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| Amanda Sandoval; One of my inspirations! |
06/19/2012
I got my start in fitness through power lifting and so I am very aware of the fundamentals of biomechanical movements of the the body. I also for a couple of months thought that my dumb ass should be a female figure competitor...silly thoughts I know. I pride myself in my proficiency of technique, especially increasing in my Olympic lifts. CrossFit is starting to make me wary of how closely affiliates are actually paying attention to the basics. As the sport continues to grow there are some major problems that arising, and they are being overlooked. This shouldn't be a problem, if the coaches actually gave two shits about the clients, and not the number of clients they have we wouldn't have amazingly hilarious videos like this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ3HOY27_10&feature=player_embedded I was laying in bed listening to my ever favorite Robb Wolf and Greg Everett talk about the dangers of High-Rep Olympic Lifts and they made a comment about this video...so out of curiosity I had to take a peek. I haven't laughed so hard in my entire life...anyone who has taken the hours, days, weeks, months, even years (me I'm not quite to years yet) dedicating time to the Olympic lifts will probably not stop laughing, and watch this video repeatedly... guaranteed. I am not a hater of CrossFit, but there are some serious issues with it that should be addressed. There are amazing affiliates out there and they should be commended because they are doing what they are supposed to be doing...and doing it well. The reality is that the large majority of affiliates suck...plain and simple. Sorry for the bluntness, but its true.
Having ranted now, I go back to the actual reason for my post today. I have been doing an Olympic Weightlifting starter cycle from Catalyst Athletics and my lifts have improved drastically. Not in weights but the technique...I feel like my proficiency in the different pulls have increased. There is an USAW level 1 sports performance cert that I am attending in July and I am pumped for it. To be honest I am ready to have my form picked apart so that I can become an amazing lifter. This motivation is not only fueling more productive workouts but it is making me a whole hell of a lot happier just knowing that I have something to work for.
06/20/2012
Being the observant type makes me somewhat of a sponge a lot of the time. I do my Olympic lifting regimen at a CrossFit location and I would have to say that the affiliate I go to is one of the good ones. The coaches are really good, and watching them enforce good form and make people correct their form even in the middle of the workout shows that they truly care. That is one of the components that make up a good affiliate. I hope that when I become a coach/trainer for lifting that I will have the confidence in myself to stress the importance of form to my clients in a fun way.That being said, I think I discovered my biggest buff with CrossFit. It is the programming issue. I think that this is another one of the largest components to CrossFit. CrossFit has the ability to be a great "sport." I know it supposed to be about being prepared for the unpredictable or whatever but I don't think that a program should just slapped together. Thought should be put into each day, and I think that individualism could play a larger role. Creating certain individual tasks for people, the ones who really want it, could have an incredibly positive impact on not only the client-trainer relationship but also on the progress of the client. Everyone wants to feel special and that they stand out from others to an extent. This could help it.
As for my own lifting, as I have forced myself to warm-up more before I lift. It has helped immensely through my lifts and the biomechanics of the lift. Another improvement that I have made is to work on post workout mobility. I roll on my foam roller while watching tv or I put gel ice packs around my wrists while I read. This has helped me when I lift for four days in a row. Also, I used to think that wrist wraps were for pussies....I was sorely mistaken and wow to they help out! I use the "self-adhesive" sports tape for my wrists, it is nice because it is cheap and I can reuse it a couple of times...plus I can toss it when it gets worn or whatever.
06/23/2012
Yay! Saturdays are my heavy single days for my lifts and today was an absolutely wonderful day. It was the last day of my starter program from Catalyst Athletics and I pr'd on both the snatch and clean & jerk. Snatch pr by 5 pounds and clean & jerk by 4 pounds. I am becoming stronger with the Olympic lifts and as I do I feel more comfortable performing them. As I have stated I continue to beat the dead animal but technique is everything. My consistency is finally showing up more in my lifts. I have found a new cycle on Catalyst's website that is a great transition from the starter program into the other cycles they offer. It is another 4-week cycle that has a 1 week transition week to begin with. It is more intensive then the starter cycle; and also has more new movements to be formally introduced to. I will update how it goes.Motivation. It is the thing that keeps anyone running to become amazing. It doesn't matter what sport or activity a person pursues as long as they have the drive, motivation, will and dedication to their "thing" they will succeed. Positive thinking and visualization helps reach new peaks in performance. When my lifts start to get heavy, I almost subconsciously sabotage myself right off the bat. It sucks. So I have tried a few different things to help me bridge the gap between the facts and the neural control. The facts are that I am strong enough to lift the weight...no problem. The neural control is the thinking behind it. Sometimes to trick myself I used more, smaller weights to add up to more weight but it LOOKS like I am lifting less. Another thought that helps is mentally visualizing myself completing the lift succesfully.
If you have troubles breaking the plateaus; maybe it is not the fact that you aren't strong enough...because you most likely ARE strong enough. Soo...try seeing yourself, telling yourself, and tricking yourself into making that lift because after you take a hammer to that fucking glass ceiling you will feel on top of the world.
