Martin Asks: Hi guys. I'm after a bit of advice. I'm really struggling to increase my jerk.

In case any of this is relevant: I'm male and in my early 30s. I started Crossfit just over 3 years ago, which was my introduction to strength training. During that time I struggled to put any weight on my upper body pushes. Particularly my press. I think increases in leg strength helped with my push press and jerk.

I've spent the last 8 months or so following your programming. I was initially doing all 5 days but struggled to keep up so used your simple programm to strip it down to 3 days of lifting and doing any metcon work you have programmed in on the other 2 days. I had a 2.5kg increase on my jerk during the push phase of the 3 phase cycle but I've since lost that.

Is this like anything you might have seen before? What advice would you give if any? I try to make sure I have push presses in at least 1 metcon a week. I've been seeing a sports therapist who suggested doing DB raises. He's an ex-competitive hammer thrower and strongman and stronger than I'll ever been so I've been giving that a shot. I appreciate it's hard to give advice on stuff like this via email but it's starting to hold me back and I'm feeling a bit desperate.

Greg Says: The problem is that we’re talking about two completely different animals with the press and the jerk (the push press being more on the jerk side of things). If you want to improve your press specifically, you probably need to increase the volume and frequency of your upper body push training. For example, include push training 2-3 days/week, varying the exercises each day and using different volume and intensity each day. In other words, you just need to get your pressing stronger, and often it takes greater volume and frequency for people to do this.

If you want to increase your jerk, your pressing strength itself may or may not even be relevant. It’s a mistake to equate press numbers with jerk numbers: the two are not associated as closely as you might understandably think. You have to remember that the jerk is driven by lower body strength and power and supported more by body structure than upper body muscular strength directly.

This being true, it’s no surprise you saw an increase in your jerk with an increase in your leg strength. This is where your biggest improvements will come from, particularly increases in front squat strength, even more so if you tend to back squat with more of a posterior chain emphasis.

Next you have to consider technique. Your jerk can only go so far with strength increases alone; you do need to be able to perform it correctly to be able to apply the strength you have (as a very basic example, you might be incredibly strong, but if you always push the bar forward, you’ll never be able to support heavier weights). Obviously I can’t diagnose any technical problems based on your email, so I would suggest working with a good coach, or at the very least, posting a video of yourself on our forum to get some feedback.

Bryon Asks: Hey guys, just wondering if there was any specific technique for taping thumbs for the oly lifts.

Greg Says: Different lifters have different ways of doing it, but I prefer taping the entire thumb with a single piece of elastic athletic tape. This gives you all the coverage you could want but still allows the thumb to bend as it needs to. You probably need to use a product like Tite-Grip or Nu-Skin spray before you tape to help it adhere better with sweat. Tape tightly enough to prevent the tape from sliding, but not so tightly that you can’t bend your thumb completely.

Rachel Asks: I have never met you but heard about your gym from someone who trained at it. I have been following your website now for a few months. I bought the book and the DVD over Christmas. I started training the Olympic Lifts in October 2011 so it's only been 5 months. I train 4 times a week for 1.5 hours each session under a qualified 40+ year veteran of the sport. I weighed 142 lbs when I started but was able to drop to 136 lbs for a December meet. Since then though, I have put the weight back on plus some. I am now 145 lbs. I have not changed my paleo diet at all but I feel like I'm gaining weight at an alarming rate while eating the same. I am getting bigger because my clothes are getting tighter.

Is getting bigger expected (normal) when training Olympic Lifts? It sounds like a silly question but I see a lot of different shapes and sizes in the sport of Olympic Lifting, lean as well as bulky. How can I tell if getting bigger is good for me personally for my lifting or if I should fight to stay lighter to compete in a lighter weight class?

Greg Says: Gaining some muscular weight is normal and expected when weightlifting, especially if the athlete’s background does not involve a lot of strength training. How much weight is gained is dependent mostly on the individual’s propensity for muscular growth and the type of programming (i.e. certain programming is more stimulating of growth generally, and certain programming happens to stimulate growth more in certain individuals specifically).

The first factor is the most important. Some individuals will put muscle on no matter what you do with them, and it’s very difficult to prevent any weight gain. Honestly I’m not particularly sympathetic to this problem, as most people in the world struggle to gain a single pound of muscle. Training may need to be adjusted as well as possible to minimize growth stimuli, which will have to be figured out for each individual, but generally speaking, more volume will create more growth; eliminating accessory work and keeping reps in the 1-3 range can help.

Also, be sure you truly are eating the same now as you were before. Weightlifting tends to be very stimulating of appetite (and demanding of calories) so people naturally tend to eat more. You can’t starve yourself just to keep from gaining weight, but if this is a big concern for you, you need to log your food intake accurately for a week or so and do the math—know exactly what and how much you’re eating so you can make adjustments from there.