Big Bend Strength

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Behind The Neck Jerk: Tutorial and Programming

Any time I post videos of this lift on TikTok, people lose their minds. 

Most people who aren’t familiar with the olympic lifts but have seen a clean and jerk before have NEVER seen a behind-the-neck jerk. 

Most of the time people just ask questions, but the keyboard warriors who have never done olympic lifting a day in their lives love to say…

“That’s useless”

“Idiot doesn't know jerks are done from the front squat position”

So in todays article I’ll break down everything you need to know about the Behind The Neck Jerk!

P.S. If you’re looking for a weightlifting program, check out my OlyStrong Team Program! Click here for a free week trial!

What Is The Behind The Neck Jerk?

The BTN Jerk is a variation of the jerk in which the bar is placed on the back rack position rather than the front rack position and is typically done from a rack or blocks. 

This variation can be great for removing some of the limiting elements of the front rack jerk such as:

  1. Wrist or shoulder mobility

  2. Weak core collapsing in the dip

  3. Bar path moving behind the head

So if you want to remove these constraints and just focus on timing and footwork, this could allow you to lift more than you can from the front rack position, and improve your confidence overhead along the way.

 P.S. If you have issues with mobility in the front rack jerk, check out this free mobility guide! Just skip to the section on front rack mobility and you’ll get my favorite drills!

How to Perform

To perform the BTN Jerk, start with the bar on your back rack position. This should be where you normally perform high bar squats, and ideally with the same grip width that you would use for jerks, however, if you struggle with shoulder mobility, you may need to try a slightly wider grip.

Walk the bar out of the rack, point your elbows down in your rack position then perform a split jerk in the exact way you would from the front rack position. The only major difference you’ll feel is that because the bar is already in its final position behind the head, you don’t need to continue pushing the bar back. That is one of the best parts of this movement. You only need to worry about moving the bar straight up and down, leaving you more focus to work on proper timing and footwork. 

Check out the demo video here!

Implementation

The BTN Jerk can serve as a variation complex, stand-alone variation, or overload variation. 

If you were to use it as a variation complex, I would recommend doing a complex of one BTN Jerk followed by one Front Rack Jerk as a way to practice moving the bar behind the head to its final position. Try these for 3-5 sets of the complex around 70-85%. 

If you use them as a stand-alone variation, they can be an incredibly valuable tool if you struggle with wrist or shoulder issues in the front rack position. I’ve had many athletes who were able to improve their jerk by focusing on the BTN Jerk for a while to allow their front rack pain to recover and/or strength through mobility work. 

My favorite use of the BTN jerk is as an overload variation. An overload variation is any variation that could allow you to lift more than you normally would, and these do just that. By removing many of the limiting aspects of the jerk from the front rack, you might be able to hit your next PR jerk on these before you do it from the front rack. 

Hopefully, this helped! Feel free to give this a try and tag me in your video @bigbendstrength! If you ever need a free form check on your videos, you’re always welcome to join my free discord here and drop your video in the #form-checks channel. 

By the way, I’ve got a free beginner weightlifting guide and a 6-week program! If you’re new to the olympic lifts, then check it out here!

And if you’re looking for a weightlifting program designed to help you set PRs, improve your technique, and get strong af, then check out a FREE WEEK TRIAL of my 3 & 5-Day OlyStrong Team at the link below!

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