07/16/2012
Since I have posted last I have done a lot more with my lifting. I recently attended the USAW Sports Performance Level 1 certification and that was one of the most beneficial certs that I have done so far. The wonderful thing about it was that 90% of it was on-hands. We were in the weight-room for most of the weekend. The instructors were Tom Cross and Whitney Rodden, two absolutely great weightlifting instructors. They had tips on coaching and when we broke down the lifts, they were able to say what a lifter could do to improve a certain area that would benefit the entire lift. I just can't say enough about it.My certification was at Mid-American in Olathe,KS and while I was talking with the instructors and some of the locals that were attending the cert they filled me in on some super exciting news. A man by the name of Stewart Venable is moving to Nebraska and he is going to start a weightlifting club. It is going to be the only one in Nebraska right now so that is absolutely incredible. I have been speaking with him and letting him know that I am on board. There is a meet in Kansas in September and I believe I will be competing in it. This will be the first meet that I will compete in so I am rather anxious but it will put the work I have done to the test. Stewart moves to Nebraska in the fall but I believe that he will be up here before then, I will be able to have some pointers and hopefully make some gains before the meet.
Also a revelation that I have had recently with weightlifting is the huge importance of the movement of the hips. I have always known that the hips generate the force in the lifting movements but once I watched a couple videos about "making contact" in enforced this idea even further. It made me realize that I was still using my arms far to much especially in the snatch. Oh the best video that I watched, for making contact, was by Jon North. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV532Bpc8XU. He is a pompous ass, but he is a good instructor.
I started a new training cycle that I found once again at Catalyst Athletics. It is a cycle that has a heavy emphasis on the squat as well as leg strength. I decided to do this one because after looking through it I really liked the combination of leg strength as well as the amount of pulling exercises that are done. When I was at the cert the instructors made me realize that the areas I have the most inconsistencies is in my first pull. So working on the pulling will hopefully help me in that area. Also explosiveness in the second pull, I guess I need to be more aggressive.
08/05/2012
Watching the 2012 Olympics is probably one of the most motivational and inspirational actions of athleticism. It makes me not only want to be a better lifter, but an extraordinary lifter, one day to be at the Olympics would be crazy amazing. Right now is the time in my life to pursue something like this. My strength is increasing like I couldn't imagine.
I began lifting at a new place, The Driven Academy. It is going to be the home of the Nebraska Weightlifting Club and lifting there has been absolutely amazing. It has been weird acclimating myself to kilograms versus pounds, but it is a good change haha. I won't feel like such a putz now when I am asked my maxes and know them in pounds. As far as my progress goes with the lifting, since I updated last the maxes on my snatch has gone up by 5kg and my clean & jerk has gone up by 2 kg. I have really been working on my technique in the snatch. I am definately a visual learn and youtube videos have taught me more than I could ever imagine... Oh the lovely 21st century and all of the technology, woop woop! I feel like since I have been focusing so much on the snatch that my progress on the clean and jerk has gone so haywire. Always something to improve on!
The fun is just beginning.
02/03/2013
I didn't realize that it had been so long since I had last made a post. One of the people who has viewed my blog also says my language could probably be cleaned up a little bit. I shall acknowledge that, I have quite the sailor's mouth every now and then. Since the last time I posted I now have a weightlifting coach, am assistant coach at the Nebraska Weightlifting Club, and coaching strength and conditioning for kids which is oodles of fun and started instructing CrossFit (my version of it) to others!
Having a coach as well as being a coach has given me the greatest perspective on the sport of weightlifting. I didn't realize that having a coach could make such a difference, I taught myself a lot about the lifts but there was so much that I was doing incorrectly. I am still qualified as a newbie (in my first year even!) so it is still all a learning experience I am a sponge to information. Because of my amazing coach I qualified for University Nationals which is in Tennessee this year, saving up money is going to be a bigger challenge then lifting! It will be a wonderful experience having others in my weight class to give me a challenge. I am in the 69kg weight class, I sit on the lower end weight-wise but I view that as being able to gain muscle or weight if life happens and still fall comfortably in my weight class. Body image is unfortunately a big concern for me with this weight, but I am a girl so that comes naturally. I have to keep reminding myself that it is for the sport and body composition changes will occur and that I am still beautiful the way I am. It is hard especially being in college where all of the other girls are so skinny...don't get me wrong I love my quads and booty but I feel like there aren't many girls who are built like me...at least not in Nebraska! I am the only girl in the Weightlifting Club here, which results in lackluster motivation at times. Time to use that as fuel and set a fire under my ass to be the best in the mid-west!
Since August my snatch has gone up by 10kg and my clean & jerk has also gone up by 10kg....hard to believe! It makes me excited to get back into the gym tomorrow and go to work to make bigger PR's. One of the most appealing aspects regarding Olympic Weightlifting is that a person can never be complacent; there is ALWAYS room for improvement. This sport doesn't just make superior athletes it makes all around better people....really fucking corny, I know!
