Exercise Library
Banded Jerk Drive
AKA Banded jerk extension
AKA Banded jerk extension
The banded jerk drive adds elastic band resistance to the exercise to allow maximal leg drive while limiting the movement of the bar off the shoulders and the complications that creates.
Using jerk blocks, run bands over the bar—how exactly this is done will vary with your jerk blocks, but be sure the bands are even and over the bar in a way that will prevent them from sliding off during the exercise. A power rack can also be used if heavy and stable enough or secured to the floor.
Move under the bar and stand with it to position yourself for a jerk. Brace your trunk and ensure you’re balanced slightly more toward the heel but with full foot pressure on the floor.
Dip and drive just as you would for a jerk, pushing the bar just slightly off the shoulders with the arms at the top—be sure to not allow it to move forward at all.
Absorb the weight by bending the legs as needed and reset for the next rep.
Notes
The primarily loading should come from the weight on the bar with the bands supplying resistance to its movement up off the shoulders more than to the drive itself.
Purpose
The jerk drive strengthens the dip position and trains the explosiveness of the transition and upward drive with heavier weights than can be handled for the same number of reps or with the same frequency as the jerk itself. It can also train and reinforce the proper balance and dip position for the jerk and strengthen the posture. The addition of bands helps mitigate the biggest problem with the jerk drive—athletes pushing the bar forward, or being able to push it so high that it crashes too hard back down for them to handle, or ends up moving forward later in the movement. The band tension will also encourage a longer and more forceful leg drive to help combat the tendency of many lifters to stop pushing with the legs too early in the jerk.
Programming
The banded jerk drive can be performed for 2-5 reps with weights at anywhere from 70%-100% or more of the lifter’s best jerk. Weights can be very heavy as long as the position and balance are correct and the bar is pushed up rather than forward.
Using jerk blocks, run bands over the bar—how exactly this is done will vary with your jerk blocks, but be sure the bands are even and over the bar in a way that will prevent them from sliding off during the exercise. A power rack can also be used if heavy and stable enough or secured to the floor.
Move under the bar and stand with it to position yourself for a jerk. Brace your trunk and ensure you’re balanced slightly more toward the heel but with full foot pressure on the floor.
Dip and drive just as you would for a jerk, pushing the bar just slightly off the shoulders with the arms at the top—be sure to not allow it to move forward at all.
Absorb the weight by bending the legs as needed and reset for the next rep.
Notes
The primarily loading should come from the weight on the bar with the bands supplying resistance to its movement up off the shoulders more than to the drive itself.
Purpose
The jerk drive strengthens the dip position and trains the explosiveness of the transition and upward drive with heavier weights than can be handled for the same number of reps or with the same frequency as the jerk itself. It can also train and reinforce the proper balance and dip position for the jerk and strengthen the posture. The addition of bands helps mitigate the biggest problem with the jerk drive—athletes pushing the bar forward, or being able to push it so high that it crashes too hard back down for them to handle, or ends up moving forward later in the movement. The band tension will also encourage a longer and more forceful leg drive to help combat the tendency of many lifters to stop pushing with the legs too early in the jerk.
Programming
The banded jerk drive can be performed for 2-5 reps with weights at anywhere from 70%-100% or more of the lifter’s best jerk. Weights can be very heavy as long as the position and balance are correct and the bar is pushed up rather than forward.
