Three years ago, when Ben first started lifting with us, he was strong as heck (still is) and as tight as piano wire. After a few weeks, he was able to hit 76/100 easily. Then became the grind of learning a new skill and then applying that skill. He was told at the time that his present CJ would become his future snatch. It did.
Suddenly, it dawned on me that he has done exactly that. He hit 97 in his last meet (102 in practice) and a 137 (140 in practice). And a pretty good ratio though the snatch could be a little higher in relation to the CJ. Three years of 4 days a week of training with all of its frustrations and little wins until he hits the milestone. It ain't easy, gotta keep at it.
Great job, Ben, and for all the Type A personalities who want to get their lifting into the stratosphere over the long weekend ("Let's bang this thing out and put 60 k on my lifts."), bear in mind, he did over 600 lifting sessions to make this happen.
In other great stuff:
Jordan sets PR in snatch and is the first lifter to fully complete the 6 week introduction to weightlifting program. Nice work!
Rio became a PR machine with PR in jerk and front squat. Way to go!
Fern is working through the body composition change program and noticing incredible results as her CJ, done for 10 singles, matches her previous meet PR.
Not to be outdone, George grinds out a couple of PR CJ at 125 and 130.
Brigid who also snatches more than what she used to CJ and taking a little more than about 2 years to do so continues her American Open preparation program. This week's sessions will be quite demanding.
Keith who warms up for the snatch with more than he used to CJ also continues his American Open preparation. His week looks pretty demanding, too.
Good things happen and progress is made if you knuckle down and put forth the effort.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
The Final Round in the Battle for the Belt
One could not ask for it to be closer than this battle for the battle was. Starting September 16 with a meet in Lexington, then a crazy fun team competition, and culminating in the FSU Open on October 20.
Since the battle rules include the possibility of losing ground, there were 5 contenders for the belt:
Zach, leading with 44.75 points
Chelsea with 33
Fern with 29.75
Pat with 29
Ron with 27.
Toss in the fact that there is also a multiplier when the competition is in a pure weightlifting meet and who knows who could end up on top.
Chelsea was in there with the 33 and a 6 for 6 day would have put her to 39 points. Alas, she missed lifts and was fixed at 33. Pat was somewhat on the outside looking in, but could leapfrog past people if others had a bad day and he had a good day. He missed lifts so he was still stuck at 29.
Fern threw it down by hitting two PR in the meet getting her 12.50 points and catapulting her to 42.25 points. Focus was on Zach as he could have a bad day, though unlikely.
Zach hits three PR in the meet, but misses one lift. Walks come back to haunt you in baseball and missed lifts haunt you in weightlifting. His multiplier is 1.25 and he gains 18.75 points ending with a total of 63.5. He is sitting pretty.
Ron, the only challenger left, responds with a 3 for 3 PR snatch performance and then goes 3 for 3 in CJ along with a PR. With his multiplier of 1.75, he gets 36.75 points. I had to check the calculator two or three times before seeing that Ron successfully defended the belt by 0.25 points!
Now, the question becomes, who is going to pry that thing out of Ron's hands with their own great lifting?
Fun stuff! Stay tuned for the next Battle for the Belt!
Since the battle rules include the possibility of losing ground, there were 5 contenders for the belt:
Zach, leading with 44.75 points
Chelsea with 33
Fern with 29.75
Pat with 29
Ron with 27.
Toss in the fact that there is also a multiplier when the competition is in a pure weightlifting meet and who knows who could end up on top.
Chelsea was in there with the 33 and a 6 for 6 day would have put her to 39 points. Alas, she missed lifts and was fixed at 33. Pat was somewhat on the outside looking in, but could leapfrog past people if others had a bad day and he had a good day. He missed lifts so he was still stuck at 29.
Fern threw it down by hitting two PR in the meet getting her 12.50 points and catapulting her to 42.25 points. Focus was on Zach as he could have a bad day, though unlikely.
Zach hits three PR in the meet, but misses one lift. Walks come back to haunt you in baseball and missed lifts haunt you in weightlifting. His multiplier is 1.25 and he gains 18.75 points ending with a total of 63.5. He is sitting pretty.
Ron, the only challenger left, responds with a 3 for 3 PR snatch performance and then goes 3 for 3 in CJ along with a PR. With his multiplier of 1.75, he gets 36.75 points. I had to check the calculator two or three times before seeing that Ron successfully defended the belt by 0.25 points!
Now, the question becomes, who is going to pry that thing out of Ron's hands with their own great lifting?
Fun stuff! Stay tuned for the next Battle for the Belt!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Competition: Team CF vs Team WL
OK, not an epic battle, but certainly a good time for all! Trash talking was abundant leading up to this team competition pitting 6 members of Team Crossfit (George, Pat, Chelsea, Terre, Kellene, and Mike) versus 7 members of Team Weightlifting (Ron, Keith, Zach, Jordan, Fern, Erik, and Abby). The contest consisted of: clean (3 attempts to maximum), dead lift (2 attempts to a maximum), and the medley (various stuff to get the heart rate and lactic acid levels up). In the unlikely event of a tie, Fern had brought in the Concept 2 rower for a 1000 meter drag race.
Points were scored for the top 10 positions and the team with the highest point total would be declared the winner. The winner would take all the money, pride, and bragging rights until the next time. Fortunately, there were no injuries so, the day was a good one and, to spare the reader the agony of going through the whole story, the winning team was Team Crossfit. Here are the details.
(one caveat: I think that I have all the numbers right, including the intermediate Battle for the Belt details. But, there might be a revision after a couple of days of other eyes on it besides mine...so, check back!)
First up was the clean to a max. No jerk, just clean. Since we had competitors of all ages, the Sinclair formula was used as well as the master's factor. Lifters were ranked according to their formula number, i.e. Sinclair x Master x Clean (in kg)= posted total. The numbers don't lie, either.
George ended up with the highest formula as he hit a 130 clean. There may have been some illegal contact on his final clean, but it was declared good. In order, we had: Ron in second, Pat, Keith, Mike, Zach, Chelsea, Jordan, Kellene, and Terre.
Now, the lifters prepared for the dead lift. This was a conventional dead lift with the knuckles facing out, same shoes as was worn in the snatch, no straps, and hands outside the feet. So, no Sumo allowed. Fascinating to watch the preparation for the lifters.
The junior lifters and female lifters went first. Chelsea squeezed out a dead lift of 121 that was one more kilo than Fern. Terre, Erik, Kellene, and Abby rounded out the rest.
On to the lightweight (under 200#) men, where there were three lifters. Pat made it not even close as he pulled 175 followed by Ron @ 150 and Keith @ 125.
Heavyweight men were next. George went all out, going 2 for 2, and pulling 215. Zach, also 2 for 2, hit 202, saving it for the medley. Mike and Jordan rounded out the field.
On to the medley which was a sled push, sled pull, implement (!) carry, plate carry, and 20 squats with an empty bar. Fastest time would be the basis for points. The field was divided into juniors/female and men. (it may be better to change how competitors are ranked the next time as this event was a dead heat on points 51 to 51).
Chelsea and Erik were the first pairing and she posted a time to beat of 1:19.72. Abby and Terre battled next followed by Fern versus Kellene. Finishing order had Chelsea followed by Fern,Terre, Erik, Kellene, and Abby
Keith went alone, paced by Ben. Ben had just finished his heavy day 4 lifting and stepped up to help out. Keith hit a pretty good time of 1:19.52 and was just faster than Ben who hit 1:30.00.
Pat and Ron went head to head with Pat posting a fast time of 1:13.63. Mike and Jordan went next. Lots of humanity out on the course with these two going at it. Mike blazed to a 1:02.38 with Jordan, despite taking a header during the plate carry, posted a fast 1:16.68.
Zach and George were battling for pride at this point as Team Crossfit was already spending the prize money. Zach smoked the course and beat Mike's time with a 1:01.94. George, developing a new appreciation for Crossfit and hate of oxygen debt, hit 1:18.56.
Final score: Team CF 146.5 to Team WL 133. Great competition and fun!
Intermediate Battle for the Belt standings have Zach (42) in first followed by George, Chelsea, Pat, Ron, and Fern. Now, Chelsea and Pat can only score a theoretical maximum of 6 points in the 10/20 meet but Zach could lose points according to the battle rules. And Ron could catapult himself into the lead with a
Points were scored for the top 10 positions and the team with the highest point total would be declared the winner. The winner would take all the money, pride, and bragging rights until the next time. Fortunately, there were no injuries so, the day was a good one and, to spare the reader the agony of going through the whole story, the winning team was Team Crossfit. Here are the details.
(one caveat: I think that I have all the numbers right, including the intermediate Battle for the Belt details. But, there might be a revision after a couple of days of other eyes on it besides mine...so, check back!)
First up was the clean to a max. No jerk, just clean. Since we had competitors of all ages, the Sinclair formula was used as well as the master's factor. Lifters were ranked according to their formula number, i.e. Sinclair x Master x Clean (in kg)= posted total. The numbers don't lie, either.
George ended up with the highest formula as he hit a 130 clean. There may have been some illegal contact on his final clean, but it was declared good. In order, we had: Ron in second, Pat, Keith, Mike, Zach, Chelsea, Jordan, Kellene, and Terre.
Now, the lifters prepared for the dead lift. This was a conventional dead lift with the knuckles facing out, same shoes as was worn in the snatch, no straps, and hands outside the feet. So, no Sumo allowed. Fascinating to watch the preparation for the lifters.
The junior lifters and female lifters went first. Chelsea squeezed out a dead lift of 121 that was one more kilo than Fern. Terre, Erik, Kellene, and Abby rounded out the rest.
On to the lightweight (under 200#) men, where there were three lifters. Pat made it not even close as he pulled 175 followed by Ron @ 150 and Keith @ 125.
Heavyweight men were next. George went all out, going 2 for 2, and pulling 215. Zach, also 2 for 2, hit 202, saving it for the medley. Mike and Jordan rounded out the field.
On to the medley which was a sled push, sled pull, implement (!) carry, plate carry, and 20 squats with an empty bar. Fastest time would be the basis for points. The field was divided into juniors/female and men. (it may be better to change how competitors are ranked the next time as this event was a dead heat on points 51 to 51).
Chelsea and Erik were the first pairing and she posted a time to beat of 1:19.72. Abby and Terre battled next followed by Fern versus Kellene. Finishing order had Chelsea followed by Fern,Terre, Erik, Kellene, and Abby
Keith went alone, paced by Ben. Ben had just finished his heavy day 4 lifting and stepped up to help out. Keith hit a pretty good time of 1:19.52 and was just faster than Ben who hit 1:30.00.
