienced lifters. It’s an error that is awfully silly, borderline dangerous, and fantastically simple to correct.

The mistake is that of setting your j-hooks - or simply “hooks” - too high.

Why This Happens
There are a number of reasons this occurs; first, a lifter simply might not have a good idea of where to set the hooks. Second, the lifter is ignorant of the downsides of setting the hooks too high. Third, the lifter is lazy and doesn’t like to stand the barbell up any more than necessary when unracking it from the hooks. There are perhaps other reasons, but this list suffices for now.

If you’d rather watch a video on this topic as well as see this mistake in action, be sure to check out the included video.

figure 1: there’s dumb . . . and then there’s this guy. don’t be this guy.

Why This is a Silly Mistake
You don’t ever want to finish a heavy set of squats (or bench press, but let’s focus on the squat) and then have to tiptoe the bar back into the rack because the hooks are too high.

You’re tired at the end of the set, and you should never have to do a calf raise to rack the bar (see Figure 1). Additionally, putting yourself in this position means you run the risk of failing to rack the bar and thus creating a rather catastrophic, YouTube-fail worthy disaster.

Where Should You Set the Hooks?
Set the hooks so that the bar sits roughly at the height of your mid-sternum.

When in doubt, err on the side of setting the hooks slightly too low rather than too high - if it’s a little low, you can always dip down a bit more to unrack the bar. Those few inches represent the top few inches of the squat, which is the easiest part of the lift anyway, so it’s not difficult to get a little bit lower, get under the bar, and then stand it up.

By setting the hooks at this height, you never need to look at the hooks when you rack the bar at the end of the set (a habit which is problematic all by itself - check out the included video). Simply keep looking at the same focal point you used while squatting and walk the bar straight ahead until the bar makes contact with both uprights. At this point - if you’ve set your hooks at a reasonable height - you can then merely dip down slightly, allowing the bar to slide down the uprights, and the bar ends up back in the hooks.

This makes for an effective, efficient, and safe way to rack the bar, and you reap the additional benefit of looking like you know what you’re doing (because you do!). 

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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Are You Finishing Your Deadlift Wrong?

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/11/22)

A common problem in the deadlift is a misunderstanding of what finishing the lift should look and feel like. This typically results in one of two situations - a lifter who doesn’t completely open the hips and therefore doesn’t actually complete the rep or a lifter who overdoes it and ends up finishing the lift with the back in overextension.

One of these results is insufficient, and the other is unnecessary. Both of them look ridiculous, so we’re going to try and fix this.

To see these errors demonstrated as well as how to correct them, watch the video below.

A finished deadlift (Figure 1) will have the knees fully extended, the hips fully extended, the chest up, and the shoulders back. In other words, the knees will be straight, the hips will be straight, and the shoulders will be behind the barbell. In even simpler terms, the lifter simply stands all the way up.

Figure 1: A correctly finished deadlift

If you find that you’re not finishing your deadlift, i.e., if your hips don’t open all the way and you look like you’re leaning over the bar like the fool in Figure 2, simply cue yourself to “Stand up” or “Stand up tall.”

Figure 2: An unfinished deadlift - don’t be like this fool.

If, on the other hand, you find that you’re overdoing the top of the deadlift, i.e., if you’re finishing the lift with your lumber spine in overextension (Figure 3), you can still use the cue “Stand up” (or “stand tall”) or you can also simply tell yourself, “Don’t lean back.”

Figure 3: An “overdone” deadlift - don’t be like this fool, either.

Fixing either of these problems is not complicated, but you’ve got to be aware that you have the problem in order to fix it, so we recommend that you either have a coach, or if that’s not possible, make sure that you record your lifts so that you can watch them.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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Get a Bigger Squat Now with 3 Simple Tips

Let’s cover three ways to immediately improve your squat.

Tip #1: Focal Point
First, have a focal point - don’t allow your eyes to wander during the rep or even between reps. Second, for the location of your focal point, pick a point on the floor roughly 4-6 feet in front of you and stare at it throughout the entire set.

This is useful for balance, and it also encourages you to lean over as you start your descent and stay leaned over as you initiate your hip drive coming up out of the hole.

Tip #2: Knees Out
As you start your descent, shove your knees out. Specifically, shove them in the direction of your toes, and since you’re going to take a shoulder-width stance with your toes pointed out at roughly 30 degrees, this means your knees should travel both forward and out (i.e., forward and apart). With that said, focus on the “out” or the “apart” aspect of this movement. 

Rob shoves his knees apart so his femurs track in line with his toes, and addy approves.

Shoving your knees apart makes it easier to hit depth in the squat and also makes for a stronger, more efficient squat as it helps involve your adductors more in the movement.

As a side note, it is possible - though less common - to shove your knees too far out. In this case, your femurs are tracking outside of your toes, and we don’t want this either, so simply point your knees in the direction your shoes are pointing, and you’ll quite literally be headed in the right direction.

Tip #3: Your Lean
This is the most counterintuitive of the tips presented in this article, but it contributes mightily to the effectiveness and efficiency of your squat.

Lean over as you start your descent, and stay leaned over as you come up out of the hole on the ascent.

In other words, as you begin the squat, reach back with your hips and point your chest at the floor. As you initiate your hip drive coming out of the bottom of the squat, stay leaned over longer than you think you should. This will put you in a better, stronger position for squatting.

