For Your Viewing Pleasure

The USAW is coming out with a weekly video series.  Looks to be a source in knowledge and content to geek out on.  I've posted the first video in the series below. You can also check it out on the USAW website here.  Enjoy!

Copperhead Weightlifting Championships

I competed this past weekend in the Copperhead Weightlifting Championships in Van Alstyne, TX.  This is a unique meet because it's held in a barn at a farm.  HA!  There were a lot of competitive lifters, a few of them being national level competitors, so it was great to see some big time lifts!  All in all a pretty awesome time.

Personally, the meet finished very well; however, it started off a little shaky.  I missed my opening snatch attempt, which generally is a BAD thing.  Whoops. Despite the brain fart, I ended up getting my head together and hit my last 2 attempts.  I ended up with a 3kg meet PR and matched my all time PR that I hit just 2 weeks ago.

For the clean & jerk portion, I went 2 for 3.  I made 115kg on my second attempt, which was a 3kg meet PR and matched my all time PR that I hit the Saturday before.  I went for 118kg on my third attempt, but couldn't stand it up after a strong pull.  I need to continue to get stronger in the squat.

The big take aways I had from this weekend were that: 1) you have to be dialed in and focused for each attempt - especially the first one, and 2) you have to have a short memory.  If you miss an early attempt, you have to regather your focus for the remainder of the meet in order to total and be successful.

Below are the video's of my best lifts this weekend.  Enjoy!

Some Serious Training

I just wanted to let you guys enjoy a couple weightlifting video's that were passed onto me from some close friends.

The first video is a short documentary on the Russian Junior National Weightlifting Team.  It's no wonder that Russian and other former Soviet bloc countries are so dominate in international competitions - they are well funded and take training and their sport VERY seriously.

The second video is of Ilya Ilin, a 94kg Olympic and World Champion weightlifter from Kazakstan, working up to a 240kg (528lbs) clean & jerk.  The big thing to take away here is that the technique and tempo don't really change from "lighter" weight to max weight.  Dialed in!

As an aside, I competed in the Copperhead this past weekend up in North Texas, and did very well.  Stay tuned for some videos and breakdown of how it went.

Maximize What You Can Control

When it comes to training, there are a lot of factors that are in your control which can lead to a great training session, training week and eventually some big PR's.  So, why not maximize those factors that you can control to get the best results?  I'm going to provide you with some guidelines to think about and use.  These will be broken up into three phases: pre-training, training, and post-training.

Pre-Training

1) Know what your workout entails.  Knowing this allows you to mentally prepare for what is to come.   If you're maxing out or doing a benchmark workout like Fran, you have to come into the workout focused and ready to hit on all cylinders.  Preparing the mind also prepares the body!

2) Mobilize.  If you're sore, banged up or just don't have good mobility, I hope this is a no brainer.  Just don't mobilize to mobilize though.  Be specific and focus on the areas that will be utilized the most during the workout.  If you don't know what to do for a specific area, ask your coach or check out MobilityWoD.

3) Hydrate. Make sure you drink a lot of water.  I would also try adding lemons and a pinch of sea salt in there, especially if it's really hot out there.

4) Get plenty of sleep the night before.  You need to be fresh when it comes to training.  At least 6-8 hours.  If you're consistently getting less than that, it will catch up to you in some form or fashion.

Training

1) Warm-up properly. Mobilize and do something specific for what you are doing.  Here's a great resource on how to warm-up for the snatch from my coach, Ursula Garza Papandrea.

2) Take the proper rest period if you're doing strength and power work. Typically this will be between 1-3 minutes depending on what exactly you're training and what your coach is trying to have you accomplish.  This allows the body, both physically and neurologically, enough time to recover so you can crush the next set or rep.

3) Simply your focus.  I wrote about this last week, so I'm not going to go into great detail again.  Just don't get your mind distracted and stay focused on what you need to do.

4) Breathe.  If you're in the middle of a metcon and you find yourself breathing fast, STOP.  Once your breathing gets out of control, you're done.  Try and settle yourself so you can control your breathing.  Take slow deep breaths.  If you're resting, try tying your rest to a set number of breaths (about 3-5), then get back to work.  I've found that this relaxes the body and the mind, which makes it easier to keep yourself in the "pain cave".

Post-Training

This will be very similar to that of Pre-Training, but there are a couple tweaks.

1) Mobilize. This acts as a cool-down and stretches the muscle groups your just trained.

2) Hydrate.  Read above.  You need rehydrate the body with fluids after you sweat and use energy.  This time, include some type of electrolytes to your water.

3) Sleep.  Making sure you get the right amount of sleep post-training is crucial when it comes to recovery.  It is when we sleep that we release natural growth hormone to aid in muscle recovery and growth.