Pat and Ron went head to head with Pat posting a fast time of 1:13.63. Mike and Jordan went next. Lots of humanity out on the course with these two going at it. Mike blazed to a 1:02.38 with Jordan, despite taking a header during the plate carry, posted a fast 1:16.68.
Zach and George were battling for pride at this point as Team Crossfit was already spending the prize money. Zach smoked the course and beat Mike's time with a 1:01.94. George, developing a new appreciation for Crossfit and hate of oxygen debt, hit 1:18.56.
Final score: Team CF 146.5 to Team WL 133. Great competition and fun!
Intermediate Battle for the Belt standings have Zach (42) in first followed by George, Chelsea, Pat, Ron, and Fern. Now, Chelsea and Pat can only score a theoretical maximum of 6 points in the 10/20 meet but Zach could lose points according to the battle rules. And Ron could catapult himself into the lead with a
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Progress in a steady manner
Erik, a.k.a. "Rio", is our 14 year old lifter who started lifting after being a spectator at a meet a few months ago. Which emphasizes the importance of getting someone to a meet so that he can get excited about competing. If you are an adult weightlifter going to a meet and you don't have a youngster with you, well, I could go on and on, but this post is about progress.
Last night at practice, he is putting in a lot of effort doing his push presses. He is struggling to drive that weight up there as his legs were probably burnt out by the heavy squats just completed. I walk over to him to tell him he just completed 5 reps in the push press with a weight that he could not squat just a few weeks ago.
How is that for progress? What kid or adult would not want to experience that kind of progress? A loaded barbell that you cannot roll across the floor and now you are putting it up overhead for multiple reps??
Can I get a Cincinnati Reds rally howl?
Last night at practice, he is putting in a lot of effort doing his push presses. He is struggling to drive that weight up there as his legs were probably burnt out by the heavy squats just completed. I walk over to him to tell him he just completed 5 reps in the push press with a weight that he could not squat just a few weeks ago.
How is that for progress? What kid or adult would not want to experience that kind of progress? A loaded barbell that you cannot roll across the floor and now you are putting it up overhead for multiple reps??
Can I get a Cincinnati Reds rally howl?
Round 1, Battle for the Belt goes to...
Great meet hosted by Central Kentucky Weightlifting on a late Sunday morning had lifters chasing personal goals. A few PR were set and lifters were close to getting into upper level, national meets. Then, this meet started the next Battle for the Belt competition.
Abby and Fern started the event off. Fern is chasing state records and has tied one in practice. Abby is chasing qualifying totals for junior nationals and university championships.
Corrections follow:
Fern hit a 40 in snatch, tying a meet PR and headed into the CJ. Her opener proved to be the only one she got. She gave 48 an easy ride to hit the lift and post a PR tying total of 88. A two sticker performance!
Abby looked sharp in warm ups and went to the platform for her opening snatch. No problem with the 48. Her next two lifts of 51 and 52 were overhead, but not tight enough to complete them; she was credited with the 48. Her opening CJ was easy and she said, "...should have started higher..". Jumping to 57 for her second attempt, she gets it. The third attempt: way too far in front from the first pull so, no lift. She is credited with 48/57/105 which should get her university qualification and did get her 3 stickers and the first reward level!
Dave, one weight class lower than previously, nails his opening snatch. The next two were smooth and fast with plenty in the tank. The CJ was the same way. Finishing with a strong 80 on his final attempt, he was credited with a 58/80/138 in his first competition in a looong time. Nice work.
Keith was looking to tune up for the American Open in a few months. Goals were fairly modest (72/92/164) and he was able to hit them nicely. Opening snatch of 70 was routine and then 72 flew up there. The third attempt of 76 was just glued to floor a bit too long and he left it out in front. Same story in CJ: 88 up nicely, second attempt of 93 in the groove. The 96 was cleaned, jerked, but just not straight up enough so, a miss. He was credited with a 72/93/165.
Zach was well rested and moving nicely in warm up. The opening snatch was smoked as was the second. The third was a PR attempt. It came off the ground nicely, swept in, and pop. It was locked out and he was credited with a new PR of 80. CJ had a modest opener. The clean was fine, but the jerk was wobbly and he got three red flags for that. No matter, he was going up. 102 to tie his current gym PR. Clean: good. Jerk: a bit of an arm bend! Can he hold it without pressing out? He did and only the center judge gave him the thumbs down. On to a PR attempt. 105 cleaned and witnesses say his hips actually went down so that he could receive the bar. Good enough for me. The jerk was missed. 80/102/182 for 2 PR.
Ron was ready to begin the defense of the Belt. Warm ups smooth and he comes out to smoke the opener. he goes up, following himself. No problem with the 86. Calling for a new PR of 90, he just cannot get that timing right to get himself fully under it. In the CJ, if he can clean it, he can jerk it. 102 was easy for him today. The next two attempts at 107 and a PR total were not made. He is credited with the 86/102/188.
In this first event in the three event Battle for the Belt, Abby has the lead with Zach in second, and Dave in third. It is still very close with the next event set for October 6 there should be some shuffling of positions...Fern is close in the 4th position
Abby and Fern started the event off. Fern is chasing state records and has tied one in practice. Abby is chasing qualifying totals for junior nationals and university championships.
Corrections follow:
Fern hit a 40 in snatch, tying a meet PR and headed into the CJ. Her opener proved to be the only one she got. She gave 48 an easy ride to hit the lift and post a PR tying total of 88. A two sticker performance!
Abby looked sharp in warm ups and went to the platform for her opening snatch. No problem with the 48. Her next two lifts of 51 and 52 were overhead, but not tight enough to complete them; she was credited with the 48. Her opening CJ was easy and she said, "...should have started higher..". Jumping to 57 for her second attempt, she gets it. The third attempt: way too far in front from the first pull so, no lift. She is credited with 48/57/105 which should get her university qualification and did get her 3 stickers and the first reward level!
Dave, one weight class lower than previously, nails his opening snatch. The next two were smooth and fast with plenty in the tank. The CJ was the same way. Finishing with a strong 80 on his final attempt, he was credited with a 58/80/138 in his first competition in a looong time. Nice work.
Keith was looking to tune up for the American Open in a few months. Goals were fairly modest (72/92/164) and he was able to hit them nicely. Opening snatch of 70 was routine and then 72 flew up there. The third attempt of 76 was just glued to floor a bit too long and he left it out in front. Same story in CJ: 88 up nicely, second attempt of 93 in the groove. The 96 was cleaned, jerked, but just not straight up enough so, a miss. He was credited with a 72/93/165.
Zach was well rested and moving nicely in warm up. The opening snatch was smoked as was the second. The third was a PR attempt. It came off the ground nicely, swept in, and pop. It was locked out and he was credited with a new PR of 80. CJ had a modest opener. The clean was fine, but the jerk was wobbly and he got three red flags for that. No matter, he was going up. 102 to tie his current gym PR. Clean: good. Jerk: a bit of an arm bend! Can he hold it without pressing out? He did and only the center judge gave him the thumbs down. On to a PR attempt. 105 cleaned and witnesses say his hips actually went down so that he could receive the bar. Good enough for me. The jerk was missed. 80/102/182 for 2 PR.
Ron was ready to begin the defense of the Belt. Warm ups smooth and he comes out to smoke the opener. he goes up, following himself. No problem with the 86. Calling for a new PR of 90, he just cannot get that timing right to get himself fully under it. In the CJ, if he can clean it, he can jerk it. 102 was easy for him today. The next two attempts at 107 and a PR total were not made. He is credited with the 86/102/188.
In this first event in the three event Battle for the Belt, Abby has the lead with Zach in second, and Dave in third. It is still very close with the next event set for October 6 there should be some shuffling of positions...Fern is close in the 4th position
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Do you have ring around the collar?
Overall responsibility. That is a boring topic.
You sweat, your collar of your shirt gets dirty, you pre-soak the shirt in detergent, wash the shirt, and, magically, the ring disappears. Referring to this rather ancient laundry detergent advertisement is rather odd, you may think, but the true responsibility is that you must wash your neck. There is not anyone available to apply the Wisk so that the ring is removed; you need to keep that neck clean so that the ring doesn't appear in the first place.
Coaching responsibility is to get the best out of you in every session of every day. Doesn't always go as planned, but that is still the responsibility and goal of every individual session. A program (whether a 4 week or 12 week or 48 week program) has the objective of raising your lifts beyond what you thought you could do. A coach is irresponsible if he or she shows up with a "training program" generated when he was pumping gas earlier that afternoon.
A lifter is responsible for putting forth the effort needed in each training session taking place. Specifically avoided here is the terminology of "workout". A lifting session is not a workout. To me a workout is just to do some exercises to get a sweat going so that you can eat more at the next meal. A training program wants you to improve by 2-5% by the time you finish it. Our experienced lifters know that the six week "Russian Squat Program" works 100% of the time giving a hard working lifter a 2-5% increase in his or her squat.
A new lifter has the responsibility to learn the lifts, learn the definitions of the lifts, understand what warm up is required, what different effort feels like, etc. New lifter must also be willing to accept that there may be a need to do brain surgery. Take out all the old yucky crap that is residing in the gray matter about what is involved in lifting, replace that crap with fresh material on the lifts and their accessories, allow it to grow for a while, and then affix the skull before sending you on your merry way.
450 pound sumo deadlift? Part of that soon to be replaced crap. 320 pound low bar squat? Ditto. Clean and press 100 kilos? Ditto.
An intermediate or advanced lifter must accept the responsibility that focus and attention is needed from the moment the first warm up is started until the barbell is unloaded at the end of the training session. Once this lifter wraps his or her hands around the bar, hopefully employing the hook grip, there is nothing but the barbell. Want a 2% improvement at the end of 4 weeks? You need to accept the responsibility of focusing on the task at hand. Want 5% improvement at the end of 12 weeks? Might want to make double sure that your neck is clean.
So, the question to you is: Are you a lifter waiting for someone to beat your ring around the collar every time or are you a lifter who keeps his neck clean?
You sweat, your collar of your shirt gets dirty, you pre-soak the shirt in detergent, wash the shirt, and, magically, the ring disappears. Referring to this rather ancient laundry detergent advertisement is rather odd, you may think, but the true responsibility is that you must wash your neck. There is not anyone available to apply the Wisk so that the ring is removed; you need to keep that neck clean so that the ring doesn't appear in the first place.
Coaching responsibility is to get the best out of you in every session of every day. Doesn't always go as planned, but that is still the responsibility and goal of every individual session. A program (whether a 4 week or 12 week or 48 week program) has the objective of raising your lifts beyond what you thought you could do. A coach is irresponsible if he or she shows up with a "training program" generated when he was pumping gas earlier that afternoon.
