Should You Re-Rack Jerks?
Should you re-rack your jerks?
Yes… as much as possible.
Lowering your jerks doesn’t just build upper body strength—it also builds trunk strength and improves your legs’ ability to absorb and stop force, which will help your dip and drive.
However, there are good reasons to NOT re-rack your jerks:
If you have any kind of neck, back, elbow or shoulder issue that re-racking aggravates, don’t do it.
And if you use a really wide grip, you may find lowering problematic for your elbows—the benefit of re-racking isn’t worth risking injury or chronic pain.
If you can at least re-rack your warm-up weights, it’s still beneficial, so do what you can safely.
There are a couple ways to approach lowering jerks:
The first is to always do it the way you do with the heaviest weights, i.e. properly absorbing the load with your legs. If you’re new to re-racking jerks, you should do this because it’s a skill you need to practice.
The second is to lower strictly with the upper body until you can’t, and then switch to the “correct” way. This is a good approach if you’re already good at re-racking and don’t need extra practice, and want to use the opportunity for extra upper body strength work.
Yes… as much as possible.
Lowering your jerks doesn’t just build upper body strength—it also builds trunk strength and improves your legs’ ability to absorb and stop force, which will help your dip and drive.
However, there are good reasons to NOT re-rack your jerks:
If you have any kind of neck, back, elbow or shoulder issue that re-racking aggravates, don’t do it.
And if you use a really wide grip, you may find lowering problematic for your elbows—the benefit of re-racking isn’t worth risking injury or chronic pain.
If you can at least re-rack your warm-up weights, it’s still beneficial, so do what you can safely.
There are a couple ways to approach lowering jerks:
The first is to always do it the way you do with the heaviest weights, i.e. properly absorbing the load with your legs. If you’re new to re-racking jerks, you should do this because it’s a skill you need to practice.
The second is to lower strictly with the upper body until you can’t, and then switch to the “correct” way. This is a good approach if you’re already good at re-racking and don’t need extra practice, and want to use the opportunity for extra upper body strength work.
