Dr Mel Siff Blog

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Mel Siff:

<If one could Press a heavy load, then one could easily jerk at least that
same amount and usually about 20kg more, so that many big pressers could
defeat a lifter who had a good snatch, but a weak jerk.>

A member wrote:

<<Not necessarily, in my humble opinion. A jerk and the press aren’t that
closely related as they seem to be.

Obviously if your press is larger, so is your jerk. But superior technique is
a must for a big jerk. My current 1RM press is 65 kilos and my 1RM jerk is
75. Obviously technique has a lot to do with it. I have a relatively strong
press considering my experience in weightlifting but as you can see, the jerk
is a lot about technique and agility in the legs. As an example is a lifter
in the gym where I train who has a 80 kilo press for 2-3 reps and has a max
jerk of 135 kilos. His massive load in the jerk comes from technique.>>

Mel Siff:

*** Note that I stated “usually”, not “always”. My remark was based on many
years of competitive and refereeing experience with the Press. And to back
this up, here are some randomly chosen Presses and C&Js of a few top lifters
from the good old Pressing days up to 1972:

M Nassiri (56kg) 112.5 — 150.0
Y Miyake (60kg) 122.5 — 152.5
W Baszanowski (67.5kg) 140.0 — 170.0
Pete George (75kg) 120.0 — 157.5
Tommy Kono (82.5kg) 142.5 — 165.0
A Vorobyev (90kg) 145.0 — 170.0
Yuri Vlasov (90kg) 187.5 — 210.0
David Rigert (90kg) 185.0 — 207.5
Louis Martin (90kg) 150.0 — 185.0
L Zhabotinsky (Superh) 187.5 — 217.5
V Alexeyev (Superh) 230.0 — 235.0

In fact, in most divisions below Superheavy, there was at least a 20-25kg
difference between Press and C&J. One simply cannot base one’s opinions on
observations made on gym presses and jerks outside the competitive setting.
As I have stressed several times before, the Olympic Press is very different
from the Military Press and any other types of press, so what you consider to
be a typical Olympic Press might not resemble that movement at all.

Your comment about superior technique being “a must for a big jerk” seems to
corroborate this conclusion, because you are implying that the jerk involves
more technical skill than a legitimate Olympic Press. This could not be
further from the truth, since a genuine, explosive Olympic Press can easily
involve more skill than a Jerk.

If you have not been coached by someone who has competed in the Pressing days
(up to 1972), it is very unlikely that you or your heavier lifting
colleague in the gym have mastered the correct way of doing the Olympic
Press. One can Olympic Press far more than one can military press.

That could well explain the difference between his 135kg jerk and his
apparently miserable Press of 80kg – he might be executing a rather slow
military style press without using pretensed back extension and body sway.
If that is the case, then his press is not at all bad, but if he is using
proper Olympic pressing technique, then something must be seriously amiss.
That large difference between his press and jerk may also be due to a weak
press, not necessarily a strong jerk. What is his bodymass, by the way?
What about his snatch?

Dr Mel Siff
Denver, USA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/

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Periodically some list members ask for advice about which certification to
seek – well, the following research study showed that NSCA and ACSM appeared
to be the best options and recommended that higher levels of formal
educational training should be regarded as highly advisable for all fitness
certification schemes.

—————-

J of Strength & Conditioning Research: Vol 16, No 1, pp. 19–24

Malek, MH, Nalbone DP, Berger DE, Coburn JW Importance of health science
education for personal fitness trainers.

ABSTRACT

Using a questionnaire developed for the current study, the Fitness
Instructors Knowledge Assessment (FIKA©), we examined relations between
commonly used indicators of knowledge (training and experience) and actual
knowledge in the five areas of (a) nutrition, (b) health screening, (c)
testing protocols, (d) exercise prescription, and (e) general training
knowledge regarding special populations. FIKA provided reliable measures of Read more…

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The following resources were cited on the Biomechanics list as useful ones
for supplying useful information on soccer biomechanics, in particular the
action of kicking. Would anyone care to add other references on this topic?

Anderson DI & Sidaway B. (1994) Coordination changes associated with practice
of a soccer kick. Res Q Exerc Sport, 65, (2): 93-9

Barfield WR. (1998) The biomechanics of kicking in soccer. Clin Sports Med,
17 (4):711-28

Davids K, Lees A, Burwitz L. (2000) Understanding and measuring coordination Read more…

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The following article discusses use in weightlifting of the mental
preparation technique known as “autogenic training”.

Autogenic Training in the Heavy Training of Elite Weightlifters

Semuk A, Arkhangorodsky Z & Zaitsev Y

Weightlifting Yearbook 1982 (translated by Bud Charniga and available at
www.dynamic-eleiko.com)

It has been shown (AV Alexseyev, 1968, 1969, 1978; Zakharov, 1971; Filatova,
1975, 1979) that autogenic training (AT) is an important means of
restoration, a psychoprophylactic and a psychohygenic to the athlete’s body.
However, up to now few studies have investigated the effect of prophylactic Read more…

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The following extracts from a Russian text on metabolism and nutrition for
weightlifters will provide some useful information for those who recently
have been asking about the Russian approach to these topics.

Metabolic Changes in Weightlifting

K Korovnikov, N Yalovaya, G Azizbekyan, V Belyaev, R Bolkhovsky

[Tables excluded - for the full text, see 1984 Russian Yearbook translated by
Bud Charniga, www.dynamic-eleiko.com]

Essential reconstruction of the metabolic exchange processes designed for
economising the functions of physiological systems and raising of the body’s
stability to extreme influences takes place during adaptation to large
physical loads. Sharp metabolic changes in response to training loads of
large volume and intensity and insufficient recovery of the important
functions of the body’s systems can be factors which limit an athlete’s work
capacity and the effectiveness of his training. In connection with this it is
extremely important to reveal the metabolic peculiarities and the possibility
of affecting certain metabolic processes which are important for increasing Read more…