A lifter is responsible for putting forth the effort needed in each training session taking place. Specifically avoided here is the terminology of "workout". A lifting session is not a workout. To me a workout is just to do some exercises to get a sweat going so that you can eat more at the next meal. A training program wants you to improve by 2-5% by the time you finish it. Our experienced lifters know that the six week "Russian Squat Program" works 100% of the time giving a hard working lifter a 2-5% increase in his or her squat.
A new lifter has the responsibility to learn the lifts, learn the definitions of the lifts, understand what warm up is required, what different effort feels like, etc. New lifter must also be willing to accept that there may be a need to do brain surgery. Take out all the old yucky crap that is residing in the gray matter about what is involved in lifting, replace that crap with fresh material on the lifts and their accessories, allow it to grow for a while, and then affix the skull before sending you on your merry way.
450 pound sumo deadlift? Part of that soon to be replaced crap. 320 pound low bar squat? Ditto. Clean and press 100 kilos? Ditto.
An intermediate or advanced lifter must accept the responsibility that focus and attention is needed from the moment the first warm up is started until the barbell is unloaded at the end of the training session. Once this lifter wraps his or her hands around the bar, hopefully employing the hook grip, there is nothing but the barbell. Want a 2% improvement at the end of 4 weeks? You need to accept the responsibility of focusing on the task at hand. Want 5% improvement at the end of 12 weeks? Might want to make double sure that your neck is clean.
So, the question to you is: Are you a lifter waiting for someone to beat your ring around the collar every time or are you a lifter who keeps his neck clean?
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Battle for the Belt: 1st successful defense!
The latest battle for the belt went to the final event with the winner in front by mere seconds at the end. Lifters had to do 4 snatches @ 92% then 4 clean & jerks @ successively more weight, ending with a PR CJ. 4 lifters made it to the leg killing Triple C Leg Cranks which consist of a ride on the Air Dyne, step ups, single leg squats, and squats.
Pat and Chelsea threw down the gauntlet on Thursday night.
Snatches for both were routine and more strength than technique. The hips were never in peril of going below or even near the knees on either lifter. Pat ended with a solid PR in CJ as did Chelsea. The tiebreaker was right in their sweet spot so, personal expectations were high. Pat did the Triple C Leg Cranks in a quick 4:22.08. Chelsea paced herself to a finish in 5:05.57.
Saturday started with Kellene. She hit all the snatches and her first two CJ. Despite strong encouragement from Fern, who was spectating, the 98% third CJ lift proved too heavy for today. Zach, Keith, Ron, and Ben all smashed the respective 92% snatch. Ben was operating under a newly established snatch PR and had good speed.
Keith was able to nail his first CJ. The next jump had him easily cleaning it, but just could not fix the bar overhead and himself under. Finally, he was able to get the weight on his 4th attempt; taking the weight for quite the exciting ride as he did so.
Zach sailed through his first three attempts and then came the final attempt for a PR. He was able to do it with only a quick little jump forward. New PR and a sticker!
Ron was the same way: first three attempts lead to the comment from one that he could at least make it look hard. His fourth PR attempt went up for an easy clean. Then the jerk was solidly locked out overhead.
Ben had recently set a new PR in CJ, too, so today's lifting could prove to be quite challenging. His first attempt at 92% would prove to be far too heavy and he just could not rack the weight. Ron and Zach continue on to the tiebreaker!
Zach goes first and hits a respectable 5:09.50, just behind Chelsea. It is up to Ron: Will he defend the title? Overthinking the process at first, he went through the bike portion fine. Step ups were a bit of a challenge, then he settled down finishing in a time of 4:19.87.
Ron is the first to defend the belt successfully with Pat in second and Chelsea in third. Great contest!
Pat and Chelsea threw down the gauntlet on Thursday night.
Snatches for both were routine and more strength than technique. The hips were never in peril of going below or even near the knees on either lifter. Pat ended with a solid PR in CJ as did Chelsea. The tiebreaker was right in their sweet spot so, personal expectations were high. Pat did the Triple C Leg Cranks in a quick 4:22.08. Chelsea paced herself to a finish in 5:05.57.
Saturday started with Kellene. She hit all the snatches and her first two CJ. Despite strong encouragement from Fern, who was spectating, the 98% third CJ lift proved too heavy for today. Zach, Keith, Ron, and Ben all smashed the respective 92% snatch. Ben was operating under a newly established snatch PR and had good speed.
Keith was able to nail his first CJ. The next jump had him easily cleaning it, but just could not fix the bar overhead and himself under. Finally, he was able to get the weight on his 4th attempt; taking the weight for quite the exciting ride as he did so.
Zach sailed through his first three attempts and then came the final attempt for a PR. He was able to do it with only a quick little jump forward. New PR and a sticker!
Ron was the same way: first three attempts lead to the comment from one that he could at least make it look hard. His fourth PR attempt went up for an easy clean. Then the jerk was solidly locked out overhead.
Ben had recently set a new PR in CJ, too, so today's lifting could prove to be quite challenging. His first attempt at 92% would prove to be far too heavy and he just could not rack the weight. Ron and Zach continue on to the tiebreaker!
Zach goes first and hits a respectable 5:09.50, just behind Chelsea. It is up to Ron: Will he defend the title? Overthinking the process at first, he went through the bike portion fine. Step ups were a bit of a challenge, then he settled down finishing in a time of 4:19.87.
Ron is the first to defend the belt successfully with Pat in second and Chelsea in third. Great contest!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
The feeling sinks in
That feeling of lifting a heavy weight (whether a relatively or absolutely heavy is immaterial) when it just feels good. Many times, the emphasis on partial lifts (either hang or block) is lost on a lifter. The question, "When do I get to do the full lifts?" comes up often. The answer is nearly as complicated to explain as asking, "Can you make a muscle?"
Pressure here, pressure there, weight balanced fore or aft...it seems pointless until the feeling sinks in. The past two weeks have seen many of the lifters feeling it.
Pat can now do snatch and CJ and say how each felt. Kathryn working off the blocks was able to figure out the feeling of in front and just right. Chelsea able to feel when she lowers herself or when she bends over to meet the bar. Nice stuff.
Fern working week 4 of her programming last week got that feeling as she was able to PR in the snatch and her top 3 attempts all looked the same. Her CJ matched her current PR; netting her a PR total and a 2 sticker. Steady improvements of a few percent every few weeks is nothing to at which to sneeze.
Ben, last week, hitting his snatching hard, but not quite getting it. Then the 100, 102 come easy. The mind blew up at the 105 as panic set in. Had the lift been done the same way with the same feel, it would have been made as there is plenty of hydraulic strength there.
Then, this week, 3 stage week, drilling in that explosive feeling above the knees, he gets it. Going after the singles in CJ, there was plenty of room for a big weight and PR. 130 went up so easily that it dropped 2 inches onto his rack. He went for 140 which was nailed, too. The mind was concentrating on the feeling of driving, pulling, moving under. A mere 2.2 kilos is added and then suddenly the feeling is lost (oh, no! 142 kilos on the bar!) and the lift is not made. Nonetheless, a few PR and the next reward level is reached.
Nice build up by lifters as we approach the battle for the belt on Saturday and meets in September, October, and December.
Pressure here, pressure there, weight balanced fore or aft...it seems pointless until the feeling sinks in. The past two weeks have seen many of the lifters feeling it.
Pat can now do snatch and CJ and say how each felt. Kathryn working off the blocks was able to figure out the feeling of in front and just right. Chelsea able to feel when she lowers herself or when she bends over to meet the bar. Nice stuff.
Fern working week 4 of her programming last week got that feeling as she was able to PR in the snatch and her top 3 attempts all looked the same. Her CJ matched her current PR; netting her a PR total and a 2 sticker. Steady improvements of a few percent every few weeks is nothing to at which to sneeze.
Ben, last week, hitting his snatching hard, but not quite getting it. Then the 100, 102 come easy. The mind blew up at the 105 as panic set in. Had the lift been done the same way with the same feel, it would have been made as there is plenty of hydraulic strength there.
Then, this week, 3 stage week, drilling in that explosive feeling above the knees, he gets it. Going after the singles in CJ, there was plenty of room for a big weight and PR. 130 went up so easily that it dropped 2 inches onto his rack. He went for 140 which was nailed, too. The mind was concentrating on the feeling of driving, pulling, moving under. A mere 2.2 kilos is added and then suddenly the feeling is lost (oh, no! 142 kilos on the bar!) and the lift is not made. Nonetheless, a few PR and the next reward level is reached.
Nice build up by lifters as we approach the battle for the belt on Saturday and meets in September, October, and December.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
In keeping with the theme: PR smashes
With the great results from the Record Breakers meet of a few weeks ago, the theme was continued this past week. Three lifters were able to set multiple PR this past week, leading up to Singlet Saturday.
On May 31, 2011, Ben called to anyone who was listening that he would hit 100 in the snatch. Well, I was not getting any younger and Ben had not hit the mark. Finally, this past week, 90 up nice, 95 up nice, then the 100 is loaded. Somehow, he turned his brain off, made that lift, and got a sticker in the process. And, this is the first time he can claim a higher than body weight (now 97) snatch!
Singlet Saturday proved to be very interesting. Fern's schedule called for some near PR attempts, but it was Singlet Saturday so why not go for some PR?
Warming up, the light weight was tough to control so a lot of the lifts were out in front. The so-called around the knees rather than through the knees lifts. Suddenly, it came together for her, and that 40 (PR tie) went up fast and smooth. She jumped up, shrugged down, and locked that weight overhead. Nice. Two more kilos; can she make the lift? She did. Very nicely, new PR and a sticker.
CJ has proven to be a bit tough for her especially as the weight approaches 85%. Today, not the case. Fast elbows and fast feet ruled the day. Just 4 weeks ago, she called for an ill advised 50 in her CJ. It was cleaned but not jerked. Today, she cleaned it and then she jerked it for a PR. A 3 PR day for her. She is now in the hunt for her age group records!
Not to be outdone on Singlet Saturday, Ben and Steve decide that they will have a little contest to see who gets the bigger CJ. Steve, if he can clean it, he MIGHT be able to jerk it versus Ben, if he can clean it, it is jerked. Many an injury has happened in these little events so, my nervousness is a bit high. Steve makes his 125 CJ but cannot jerk anything higher than that. Ben puts 130 to bed and then goes all the way up to 135. He cleans the 135, easily stands up, then misses the jerk. A PR clean, but not a full lift. Ugh.