4) Nutrition.  Your body needs the right macro-nutrients (proteins, carbs and fats).  Try to keep it to lean meats, leafy greens, some fruit, light starch, nuts and seeds, and healthy oils.

Lastly, I'll leave you with this awesome video of 56kg (123lb) Chinese lifter clean & jerking 160kg (352lbs)!  The video also provides a bar path analysis.  Enjoy!

Simplify Your Focus

If you are continuously failing at a lift, especially at a sub-maximal load, there is a chance that you are over thinking.  Just like a golf swing, if you are thinking about every single step and thing you need to be working on, the outcome will be disastrous.  Thinking about every detail is not focused, but rather distracting.  So here's my advice: SIMPLIFY!

The snatch and the clean & jerk are obviously high skill movements that require lots of practice, skill and focus.  This focus, however, needs to be a narrow focus.  Despite the skill required for these lifts, you'd be surprised how well the body can move correctly when the mind is focused on just one or two things.

For instance, going into a workout with the intention of just "staying over the bar," "finishing hard" or "driving the legs," will give you a clear focus on what to concentrate on for the day.  A couple other things here and there might be off that day, but chances are you performed better on what you were specifically focused on.

If you're training on your own, and you don't know what you should simplify your focus to, seek out a coach with a good eye, so they can provide that focus.

This leads me to my next point - coaches sometimes need to simplify their focus as well.  Trying to change or correct every little thing at once can do more harm than good.  You start creating too many things for your athlete to think about. Give your athletes a limited and simple focus.  Less can definitely be more.  If you know there is one BIG weakness that your athlete has, work on just that one thing for a few sets,  the day or week.  From there, you can move onto the next big issue.

You can break down and analyze your lifts in between sets if you choose, but when it comes time to step up to the bar, simplify and let the body take over.  Have faith in your abilities - you might be surprised how well you can perform when you don't over think.

Compete

I train to compete.  You should too.  Competition creates adversity, and it's through adversity that we adapt and grow as individuals and teams.  Whether you're participating in sport (this includes CrossFit!) or training to be healthy, put yourself on the line and COMPETE TO WIN!  Never just go through the motions.

Competing puts yourself out of your comfort zone and into the unknown, and I love that.  The more we do this, the more we learn about ourselves.  So what if you lose from time to time?  Use losing as a learning experience.  You actually learn more from losing than winning.  Losing can be a good way to learn what isn't working for you, which is key.  It also gives us a reason to train and put our bodies through the ringer from time to time.

This past weekend, I competed in my first weightlifting meet.  Four months of training came down to six lifts- three for the snatch and three for the clean & jerk. I put myself on the line and performed well.

I went 4 for 6, finishing with 99kg, a 4kg PR, on the snatch and 112kg, a 2kg PR, on the clean & jerk.  It was a great learning experience on how to warm up and narrow one's focus during times of pressure.  I also learned that I need to continue to train hard and with focus.  As a newbie to weightlifting competition, I know I have a long way to go if I ever want to be competitive, but until then, I'm still going to put myself on the line and compete!!!

I challenge you to do the same!

Here are videos of my best lifts from the weekend:

Vertical Torso in the Jerk

The key to a successful jerk is keeping the torso as vertical as possible while generating as much force onto the bar as possible.  When it comes to jerking, however, there is a tendency to push the weight forward as opposed to straight up off the shoulders.  This results in either a missed or a very unstable lift.  Typically, jerks are pushed out in front due to a slight inclination of the torso.  If this sounds like what you're doing, then you're in luck.  Here are a couple tips for you to take to your next training session:

1) Start with your knees unlocked.  In a recent article on BreakingMuscle.com, Hall of Fame Weightlifting Coach, Bob Takano, breaks down a video he took of a female weightlifter at the 2011 Nationals who starts with her knees locked.  Bob explains that "when the jerk dip is initiate in this way, the first joint to bend is at the hips.  Now the torso is inclined slightly forward and it is difficult to generate a powerful drive with the legs."  Starting with knees unlocked, or "soft", will allow you to initiate the jerk dip with knees, not the hip, and help keep the torso more vertical.

2) Drive the knees out.  I see a lot of beginners push the knees forward.  As the weight gets heavier, dipping with the knees forward doesn't allow you to dip straight down, resulting in a forward inclination of the torso.  There is also a tendency for the heels to leave the ground too early.  If the heels come up and you are on the balls of your feet too soon, you lose the ability to generate maximal force.

Set your stance with soft knees (as we talked about above) and turn your toes ever so slightly out.  When you dip, drive the knees out over the toes and explode up.  The knees out creates a pocket for the hips to dip straight down into, allowing for a more upright torso and optimal force production.

Next time you train and are working on jerks, keep it simple and just remember these two cues: "soft knees" and "knees out".  Easy.

Pay attention to the last 5 sequence shots.  Unlocked knees and knees out on the dip!