Bars, Grips & Foot Rests

The clean and jerk is one of two weightlifting events. It is a highly technical lift, one of the two used in Olympic Games weightlifting competition. more...

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When strength coaches and weightlifting coaches refer to weightlifting, they are speaking about either the snatch or clean and jerk and a large variety of ballistic movements associated with them. All other resistance training is properly called weight training or bodybuilding.

The clean portion of the lift refers to the lifter explosively pulling the weight from the floor and up to his chest without allowing it to touch any other part of his body. In early twentieth century weightlifting competitions, a variant movement called the "continental" (because it was practised by Germans rather than the British) allowed the lifter to pull the barbell up to his belt, where it could rest. Then with several successive flips, the bar would be moved up the torso until it reached the position for the overhead jerk. The continental gained a reputation as clumsy, slow, and unathletic compared to the swift coordinated movement required to lift the bar "clean." Hence, the clean movement was adopted by the early weightlifting federations as the official movement.

The athlete begins the clean by squatting down to grasp the bar. Hands are positioned approximately thumbs distance from hips using what is known as a hook grip. The hook grip requires grasping the bar so that the fingers go over the thumb. This makes it much easier for the lifter to maintain his grip on the bar. The lifter's arms are relaxed and just outside the legs with the bar up against the shins. The hips are as low as necessary to grasp the bar, with the feet placed approximately hip width. Weight is kept on the heels. Toes may be pointed straight ahead or angled out according to the lifters preference. The chest is up and the back is neutral to slightly hyperextended. This is the starting position of the "pull" phase of the lift. After taking a big breath and setting the back, the lifter jumps the bar up through triple extension (in very quick succession) of the hips, knees and then ankles. When the legs have driven the bar as high as possible, the lifter gains a tiny amount of additional height by violently shrugging (contracting) the trapezius muscles of the upper back ("traps"). As the bar reaches its highest point, the lifter pulls under the bar by dropping into a deep squat position and spinning the hands around the bar so the elbows are extended in front. At the same time, as the arms are brought up with the elbows extended in front of the chest, the hook grip is released so the bar may now lay across or "rest" across the palms, rest the bar on the front of the shoulder or deltoid muscles and across clavicles. At this point the lifter should be in a full squat position, with his buttocks on or very close to the heels, sitting erect with the bar resting comfortably across the deltoids and fingers. From this full squat position the lifter must now stand up. This is commonly known as a front squat.

Read more at Wikipedia.org