Steve won this time and then the conversation turned to who was the better "baller".
Erik, a.k.a. "Rio", working hard on his snatch, asks if he can give a PR snatch a ride on Monday night. Why not? he was close to his next reward level and hitting a PR is never a bad thing. His partial lifting done, it is time to translate that explosiveness into the full lift from the ground. Snatch 1: ties a PR and he has plenty left. Snatch #2: new PR. BAM! Paydirt. Snatch #3: he increases the weight and hits it. 2 PR in the same night and he gets the next reward.
Nice work by the lifters.
On May 31, 2011, Ben called to anyone who was listening that he would hit 100 in the snatch. Well, I was not getting any younger and Ben had not hit the mark. Finally, this past week, 90 up nice, 95 up nice, then the 100 is loaded. Somehow, he turned his brain off, made that lift, and got a sticker in the process. And, this is the first time he can claim a higher than body weight (now 97) snatch!
Singlet Saturday proved to be very interesting. Fern's schedule called for some near PR attempts, but it was Singlet Saturday so why not go for some PR?
Warming up, the light weight was tough to control so a lot of the lifts were out in front. The so-called around the knees rather than through the knees lifts. Suddenly, it came together for her, and that 40 (PR tie) went up fast and smooth. She jumped up, shrugged down, and locked that weight overhead. Nice. Two more kilos; can she make the lift? She did. Very nicely, new PR and a sticker.
CJ has proven to be a bit tough for her especially as the weight approaches 85%. Today, not the case. Fast elbows and fast feet ruled the day. Just 4 weeks ago, she called for an ill advised 50 in her CJ. It was cleaned but not jerked. Today, she cleaned it and then she jerked it for a PR. A 3 PR day for her. She is now in the hunt for her age group records!
Not to be outdone on Singlet Saturday, Ben and Steve decide that they will have a little contest to see who gets the bigger CJ. Steve, if he can clean it, he MIGHT be able to jerk it versus Ben, if he can clean it, it is jerked. Many an injury has happened in these little events so, my nervousness is a bit high. Steve makes his 125 CJ but cannot jerk anything higher than that. Ben puts 130 to bed and then goes all the way up to 135. He cleans the 135, easily stands up, then misses the jerk. A PR clean, but not a full lift. Ugh.
Steve won this time and then the conversation turned to who was the better "baller".
Erik, a.k.a. "Rio", working hard on his snatch, asks if he can give a PR snatch a ride on Monday night. Why not? he was close to his next reward level and hitting a PR is never a bad thing. His partial lifting done, it is time to translate that explosiveness into the full lift from the ground. Snatch 1: ties a PR and he has plenty left. Snatch #2: new PR. BAM! Paydirt. Snatch #3: he increases the weight and hits it. 2 PR in the same night and he gets the next reward.
Nice work by the lifters.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Recordbreakers: Lived up to its name
The Midsummer Open is in the books. There were a number of PR set by the lifters who ranged in age from 12 to 50. According to my figures, at least 20 PR were set out of the 150 attempts. Not a bad day.
Thank you to the volunteers who helped run a smooth meet: Frank, Fern, Tony, Jordan, Steve, Ben, Fred, Kellene, Ron, Zach, and Dave. Thank you to all the lifters, coaches, and fans who braved the rain to come to the meet. Good thing meets are usually indoors!
The action got underway with Kyle, 12 years old, hitting a nice opener. He missed his next, but came back to nail it for number 3. CJ were OK, but he did miss his final 2 attempts. Perhaps competition at the national level a few weeks back left him gassed. Excellent form on this youngster.
Kelly, our oldest lifter and lifting in her first meet at Cincinnati Weightlifting Club, opened with a solid two lifts then made a big jump on her final lift. She was credited with 36. She came back to nail all three CJ for a good performance.
Fern, lifting for Cincinnati, went 3 for 3 in her snatch attempts, finishing with a PR. The CJ went equally well; though she missed, by inches, her final PR attempt. 40/48/88 for 2 PR.
Lauren, lifting unattached, came out strongly, too. She nailed all three snatches, finishing with a 45, and then nailed all three CJ, too. She was credited with a 45/60/105. Hopefully, she stays with it!
Annabeth, lifting unattached, opened with a strong 41 then pulled her next two attempts high enough, but could not screw herself under to make the lifts. She shook them off and came back nicely in CJ. She got 41/58/99.
Ryan, from Central Kentucky Weightlifting Club, accomplished her goal of qualifying for a national meet by going 6 for 6, posting 3 PR, and having great concentration. She hit 53/70/123 to post a Q-total for the 53 class.
Anthony, in his first meet for Cincinnati Weightlifting, hit a nice 55 opener, then missed his next two. He did set a nice PR with his 75 in the CJ. A respectable total in a first meet of 130.
Keith, also from Cincinnati WLC, missed his opener and his second attempt in snatch then came back to nail his third attempt. CJ was nice; a solid opener, a great second lift to post a PR total then all the stops came out when he attempted a state record CJ. Not this time. 76/96/172
Zach, from Cincinnati WLC, hit two solid attempts then got his nemesis of 75 in snatch. The CJ went well, too, as his second attempt was that pesky 100. 105 was cleaned, but not made. PR total!
Ron, from Cincinnati WLC, missed an easy opener then came back to nail it. His nemesis of 90 won the battle today. CJ were very, very nice. 102 up easy as was 107. 110 was not to be today!
Eric from Columbus hit all three snatches in good form then nailed his first two CJ. He tried for a PR in CJ, but it was too much. Nice lifting for this master lifter.
Paul, from Indiana, was going for national junior qualification today. He can definitely get it in his next meet. His opener of 85 in snatch was routine. 90 proved his undoing. He got a nice first two CJ in then he had to pull out all stops for his third attempt. 120 was strongly cleaned and then jerked. Great stuff, but he is two kilos short of the Q-total in his weight class.
Kyle from Bluegrass Barbell Club lifting in his natural class of 69 started strongly then just barely missed his third snatch. The CJ controlled him today. he got his opener but the next two attempts were not made despite a lot of effort.
Then, the heavyweight men started lifting. More loaders sped the loading process up and time was gained as the snatch portion went forward. With all this muscular humanity moving around the temperature inside the building went up about 10 degrees.
Jim, unattached from Columbus, opened solidly then got his second attempt easily. 108 beat him today. His CJ had a similar story line: first two good, last one a bit too much. The crowd was entertained as Jim nearly passed out from the effort on his third CJ attempt. Credited with 105/135/240
Aaron, from Fort Wayne, IN, pulled solidly for his opening snatch then pulled strongly but could not get under 112 twice. he missed his first CJ then came back to make that weight, posting a nice total of 107/125/232.
Chris, from Columbus WLC, lifting after an 18 month absence and wanting to bring back the 110 class, came out strongly at 90 for snatch. he then got 100 easily. 110 was too much. the CJ had a similar theme: first two good, last one too much. 100/140/240. Great work for this master lifter!
Jeb, from Bluegrass Barbell, hit a nice opener of 125 then missed his next two by leaving them a bit in front. He did quite well in the CJ going three for three and nailing a solid 160 for a PR and the heaviest weight all day!
Ben C, from Bluegrass Barbell, too, missed his opener and came back to make it. His PR of 110 was not to be. Better results in the CJ where he missed his opener then nailed it solidly moving up on his third attempt to 130. Credited with a 104/130/234 @ 94
Jordan H., lifting in his second meet, came ready to do damage. He went three for three in the snatch: 84/92/96 then three for three in the CJ: 110/115/120. Nice lifting from this strong kid!
Matt P, our only 85 in the meet, came out strongly with his opening snatch of 82 but missed 90 twice. His CJ was better as he got the opener of 105 but could not stand up with 110. There may be some leg strengthening exercises in his future.
Jordan J, lifting unattached from Columbus, hit his first two attempts nicely. The third was not made. He came back well for the CJ hitting nice lifts of 120/127. 132 proved a bit much. SO, he got 85/127/212 @ 105. Looks like there will be a lot of snatch work in his future!
Chris, lifting from East Coast Gold in this meet as a 77, got an easy opener then shockingly missed his second attempt. He came back solidly to show the barbell that he is the boss. Adjusting his opening CJ down a few kilos was a good move by his event coach as he got this lift easily. He came back for a nice second attempt but missed his third. He was the meet's best male lifter.
Ben, lifting unattached, got a solid opener of 98, went to 102, missed, and came back to get it. The CJ went well for his opener and he just could not get that 125. He was credited with a 102/125/227 @ 94
Bryan, a light 94, hit his opening two snatches quite well, but could not get the third. He was super solid in the CJ hitting all three lifts with authority. He finished a nice day with 85/110/195.
Travis, from Hoosier Barbell Club, came out of the gate strongly with an opener of 125. Fast and strong he looked like there was plenty more in the tank. Not to be, though. He missed his next two attempts. The CJ: all he had to do was post a huge lift of 160 as a 94. It was within his capability, but he missed his opener of 145. Then his second. Then his third, bombing out, and dislocating his shoulder in the process. Fortunately, the injury was attended to by a medical doctor and was not too bad.
A great meet! Next one at the club will most likely be in October.
Thank you to the volunteers who helped run a smooth meet: Frank, Fern, Tony, Jordan, Steve, Ben, Fred, Kellene, Ron, Zach, and Dave. Thank you to all the lifters, coaches, and fans who braved the rain to come to the meet. Good thing meets are usually indoors!
The action got underway with Kyle, 12 years old, hitting a nice opener. He missed his next, but came back to nail it for number 3. CJ were OK, but he did miss his final 2 attempts. Perhaps competition at the national level a few weeks back left him gassed. Excellent form on this youngster.
Kelly, our oldest lifter and lifting in her first meet at Cincinnati Weightlifting Club, opened with a solid two lifts then made a big jump on her final lift. She was credited with 36. She came back to nail all three CJ for a good performance.
Fern, lifting for Cincinnati, went 3 for 3 in her snatch attempts, finishing with a PR. The CJ went equally well; though she missed, by inches, her final PR attempt. 40/48/88 for 2 PR.
Lauren, lifting unattached, came out strongly, too. She nailed all three snatches, finishing with a 45, and then nailed all three CJ, too. She was credited with a 45/60/105. Hopefully, she stays with it!
Annabeth, lifting unattached, opened with a strong 41 then pulled her next two attempts high enough, but could not screw herself under to make the lifts. She shook them off and came back nicely in CJ. She got 41/58/99.
Ryan, from Central Kentucky Weightlifting Club, accomplished her goal of qualifying for a national meet by going 6 for 6, posting 3 PR, and having great concentration. She hit 53/70/123 to post a Q-total for the 53 class.