Yes, your back angle becomes vertical eventually (after all, you finish the squat in an upright position), but it should not become vertical right away, and to try to make your torso vertical right away makes for a weaker, disadvantaged squat. With all of this in mind, get leaned over, and then stay leaned over.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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How to Easily Build a Lifting Platform (and the EASIEST way to cut stall mats)

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/04/22)

A lifting platform is a very important part of your gym - it protects your equipment as well as your floor, it dampens the noise and vibrations of deadlifts, cleans, snatches, etc., and it clearly delineates the lifting space. This last factor - the abundantly clear “stay out of my lifting space” effect of the platform - is very useful when you have a training partner or little kids with you in the gym.

Fortunately, building a lifting platform is quite easy. In fact, “building” is a rather generous term for the process - we’re pretty much just assembling a platform. We’ll lay out the steps below, but I’d strongly recommend watching one of the videos linked throughout this article for a better understanding of the process.

First, lay two 4’ x 8’ sheets of OSB next to one another. I’d recommend what is commonly referred to as 3/4"-thick OSB, but the actual dimension will be listed as 23/32”.

Laying down the base layer of OSB sheets

These two sheets will run lengthwise, i.e., they’re run front-to-back. The sheets will probably have a slight bow to them (i.e., a curvature), and you’ll want to make sure that the crown of the board is up (so the board should make a mountain, not a valley).

Next, lay two more sheets of the same OSB on top of the base layer. These sheets will be perpendicular to the base layer sheets, so they’ll run side-to-side. Again, the crown should be up. Then you’ll use 1-1/4” screws to attach the second layer to the base layer. We use three screws on the short end of each board and four screws along the long end.

Laying down the 2nd layer of OSB sheets

Then, for the top layer, you’ll use a sheet of 3/4”-thick MDF to run down the middle. You could use something nicer like oak, but we like MDF as it’s nice and heavy and causes everything to lie nice and flat. You’ll need to do some cutting on the MDF as they are sized at 49” x 97”. You’ll cut the length to 96” (8 feet), and we recommend cutting the width to 42” (3.5 feet) as this gives you ample room between the plates and the MDF when you set down your deadlifts, cleans, etc (you can go with 4 feet wide, but 3.5 feet makes it much less likely that you’ll chip the MDF over time). You can do this yourself, or your lumber store may be willing to rip it for you.

Finally, you’ll use 3/4”-thick horse stall mats for the rest of the top layer. Stall mats are typically 4’ x 6’, so you’ll have some cutting to do here. The bigger piece on each side will be 72” x 27” (i.e., 6’ x 2’3”), and the smaller piece on each side will be 24” x 27” (i.e., 2’ x 2’3”). 

To attach the top layer to the second layer, use 1-5/8” screws. We put six screws into the MDF - three in front and three in back. For the stall mats, we simply put screws around the outside, front, and back of the platform - we don’t put any screws down the rubber edge near the MDF so that we can’t accidentally set our metal plates or bumper plates down on a screw that might be a bit proud.

Last note - when cutting stall mats, use a jig saw. It is - by far - the best way to do it. Check out the video above to see this process.

We hope this helps you quickly and easily build a lifting platform, and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

Finished platform - complete with Addy, Milo, & Parker

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What You Should NEVER Do When Deadlifting!

If you train with barbells, you’ve got to stop making this mistake.

What mistake are we talking about? That of using a compromised grip.

When you train - specifically when you train pulling movements such as the deadlift, row, snatch, clean, chin-up, etc. - your hands are the interface between you and the barbell (this applies to an equal or lesser extent to other lifts such as the squat, bench, etc.). With this in mind, your grip needs to be secure.

The Problem: Grip and the Deadlift
Using the deadlift for the purposes of our discussion, at some point, the deadlift gets heavy enough that your grip becomes the limiting factor unless you choose to do something about it, and you should absolutely do something about it because grip is a silly reason not to strengthen your deadlift.

The Solution: Part 1
First of all, use chalk. Start using chalk on day one of your training journey. If you train at a gym that doesn’t allow chalk, sneak it in anyway, use something like Liquid Chalk, or better yet, find a different gym at which to train. I kid you not - chalk is that important.

Use chalk right from the start. Get some on your hands at the start of your training session (yes, even for the squat), chalk up again when you start warming up the deadlift, and then chalk up one more time when you get to your work set(s) on the deadlift.

However, pretty quickly, the deadlift will get heavy enough that chalk alone won’t be enough. What do you do then?

The Solution: Part 2
The second part of the solution is to modify your grip. You’ll either need to use a hook grip or a mixed grip (also known as an “alternate grip” or “switch grip”). If you’re not sure how to do this, watch the included videos for a demonstration as well as explanation.

The thumb is the weak link in your grip since you only have one thumb around one side of the bar while you have four fingers wrapping around the other side, so when your grip fails, it’s the thumb that’s losing the battle. Both a hook grip and a mixed grip solve this problem, so pick one and use it.

If you don’t like either of those options, then you need to use straps, and you can watch the video below to see the difference between hook grip, mixed grip, and straps.

New Lifters vs Those Who Refuse to Learn
All this advice is intended to help the new lifter who might not know about chalk, hook grip, mixed grip, etc. If you’re an experienced lifter - if you already know about all of these things - and you’re still not using chalk or a modified grip, this article is not for you. You’ve decided to make a Silly Choice, and wasting your time and energy on the deadlift with a compromised grip is certainly your prerogative.

Where to Go From Here
Start using chalk right away, and before your grip becomes the limiting factor, start modifying the grip. There are a couple of telltale signs that the grip is starting to fail - it will become difficult to lock out the deadlift at the top of the lift, it will feel like the bar is starting to slip out of your hands (because it is), and it will be tougher than usual to keep your back set in rigid extension when you’re pulling off the floor. Before any of these start to become a serious issue, simply use a hook grip or a mixed grip, and you’ll be amazed at the difference it will make.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?