How to do the Split Jerk
- Stand with the bar on your front shoulders, feet beneath your hips.
- Bend your knees slightly, keeping your torso upright, then push up.
- As the bar rises, split your feet front to back and punch your arms straight.
- Catch the bar overhead, with one heel raised, and control its descent.
- Bring your feet together slowly and lower the bar back to the starting point.
Full technique — 8 steps
- Set the bar on your front rack with elbows slightly forward and feet under hips.
- Take a shallow vertical dip by bending the knees while keeping your torso upright.
- Drive hard through the floor to extend knees and hips, sending the bar straight upward.
- As the bar rises, punch your arms straight and split your feet front to back.
- Receive the bar overhead with the front foot flat, back heel raised, and knees bent.
- Stabilize with the bar directly over your shoulders and hips, then recover the front foot halfway.
- Bring the back foot forward to meet the front foot and stand fully under control.
- Lower the bar back to the rack position before starting the next repetition.
Common mistakes
- Dipping forward onto the toes
- Pressing instead of re-dropping
- Catching with elbows not fully extended
- Split stance too narrow
- Recovering feet in the wrong order
Form cues
- Dip straight down
- Drive before splitting
- Punch under the bar
- Front shin nearly vertical
- Recover front foot first