Anthony, in his first meet for Cincinnati Weightlifting, hit a nice 55 opener, then missed his next two. He did set a nice PR with his 75 in the CJ. A respectable total in a first meet of 130.
Keith, also from Cincinnati WLC, missed his opener and his second attempt in snatch then came back to nail his third attempt. CJ was nice; a solid opener, a great second lift to post a PR total then all the stops came out when he attempted a state record CJ. Not this time. 76/96/172
Zach, from Cincinnati WLC, hit two solid attempts then got his nemesis of 75 in snatch. The CJ went well, too, as his second attempt was that pesky 100. 105 was cleaned, but not made. PR total!
Ron, from Cincinnati WLC, missed an easy opener then came back to nail it. His nemesis of 90 won the battle today. CJ were very, very nice. 102 up easy as was 107. 110 was not to be today!
Eric from Columbus hit all three snatches in good form then nailed his first two CJ. He tried for a PR in CJ, but it was too much. Nice lifting for this master lifter.
Paul, from Indiana, was going for national junior qualification today. He can definitely get it in his next meet. His opener of 85 in snatch was routine. 90 proved his undoing. He got a nice first two CJ in then he had to pull out all stops for his third attempt. 120 was strongly cleaned and then jerked. Great stuff, but he is two kilos short of the Q-total in his weight class.
Kyle from Bluegrass Barbell Club lifting in his natural class of 69 started strongly then just barely missed his third snatch. The CJ controlled him today. he got his opener but the next two attempts were not made despite a lot of effort.
Then, the heavyweight men started lifting. More loaders sped the loading process up and time was gained as the snatch portion went forward. With all this muscular humanity moving around the temperature inside the building went up about 10 degrees.
Jim, unattached from Columbus, opened solidly then got his second attempt easily. 108 beat him today. His CJ had a similar story line: first two good, last one a bit too much. The crowd was entertained as Jim nearly passed out from the effort on his third CJ attempt. Credited with 105/135/240
Aaron, from Fort Wayne, IN, pulled solidly for his opening snatch then pulled strongly but could not get under 112 twice. he missed his first CJ then came back to make that weight, posting a nice total of 107/125/232.
Chris, from Columbus WLC, lifting after an 18 month absence and wanting to bring back the 110 class, came out strongly at 90 for snatch. he then got 100 easily. 110 was too much. the CJ had a similar theme: first two good, last one too much. 100/140/240. Great work for this master lifter!
Jeb, from Bluegrass Barbell, hit a nice opener of 125 then missed his next two by leaving them a bit in front. He did quite well in the CJ going three for three and nailing a solid 160 for a PR and the heaviest weight all day!
Ben C, from Bluegrass Barbell, too, missed his opener and came back to make it. His PR of 110 was not to be. Better results in the CJ where he missed his opener then nailed it solidly moving up on his third attempt to 130. Credited with a 104/130/234 @ 94
Jordan H., lifting in his second meet, came ready to do damage. He went three for three in the snatch: 84/92/96 then three for three in the CJ: 110/115/120. Nice lifting from this strong kid!
Matt P, our only 85 in the meet, came out strongly with his opening snatch of 82 but missed 90 twice. His CJ was better as he got the opener of 105 but could not stand up with 110. There may be some leg strengthening exercises in his future.
Jordan J, lifting unattached from Columbus, hit his first two attempts nicely. The third was not made. He came back well for the CJ hitting nice lifts of 120/127. 132 proved a bit much. SO, he got 85/127/212 @ 105. Looks like there will be a lot of snatch work in his future!
Chris, lifting from East Coast Gold in this meet as a 77, got an easy opener then shockingly missed his second attempt. He came back solidly to show the barbell that he is the boss. Adjusting his opening CJ down a few kilos was a good move by his event coach as he got this lift easily. He came back for a nice second attempt but missed his third. He was the meet's best male lifter.
Ben, lifting unattached, got a solid opener of 98, went to 102, missed, and came back to get it. The CJ went well for his opener and he just could not get that 125. He was credited with a 102/125/227 @ 94
Bryan, a light 94, hit his opening two snatches quite well, but could not get the third. He was super solid in the CJ hitting all three lifts with authority. He finished a nice day with 85/110/195.
Travis, from Hoosier Barbell Club, came out of the gate strongly with an opener of 125. Fast and strong he looked like there was plenty more in the tank. Not to be, though. He missed his next two attempts. The CJ: all he had to do was post a huge lift of 160 as a 94. It was within his capability, but he missed his opener of 145. Then his second. Then his third, bombing out, and dislocating his shoulder in the process. Fortunately, the injury was attended to by a medical doctor and was not too bad.
A great meet! Next one at the club will most likely be in October.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Just another PR
Just another PR kind of day. Ben hits 180 in front squat for a single. His strength is improving as his squat was 200 just the other day. Perhaps he is being pushed in the proper direction now. Hopefully, both of these lifts translate into higher competition lifts. One can only hope...
And, Chelsea hits two PR in the same day. On Monday she jerks 65 for a PR and a sticker. Today, jerks were on the menu and she hit 67 then 71 for 2 stickers. Nice work!
Our other lifters will be uncorking solid PR at the meet on Saturday at the club. Should be 20-25 lifters in the meet; many first timers!!
And, Chelsea hits two PR in the same day. On Monday she jerks 65 for a PR and a sticker. Today, jerks were on the menu and she hit 67 then 71 for 2 stickers. Nice work!
Our other lifters will be uncorking solid PR at the meet on Saturday at the club. Should be 20-25 lifters in the meet; many first timers!!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Battle for Belt: In the books
Matthias Steiner had nothing on this battle. Well, OK, he had the drama and a gold medal, but we had a lot of fun. And, it still it came down to the last CJ. Funny how that works.
many thanks to Brian and Frank for acting as meet referees: great job!
Setting the stage, 6 lifters were left standing for the final day of the month long Battle for the Belt prototype for a weightlifting league (kind of like a beer league except a bit more work). Fern was holding first place down with what seemed like a commanding lead. Keith and Ron trailed.
With the Belt, money, and pride on the line, Kellene got the lifting started. She finished 3 for 3 in the snatch and a PR of 36. Fern threw it down with a 3 for 3 performance, too, and a PR of 38.
Pat, seeking to avenge his performance of earlier, debuted a new snatch technique he called "Pull hard, move fast" (!) and went 3 for 3 setting a PR in the process.
Zach started solidly nailing his first two snatches then missing his nemesis of 75.
Keith, who recently set the new Ohio record in snatch, started nicely with 70 and 75 then just missed 78.
Ron banged out a 3 for 3 performance and got a PR of 88 in the process.
Then CJ started. Kellene, using the boiling-the-frog technique went 3 for 3 and hit an easy PR of 45. Her total was 21 points and plenty left in the tank. Fern looked good on her first two CJ. The bar was about to be loaded to a PR 48 and she calls for one more kilo. She succumbs to the testosterone in the room and calls for an even 50. She makes it, she wins the belt; she misses, the barn door is wide open.
Nice clean. She spends an eternity deciding how she was going to jerk it and missed it. Either Ron or Keith can catch her now.
Pat comes back with an excellent series of CJ finishing with a very strong 78. He goes 6 for 6 and hits 3 PR for a total of 21 points, Nice!
Zach gets the most solid looking CJ of his career to date when he sticks a 97. He just could not seem to get the 102 to a solid jerk position. He goes 4 for 6 with a nice 169 total.
Ron calls for 98 on his opener and he hits it nicely. Then a 103. Paydirt. He needs to make the final attempt for a PR, 6 for 6, and maximum points possible. He cleans it. He jerks it and BOOM! Stuck. He has now become the leader in the battle, pending Keith's final attempt.
Keith bangs out an easy 91 then a nice 94. It all comes down to the final CJ: make it, he keeps the belt. Miss it: third place, at best. Will he be able to channel Matthias?
He calls for a PR 97. He hits the bottom position then stands up. It looks as if his eyes roll back in his head and he decides to go for the jerk before things get worse for him. It pops off, but he has nothing and misses it. He gets 4 for 6 and a 169 total.
Ron wins the belt, the money, and bragging rights til the next time!
many thanks to Brian and Frank for acting as meet referees: great job!
Setting the stage, 6 lifters were left standing for the final day of the month long Battle for the Belt prototype for a weightlifting league (kind of like a beer league except a bit more work). Fern was holding first place down with what seemed like a commanding lead. Keith and Ron trailed.
With the Belt, money, and pride on the line, Kellene got the lifting started. She finished 3 for 3 in the snatch and a PR of 36. Fern threw it down with a 3 for 3 performance, too, and a PR of 38.
Pat, seeking to avenge his performance of earlier, debuted a new snatch technique he called "Pull hard, move fast" (!) and went 3 for 3 setting a PR in the process.
Zach started solidly nailing his first two snatches then missing his nemesis of 75.
Keith, who recently set the new Ohio record in snatch, started nicely with 70 and 75 then just missed 78.
Ron banged out a 3 for 3 performance and got a PR of 88 in the process.
Then CJ started. Kellene, using the boiling-the-frog technique went 3 for 3 and hit an easy PR of 45. Her total was 21 points and plenty left in the tank. Fern looked good on her first two CJ. The bar was about to be loaded to a PR 48 and she calls for one more kilo. She succumbs to the testosterone in the room and calls for an even 50. She makes it, she wins the belt; she misses, the barn door is wide open.
Nice clean. She spends an eternity deciding how she was going to jerk it and missed it. Either Ron or Keith can catch her now.
Pat comes back with an excellent series of CJ finishing with a very strong 78. He goes 6 for 6 and hits 3 PR for a total of 21 points, Nice!
Zach gets the most solid looking CJ of his career to date when he sticks a 97. He just could not seem to get the 102 to a solid jerk position. He goes 4 for 6 with a nice 169 total.
Ron calls for 98 on his opener and he hits it nicely. Then a 103. Paydirt. He needs to make the final attempt for a PR, 6 for 6, and maximum points possible. He cleans it. He jerks it and BOOM! Stuck. He has now become the leader in the battle, pending Keith's final attempt.
Keith bangs out an easy 91 then a nice 94. It all comes down to the final CJ: make it, he keeps the belt. Miss it: third place, at best. Will he be able to channel Matthias?
He calls for a PR 97. He hits the bottom position then stands up. It looks as if his eyes roll back in his head and he decides to go for the jerk before things get worse for him. It pops off, but he has nothing and misses it. He gets 4 for 6 and a 169 total.