02/03/2013
I didn't realize that it had been so long since I had last made a post. One of the people who has viewed my blog also says my language could probably be cleaned up a little bit. I shall acknowledge that, I have quite the sailor's mouth every now and then. Since the last time I posted I now have a weightlifting coach, am assistant coach at the Nebraska Weightlifting Club, and coaching strength and conditioning for kids which is oodles of fun and started instructing CrossFit (my version of it) to others!
Having a coach as well as being a coach has given me the greatest perspective on the sport of weightlifting. I didn't realize that having a coach could make such a difference, I taught myself a lot about the lifts but there was so much that I was doing incorrectly. I am still qualified as a newbie (in my first year even!) so it is still all a learning experience I am a sponge to information. Because of my amazing coach I qualified for University Nationals which is in Tennessee this year, saving up money is going to be a bigger challenge then lifting! It will be a wonderful experience having others in my weight class to give me a challenge. I am in the 69kg weight class, I sit on the lower end weight-wise but I view that as being able to gain muscle or weight if life happens and still fall comfortably in my weight class. Body image is unfortunately a big concern for me with this weight, but I am a girl so that comes naturally. I have to keep reminding myself that it is for the sport and body composition changes will occur and that I am still beautiful the way I am. It is hard especially being in college where all of the other girls are so skinny...don't get me wrong I love my quads and booty but I feel like there aren't many girls who are built like me...at least not in Nebraska! I am the only girl in the Weightlifting Club here, which results in lackluster motivation at times. Time to use that as fuel and set a fire under my ass to be the best in the mid-west!
Since August my snatch has gone up by 10kg and my clean & jerk has also gone up by 10kg....hard to believe! It makes me excited to get back into the gym tomorrow and go to work to make bigger PR's. One of the most appealing aspects regarding Olympic Weightlifting is that a person can never be complacent; there is ALWAYS room for improvement. This sport doesn't just make superior athletes it makes all around better people....really fucking corny, I know!
02.15.2013
I had an absolutely horrible week. I have been blamed and pretty much reprimanded like a little school girl at one of my jobs. Granted I did over step some bounds but my intentions were for the best and that was misconstrued; I was never given the chance to voice my opinion or explain what had happened. This situation involved more than just me but I was the only one criticized and punished. I have learned that there are certain times in life to just keep your mouth shut even if what you think is the right thing to do; or even if what you are asked to do something. This whole things just baffles me. But there is nothing I can do about it now and another thing I have learned is that sometimes being the innocent bystander isn't such a bad thing. Perspective is something that many people lack or just to forget to recognize. Nobody ever looks from the other person's point of view until it is after the fact, this goes for myself included but I have made myself be more aware of this. I just wish that someone would stand in the other person's shoes and say "Oh now I get it!" It doesn't mean they have to necessarily agree just acknowledge that other people have a different thought process. Everyone just be nice to everyone and it will all be teddy bears and rainbows. Shit.
Considering my week was pretty much fucked by Tuesday my lifting went surprisingly well. I recently read an article reflecting on how everything else in life has an effect a person's progress in lifting. My situation is a little counterintuitive; usually when everything goes in the dumps my lifting does for the time being. I felt strong all week. I seriously think it is because I started going back to yoga, that sounds hippy-ish but the mobility and focused nature of yoga has brought me back to my happy place. You see, when I graduated high school becoming a yoga instructor was what I wanted to do with my life and in my heart I think I will be one, one day. I used to go to yoga seven days a week sometimes twice a day. It is like my lifting is to me now but I have found that my passion for lifting is much deeper. But these two things fit like butter and honey...makes everything just a bit sweeter. My joints have thanked me and so has my mind. Lifting is my escape, and yoga has become another one once again. A place where I can just focus and get lost in what I am doing without thinking about any other shit that is raining on my parade. (I know I said I was going to clean up my language; I am having a rather difficult time.)
I am just in a reflection sort of mood; to continue on that note, I was reading some of my past posts on the GymLife page and there was one referring to Jon North. I still think he is a pompous ass but I do not believe that he is a good instructor. As I have taught a fair amount of people how to snatch and clean I have some discrepancies in the way he tells people how to lift. I agree that keeping the bar as close as possible is key to any successful lift but actually making physical contact with the bar...hm....I do not agree with this. The reason: why would interrupting the path of the bar with opposing force make a person be able to lift more weight? It seems like it is almost cheating yourself, or you have a weak back and compensating for it. There are zillions of ways to coach an individual through these movements but there is a reason, besides steroids, that American Weightlifters are not making it to the Olympics as often as other countries. I believe this reason is that there is no cohesion in American when it comes to the coaching of Weightlifting. It seems like every other country has a good idea of what in the hell they are doing but we have ya-hoos coaching people to look straight up when performing lifts or doing other weird stuff. It's whatever. Again another thing out of my control that I get hung up on.
At least it is Friday.
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