Ron wins the belt, the money, and bragging rights til the next time!
Friday, June 22, 2012
Hitting PR in Lifts and Accessory Lifts
Gotta get stronger and more efficient to be a better weightlifter. Club members are doing both of these things to get to that state of better weightlifting...
Zach learns how to lower his hips and meet the bar in both the clean AND snatch. Plus, he was able to hit a PR in front squat, which one can only hope translates into better CJ.
Erik, a.k.a. Eye Candy, hits PR in snatch (from blocks) and in squat (due to a misload-- just lift the bar, not the weight!)
Fern hits PR squat for 5 reps, determined to be stronger off the ground.
Anthony decides to put the clean AND jerk together and does great, hitting a PR.
Ron, after a brutal session in the squat rack, ties his PR in the jerk. Did so with plenty of room to spare; now just gotta clean it.
Brigid, three time zones away, trains with weights that used to be out of reach in competition!
Progress: you (think) you give it all, but I want more. Lift heavy and often...
Zach learns how to lower his hips and meet the bar in both the clean AND snatch. Plus, he was able to hit a PR in front squat, which one can only hope translates into better CJ.
Erik, a.k.a. Eye Candy, hits PR in snatch (from blocks) and in squat (due to a misload-- just lift the bar, not the weight!)
Fern hits PR squat for 5 reps, determined to be stronger off the ground.
Anthony decides to put the clean AND jerk together and does great, hitting a PR.
Ron, after a brutal session in the squat rack, ties his PR in the jerk. Did so with plenty of room to spare; now just gotta clean it.
Brigid, three time zones away, trains with weights that used to be out of reach in competition!
Progress: you (think) you give it all, but I want more. Lift heavy and often...
Battle for the Belt, Final Phase
The final event in the month long Battle for the Belt will be Saturday, June 30. The calculations are rather complicated so, there is no need to bore the reader with the details. Suffice it to say, Fern maintained her lead after the Lexington Meet. Close on her heels is Keith. Ron is right behind Keith. Any one of these three lifters could emerge with the money and belt. In 4th place is Jessica and Ben and Zach are separated by 0.75 point in the next two.
It will be quite the battle next Saturday!
It will be quite the battle next Saturday!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
State champ, state record, nationals qualifier
It does not get any better than that! Cincinnati Weightlifting Club had a great day with all three of the events above happening. Plus each lifter posted a PR with no bomb outs. WOO HOO!
At the Central KY Open Meet in Lexington, hosted by Central KY Weightlifting, 7 lifters were competing. Abby and Jessica in their first official meet.
Fern leads off the action and goes 3 for 3 in snatch, hitting a PR of 38. She has 2 solid CJ then just misses the final CJ, which would have been a PR. 38/46/84, ties her PR total. Nice!
Abby, 58 kg, in her first meet, hits her opener and she is on her way. Her second attempt was incomplete and she rebounds to hit it solidly for #3. Her CJ went the same: solid opener, a bit hesitant on the second, and then an excellent comeback to make the lift. She finished the day with solid lifts of 45/56/101.
Jessica, 58 kg, also her first meet, hits her opener and she is on her way. Second snatch attempt was somewhat pesky for her, but she comes back to nail it. CJ were solid, 3 for 3. She hits her final CJ to qualify her for junior nationals. 45/64/109 earns her a spot in San Fran in 2013.
Zach warms up nicely and gets an easy 70 opener. 73 pops up, but 75 is not good. He nails his opening CJ of 95 then needs to move up a few kilos to get more points in the Belt Competition. Neither 100 nor 102 are made. He is credited with a 73 for a PR/95/168.
Keith, weighing 56 kg, is chasing the state records. He opens with a power snatch of 72. Next is the first go at 77. Bang! Made. 81 was not tight in the bottom so, the 77 new state record stands. He opens with a 92 in CJ, then gives two tries to 97 for the total record. Only 92 was a success. 77/92/169 for a state record and meet PR as 56.
Ron, nudged his way into the 77 class, opens with 2 misses in snatch. Finally, he gets the 82 on the competition platform. 80 in warm up: easy. 82: 3 tries! The CJ was better. 102 opener: nailed. 107 for the second attempt was good. He made a good run at 110 but could not get his hips down low enough to rack the bar. 82/107/189: total PR.
Ben, looking to get on track in the new-for-him 94 kg class, opens with an easy 87. 92 was his undoing and he only was able to hit his opener. CJ is good: solid opener of 120. Two sides of beef go on each side of the bar and he cleans it without struggle. Then, he nails the jerk for a PR of 125. 87/125/212, ties his PR total.
Meanwhile, up north in Sandusky, Jake was taking advantage of good training and hit 110/114 in snatch. a PR of 119 just a bit to the front. He nails a routine opener of 145 then cleans, but forgets how to jerk, 151 not once, but twice. Ah, well, entertainment for the crowd. He is credited with 114/145/259 good enough to be keep his 85 kilo state championship for another year!
A great day for the lifters! Congratulations to each lifter.
At the Central KY Open Meet in Lexington, hosted by Central KY Weightlifting, 7 lifters were competing. Abby and Jessica in their first official meet.
Fern leads off the action and goes 3 for 3 in snatch, hitting a PR of 38. She has 2 solid CJ then just misses the final CJ, which would have been a PR. 38/46/84, ties her PR total. Nice!
Abby, 58 kg, in her first meet, hits her opener and she is on her way. Her second attempt was incomplete and she rebounds to hit it solidly for #3. Her CJ went the same: solid opener, a bit hesitant on the second, and then an excellent comeback to make the lift. She finished the day with solid lifts of 45/56/101.
Jessica, 58 kg, also her first meet, hits her opener and she is on her way. Second snatch attempt was somewhat pesky for her, but she comes back to nail it. CJ were solid, 3 for 3. She hits her final CJ to qualify her for junior nationals. 45/64/109 earns her a spot in San Fran in 2013.
Zach warms up nicely and gets an easy 70 opener. 73 pops up, but 75 is not good. He nails his opening CJ of 95 then needs to move up a few kilos to get more points in the Belt Competition. Neither 100 nor 102 are made. He is credited with a 73 for a PR/95/168.
Keith, weighing 56 kg, is chasing the state records. He opens with a power snatch of 72. Next is the first go at 77. Bang! Made. 81 was not tight in the bottom so, the 77 new state record stands. He opens with a 92 in CJ, then gives two tries to 97 for the total record. Only 92 was a success. 77/92/169 for a state record and meet PR as 56.
Ron, nudged his way into the 77 class, opens with 2 misses in snatch. Finally, he gets the 82 on the competition platform. 80 in warm up: easy. 82: 3 tries! The CJ was better. 102 opener: nailed. 107 for the second attempt was good. He made a good run at 110 but could not get his hips down low enough to rack the bar. 82/107/189: total PR.
Ben, looking to get on track in the new-for-him 94 kg class, opens with an easy 87. 92 was his undoing and he only was able to hit his opener. CJ is good: solid opener of 120. Two sides of beef go on each side of the bar and he cleans it without struggle. Then, he nails the jerk for a PR of 125. 87/125/212, ties his PR total.
Meanwhile, up north in Sandusky, Jake was taking advantage of good training and hit 110/114 in snatch. a PR of 119 just a bit to the front. He nails a routine opener of 145 then cleans, but forgets how to jerk, 151 not once, but twice. Ah, well, entertainment for the crowd. He is credited with 114/145/259 good enough to be keep his 85 kilo state championship for another year!
A great day for the lifters! Congratulations to each lifter.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Battle for the Belt: Event 1
The first of three events is in the books for the Battle. As per usual, some surprises did take place.
One change made is about the penalty points. They will not be subject to the multiplier. The bonus points will be.
First, let's set up the divisions:
Division 1 is: Ben, Fern, Keith, and Ron.
Division 3 is Zach and Division 4 is Tony, Pat, Kellene, Abby, and Jessica.
Pat provided a test run on Thursday night and all went well. He went 5 for 6 in his lifts and got 57/77/134. These numbers will be used for the June 30 event.
Saturday was a big day with the remaining 9 lifters going at it. Sparing the reader the details, here are the top 3 finishers, based upon calculations performed while completely sober.
First place: Fern with 21 points
Second place: Zach with 12.50 points
Third place: Ron with 8.75 points.
Abby, Jessica, Kellene, and Fern all went round robin finishing their lifting quickly. For Abby and Jessica, the event was a planned practice for their first (of many one can only hope) meet on June 9.
Abby goes 5 for 6 finishing with 42/54/106. Plenty in the tank for her
Jessica goes 6 for 6 finishing with 44/54/108. She had plenty left, too.
Kellene was a bit off in the snatch hitting only 1 @ 35 and made up for it in CJ as she went 3 for 3 finishing with 40.
Fern coming in with PR of 35/42/77 went 6 for 6 and nailed 37/47/84
Tony, nursing sore shoulders, spent some time warming up and may have overworked them in the process. Still, he went 6 for 6 in his first "competition". He got respectable numbers of 65/82 with more than enough in the tank to add 30% to each.
Zach coming in with PR of 72/96/168 hit 2 for 6 as he just could not get that timing right on the snatch or CJ. He finished with 70/100/170.
Ben, Keith, and Ron have the toughest row to hoe and had to plan lifts carefully for the meet.
Ron, 87/110/187 (not a misprint), missed his first 2 snatch attempts then solidly got the 85 on 3. CJ were rock solid for 105. he could not rack that pesky PR of 112.
Keith, chasing state of Ohio records in his upcoming official contests, 80/96/171, finished with a 76/90/166. Programming for he and Ron have been quite intense lately...
Ben, dropping weight classes like a prom dress, 95/134/226, got his first 2 snatches missing a PR 97. CJ is where the dropped weight really affects him. He got his opener of 120 and then next two attempts were fast moving dead lifts. He is credited with a 92/120/212.
Next Saturday, June 9, 7 lifters travel to Lexington, KY, to see what kind of weight can be put up overhead. And, of course, to see if there is any change in the standings.
One change made is about the penalty points. They will not be subject to the multiplier. The bonus points will be.
First, let's set up the divisions:
Division 1 is: Ben, Fern, Keith, and Ron.
Division 3 is Zach and Division 4 is Tony, Pat, Kellene, Abby, and Jessica.
Pat provided a test run on Thursday night and all went well. He went 5 for 6 in his lifts and got 57/77/134. These numbers will be used for the June 30 event.
Saturday was a big day with the remaining 9 lifters going at it. Sparing the reader the details, here are the top 3 finishers, based upon calculations performed while completely sober.
First place: Fern with 21 points
Second place: Zach with 12.50 points
Third place: Ron with 8.75 points.
Abby, Jessica, Kellene, and Fern all went round robin finishing their lifting quickly. For Abby and Jessica, the event was a planned practice for their first (of many one can only hope) meet on June 9.
Abby goes 5 for 6 finishing with 42/54/106. Plenty in the tank for her
Jessica goes 6 for 6 finishing with 44/54/108. She had plenty left, too.
Kellene was a bit off in the snatch hitting only 1 @ 35 and made up for it in CJ as she went 3 for 3 finishing with 40.
Fern coming in with PR of 35/42/77 went 6 for 6 and nailed 37/47/84
Tony, nursing sore shoulders, spent some time warming up and may have overworked them in the process. Still, he went 6 for 6 in his first "competition". He got respectable numbers of 65/82 with more than enough in the tank to add 30% to each.
Zach coming in with PR of 72/96/168 hit 2 for 6 as he just could not get that timing right on the snatch or CJ. He finished with 70/100/170.
Ben, Keith, and Ron have the toughest row to hoe and had to plan lifts carefully for the meet.
Ron, 87/110/187 (not a misprint), missed his first 2 snatch attempts then solidly got the 85 on 3. CJ were rock solid for 105. he could not rack that pesky PR of 112.
Keith, chasing state of Ohio records in his upcoming official contests, 80/96/171, finished with a 76/90/166. Programming for he and Ron have been quite intense lately...
Ben, dropping weight classes like a prom dress, 95/134/226, got his first 2 snatches missing a PR 97. CJ is where the dropped weight really affects him. He got his opener of 120 and then next two attempts were fast moving dead lifts. He is credited with a 92/120/212.
Next Saturday, June 9, 7 lifters travel to Lexington, KY, to see what kind of weight can be put up overhead. And, of course, to see if there is any change in the standings.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Battle for the Belt League Details
With a thank you to another weightlifting federation, we roll out our own weightlifting league. The details as the lifters battle for the belt for the month of June.
There are three events: June 2 and June 30 in our club and June 9 (a meet in Lexington). Points will be accumulated by all participants and the lifter with the most points takes the belt and some cash. Cash will be awarded to 2nd and 3rd place lifters, too. So, lots of motivation especially when pride is on the line!!
Each competitor’s total, whether in training or competition as of May 31, 2012 is used to calculate what percentage of the relevant Ohio state record total. If a lifter has never competed before, automatically Division 4 and, in the absence of personal records, cannot get bonus or penalty points. Can get 6 for 6 bonus points.
The contested lifts are snatch and clean & jerk. Tie breaker, should it exist, will be front squat on June 30. If still tied after that, Triple C Leg Cranks performed in shortest time will win.
The final total divided by the current record x 100 = Percentage Points. The divisions are set up this way:
Division 1 >= 60% of OHIO RECORD, multiplier of 1.75 to bonus and penalty points
Division 2 <60% >=50% of OHIO RECORD, multiplier of 1.50 to bonus and penalty points
Division 3 <50% >=40% of OHIO RECORD, multiplier of 1.25 to bonus and penalty points
Division 4 <40% of OHIO RECORD, no bonus multiplier
Personal Best Bonus
Points will be awarded for equalling or exceeding current Personal Best results according to the following scale:
Heaviest Snatch equalling Personal Best 1 Point, Heaviest Snatch exceeding Personal Best 5 Points
Heaviest Clean & Jerk equalling Personal Best 1 Point, Heaviest Clean & Jerk exceeding Personal Best 5 Points
Final Total equalling Personal Best 1 Point, Final Total exceeding Personal Best 5 Points
Six out of Six Bonus
Six (6) points will be awarded for all six attempts being successfully completed, in any meet.
Penalty Points
The following Penalty Points will accrue for performances below Personal Best:
Heaviest Snatch more than 2kg below Personal Best -3 Points,
Heaviest Snatch more than 5kg below Personal Best -5 Points
Heaviest Clean & Jerk more than 5kg below Personal Best -3 Points
Heaviest Clean & Jerk more than 8kg below Personal Best -5 Points
Final Total more than 4kg below Personal Best -3 Points
Final Total more than 8kg below Personal Best -5 Points
Bombing out has a penalty of 10 points
Calculating the Final Score
Division Multiplier (Bonus Points less Penalty Points) = Final Score, total up all final scores, lifter with the highest point total on June 30, wins. Belt and 70% of money go to winner. 20% of money goes to second place, 10% of money goes to 3rd place.
Keith holds the belt now: Will he be the first to successfully defend it??
There are three events: June 2 and June 30 in our club and June 9 (a meet in Lexington). Points will be accumulated by all participants and the lifter with the most points takes the belt and some cash. Cash will be awarded to 2nd and 3rd place lifters, too. So, lots of motivation especially when pride is on the line!!
Each competitor’s total, whether in training or competition as of May 31, 2012 is used to calculate what percentage of the relevant Ohio state record total. If a lifter has never competed before, automatically Division 4 and, in the absence of personal records, cannot get bonus or penalty points. Can get 6 for 6 bonus points.
The contested lifts are snatch and clean & jerk. Tie breaker, should it exist, will be front squat on June 30. If still tied after that, Triple C Leg Cranks performed in shortest time will win.
The final total divided by the current record x 100 = Percentage Points. The divisions are set up this way:
Division 1 >= 60% of OHIO RECORD, multiplier of 1.75 to bonus and penalty points
Division 2 <60% >=50% of OHIO RECORD, multiplier of 1.50 to bonus and penalty points
Division 3 <50% >=40% of OHIO RECORD, multiplier of 1.25 to bonus and penalty points
Division 4 <40% of OHIO RECORD, no bonus multiplier
Personal Best Bonus
Points will be awarded for equalling or exceeding current Personal Best results according to the following scale:
Heaviest Snatch equalling Personal Best 1 Point, Heaviest Snatch exceeding Personal Best 5 Points
Heaviest Clean & Jerk equalling Personal Best 1 Point, Heaviest Clean & Jerk exceeding Personal Best 5 Points
Final Total equalling Personal Best 1 Point, Final Total exceeding Personal Best 5 Points
Six out of Six Bonus
Six (6) points will be awarded for all six attempts being successfully completed, in any meet.
Penalty Points
The following Penalty Points will accrue for performances below Personal Best:
Heaviest Snatch more than 2kg below Personal Best -3 Points,
Heaviest Snatch more than 5kg below Personal Best -5 Points
Heaviest Clean & Jerk more than 5kg below Personal Best -3 Points
Heaviest Clean & Jerk more than 8kg below Personal Best -5 Points
Final Total more than 4kg below Personal Best -3 Points
Final Total more than 8kg below Personal Best -5 Points
Bombing out has a penalty of 10 points
Calculating the Final Score
Division Multiplier (Bonus Points less Penalty Points) = Final Score, total up all final scores, lifter with the highest point total on June 30, wins. Belt and 70% of money go to winner. 20% of money goes to second place, 10% of money goes to 3rd place.
Keith holds the belt now: Will he be the first to successfully defend it??
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Loading Weeks and...
Hard work. And hitting PR and earning stickers. But did the new California Blue T-shirts have anything to do with this rash of improved lifting? Or, was it: Tight. Close. Finish. Feet flat as long as possible?
In the brutally hot confines of the gym, lifters are preparing for upcoming meets. In a gym that is hotter than outside, lifters prepare for two upcoming meets: June 9 and July 14. Water bottles as well as PR are demolished regularly.
Keith hits a PR snatch and PR total on max day 77/95. The only question is: Will the state records fall June 9 or July 14?
Ron hits PR in front squat not once but twice, double dunking what he did for a single the weak (sic) before.
Brieh bangs out a double in her previous single best.
Ben forgoes the 15 minutes of rest critical to the CJ complex, but gets it done anyhow. 94 will be routine soon. he will see payoff in his July 14 meet.
Zach powers his way to snatch PR and attempts a huge increase in his jerk, missing with a misloaded barbell.
Erik gets under the bar in the snatch and finds it was not all that bad of a place and then hits squats where he gets a PR.
New faces come in and learn to be smoother and faster. An old face, not interested in progress, hangs out for the entertainment value.
In the brutally hot confines of the gym, lifters are preparing for upcoming meets. In a gym that is hotter than outside, lifters prepare for two upcoming meets: June 9 and July 14. Water bottles as well as PR are demolished regularly.
Keith hits a PR snatch and PR total on max day 77/95. The only question is: Will the state records fall June 9 or July 14?
Ron hits PR in front squat not once but twice, double dunking what he did for a single the weak (sic) before.
Brieh bangs out a double in her previous single best.
Ben forgoes the 15 minutes of rest critical to the CJ complex, but gets it done anyhow. 94 will be routine soon. he will see payoff in his July 14 meet.
Zach powers his way to snatch PR and attempts a huge increase in his jerk, missing with a misloaded barbell.
Erik gets under the bar in the snatch and finds it was not all that bad of a place and then hits squats where he gets a PR.
New faces come in and learn to be smoother and faster. An old face, not interested in progress, hangs out for the entertainment value.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Local Meets and Weightlifting Careers
A fun Sunday afternoon meet inside a sweltering gym. What better place to start a lifting career?
With the outside temp around 80 degrees and the inside temperature about 110, the lifting began for 15 competitors. 5 lifters competing in a first meet with one lifter 10 years old. All sorts of skill and experience levels at the meet.
Many thanks to the spectators for suffering through the heat as well as our volunteers:
Stephanie (scorer), Jeb, Frank, and Jordan for officiating, and Nic and Tony for helping with the loading.
The ladies, all new lifters, started the competition with Samantha going first. She nailed all three snatches perfectly: 15, 18, 20. Her CJ were equally as solid going 3 for 3 and hitting 23, 26, 28. Hopefully, she comes back for more lifting!
Kat from Bluegrass Barbell hit 35 and 41 easy then seemed unable to decide between squatting or splitting her last one and missed the 45. Her CJ were caught just a speck low on her shoulders causing some extra adjustment for the jerk, but she got them all! 50/57/61, credited with a 102 total.
Ryan from Central Kentucky hit solid lifts of 47, 48, 49. She got 4 attempts on the CJ. Her first lift had no collar on one side so, she was able to shake that off, come back and nail her opener. She nailed the next two, also. Credited with 49/66/115; she was best lifter and earning the gift basket and cash.
The guys went next with Ralph starting.
Ralph started with a misloaded bar (by 5 kg, pesky collars) and nearly got it. He came back to get his next two lifts with ease. His CJ started off well and ended better: PR! Ralph was credited with a 60/85/145 for a post surgery PR.
Shae went 2 for 3 hitting 55 and 58. Then he comes into the CJ strongly with a good opener and ending with a nice looking 80. Plenty of talent in this slim youngster: 58/80/138.
John, from Columbus and with plenty of experience under his belt, hit 3 good lifts of 62, 67, and somewhat shaky 72. His CJ were equally as good. He had solid 82, 88, and 93 lifts. 72/93/165 total.
Zach, from the host club, hit nice lifts of 62, 68, and 72. He opened with a solid 86 and closed with a PR of 96. 72/96/168 for the day.
Kyle,moving up a weight class, hit a smooth opener of 70 then jumped to 75. A miss behind and then he comes back to hit it. The CJ went much better for him: 83, 87, 90, no misses. 75/90/165 and PR all around.
Keith, chasing state records in both lifts, hit easy 70 and 75. Then the 81 proved just a bit out in front: no lift. He hits a very solid controlled 90 for his CJ opener then a PR of 96. He calls for 101. Just not enough there, but soon. He gets a 75/96/171 and is the leader in the Best Male Lifter competition with 251.91 Sinclair.
Matt, in his first meet, hits a solid opening snatch then misses his second. It stayed glued to the ground for just a bit too long. He comes back to make the 82, though. No problem with his opening CJ, but not so good with his next two. He is credited with his opener of 100 for a nice 182 total.
Anthony, from Team Spartacus, hits his opening snatch of 80 and cannot seem to get the next two where he wants them. He hits a good 105 for his CJ then 110. He calls for a PR of 115. He cleans it, stands up, jerks it, but just not enough finish gets him two red flags and no lift. He is credited with 80/110/190.
Jordan, also in his first meet, misses his first two snatch attempts. With everything on the line, he comes back to hit the 82 opener. He is a bit more solid in CJ where he gets his first two lifts of 107 and 111, but cannot get the final lift of 116. He is credited with a 82/111/193.
John, from Central Kentucky, had great snatch lifts of 90 and 92 to start. His third, 95, went up, he went down, but not locked out. He nails 102 and 108, calling for a final attempt of 115. He cleans it, stands up with it, and just puts it a bit to the front. He is credited with a 92/108/200 and posts a 250.99 Sinclair.
The three 94 now start the lifting in earnest.
Ben, from Cincinnati Weightlifting, hits his 90 opener nicely. He is not able to complete the snatch attempts at 95. He recently set a PR in the CJ and is focused on that. He puts himself behind the 8 ball by missing his first attempt. He gets the 122 on the second try. He cannot clean his third attempt. He is credited with 90/122/212, PR at this new, lighter weight class.
Ben, from Bluegrass Barbell, hits an easy 100 then gets his second snatch. His final attempt is not good. His 104 stands. If he gets his opener in the CJ, he will be leader in best lifter. He misses. Gathering himself, he comes back to get the 120 and take over best lifter with 254.88 Sinclair. He finishes with a 104/120/224, PR at his new, lighter bodyweight.
Zach, from East Coast Gold via Louisville, misses his opening snatch of 120, but comes back to make it. His third attempt is no lift. If he makes his opener of 150 in CJ, he wins the Best Lifter Award. He does. Now, what will he go for? He calls for 155. Miss. He hears that 163 would hit the national championship qualifying total for 94. He cowboys up and calls for the increase to 163. After a valiant effort, he cannot stand up with it and is credited with 120/150/270.
Next meet at Cincinnati Weightlifting Club is set for Saturday July 14; many records, personal and otherwise, should fall!
With the outside temp around 80 degrees and the inside temperature about 110, the lifting began for 15 competitors. 5 lifters competing in a first meet with one lifter 10 years old. All sorts of skill and experience levels at the meet.
Many thanks to the spectators for suffering through the heat as well as our volunteers:
Stephanie (scorer), Jeb, Frank, and Jordan for officiating, and Nic and Tony for helping with the loading.
The ladies, all new lifters, started the competition with Samantha going first. She nailed all three snatches perfectly: 15, 18, 20. Her CJ were equally as solid going 3 for 3 and hitting 23, 26, 28. Hopefully, she comes back for more lifting!
Kat from Bluegrass Barbell hit 35 and 41 easy then seemed unable to decide between squatting or splitting her last one and missed the 45. Her CJ were caught just a speck low on her shoulders causing some extra adjustment for the jerk, but she got them all! 50/57/61, credited with a 102 total.
Ryan from Central Kentucky hit solid lifts of 47, 48, 49. She got 4 attempts on the CJ. Her first lift had no collar on one side so, she was able to shake that off, come back and nail her opener. She nailed the next two, also. Credited with 49/66/115; she was best lifter and earning the gift basket and cash.
The guys went next with Ralph starting.
Ralph started with a misloaded bar (by 5 kg, pesky collars) and nearly got it. He came back to get his next two lifts with ease. His CJ started off well and ended better: PR! Ralph was credited with a 60/85/145 for a post surgery PR.
Shae went 2 for 3 hitting 55 and 58. Then he comes into the CJ strongly with a good opener and ending with a nice looking 80. Plenty of talent in this slim youngster: 58/80/138.
John, from Columbus and with plenty of experience under his belt, hit 3 good lifts of 62, 67, and somewhat shaky 72. His CJ were equally as good. He had solid 82, 88, and 93 lifts. 72/93/165 total.
Zach, from the host club, hit nice lifts of 62, 68, and 72. He opened with a solid 86 and closed with a PR of 96. 72/96/168 for the day.
Kyle,moving up a weight class, hit a smooth opener of 70 then jumped to 75. A miss behind and then he comes back to hit it. The CJ went much better for him: 83, 87, 90, no misses. 75/90/165 and PR all around.
Keith, chasing state records in both lifts, hit easy 70 and 75. Then the 81 proved just a bit out in front: no lift. He hits a very solid controlled 90 for his CJ opener then a PR of 96. He calls for 101. Just not enough there, but soon. He gets a 75/96/171 and is the leader in the Best Male Lifter competition with 251.91 Sinclair.
Matt, in his first meet, hits a solid opening snatch then misses his second. It stayed glued to the ground for just a bit too long. He comes back to make the 82, though. No problem with his opening CJ, but not so good with his next two. He is credited with his opener of 100 for a nice 182 total.
Anthony, from Team Spartacus, hits his opening snatch of 80 and cannot seem to get the next two where he wants them. He hits a good 105 for his CJ then 110. He calls for a PR of 115. He cleans it, stands up, jerks it, but just not enough finish gets him two red flags and no lift. He is credited with 80/110/190.
Jordan, also in his first meet, misses his first two snatch attempts. With everything on the line, he comes back to hit the 82 opener. He is a bit more solid in CJ where he gets his first two lifts of 107 and 111, but cannot get the final lift of 116. He is credited with a 82/111/193.
John, from Central Kentucky, had great snatch lifts of 90 and 92 to start. His third, 95, went up, he went down, but not locked out. He nails 102 and 108, calling for a final attempt of 115. He cleans it, stands up with it, and just puts it a bit to the front. He is credited with a 92/108/200 and posts a 250.99 Sinclair.
The three 94 now start the lifting in earnest.
Ben, from Cincinnati Weightlifting, hits his 90 opener nicely. He is not able to complete the snatch attempts at 95. He recently set a PR in the CJ and is focused on that. He puts himself behind the 8 ball by missing his first attempt. He gets the 122 on the second try. He cannot clean his third attempt. He is credited with 90/122/212, PR at this new, lighter weight class.
Ben, from Bluegrass Barbell, hits an easy 100 then gets his second snatch. His final attempt is not good. His 104 stands. If he gets his opener in the CJ, he will be leader in best lifter. He misses. Gathering himself, he comes back to get the 120 and take over best lifter with 254.88 Sinclair. He finishes with a 104/120/224, PR at his new, lighter bodyweight.
Zach, from East Coast Gold via Louisville, misses his opening snatch of 120, but comes back to make it. His third attempt is no lift. If he makes his opener of 150 in CJ, he wins the Best Lifter Award. He does. Now, what will he go for? He calls for 155. Miss. He hears that 163 would hit the national championship qualifying total for 94. He cowboys up and calls for the increase to 163. After a valiant effort, he cannot stand up with it and is credited with 120/150/270.
Next meet at Cincinnati Weightlifting Club is set for Saturday July 14; many records, personal and otherwise, should fall!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
A night for personal bests
Sometimes, the best PR attempts and makes just materialize in front of you. Tonight was one of those nights.
Lifters were warned that when the temperature outside rose, the temperature inside would go through the roof and it did. 85 outside, 100 inside. Not much need to warm up.
Keith, chasing a couple of personal records, asked, "Why am I so loose in the bottom (of the snatch)?" "It looks as if you are not spreading the bar and getting tight." "Ok, I am going to try 80." He smashed it and obliterated an old, old 56kg snatch record. Now, the goal is to do it in a meet.
After hitting 95 in CJ in the BFB the other day, he attempted 100 tonight and attempted it twice. Solid clean, solid rack, popped off his shoulders, just a bit weak in the split despite the two attempts. His third attempts on Sunday will be to hit each of these lifts.
Brieh, getting stronger each session, hit a PR in front squat and hit her first ever CJ. Nice work!
Ron got the CJ he was after, hitting a 110 solidly the other night. Zach missed a 94 CJ on BFB day, but did make the rack quite happy with a 100 jerk.
Great stuff and just in time for Sunday. One can only hope 3 days off will get everyone well rested.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
The Battle for The Belt: in the books
Another battle for the belt today as 6 lifters went at it and a new point scoring system was tested. I can already see one tweak in it before I use it for a weightlifting league. To the matter at hand.
Zach has been the proud holder of the belt for the last few weeks. He has certainly lived up to the title: posting PRs and showing good progress over the time period. Plus, 4 days a week of lifting have helped tremendously. Will he keep it or will he relinquish it?
Lifters made 4 attempts at snatch and CJ. The attempts were: 90%, 93%, 97%, and PR. Points were tallied for each lift made and there was a multiplier for lifters with totals closer to Ohio state lifting records. Kind of made it interesting.
Garrett opened the contest up with his first attempt at 40. he makes it. His legs were dead after this as none of his attempts were good after this.
Patrick, theoretically not in contention at all, hit all of his snatch attempts. With no true PR yet established, he got 4 points.
Zach, certainly getting good elevation on the bar, hit 3 of 4 lifts. He failed to lock out the last PR attempt. So close!
Keith, strong off the ground, but just a little off in pulling himself under the bar, hit two attempts.
Ron was solid in his first three snatch attempts, missing a PR @ 90.
Ben hit his opener solidly then was weak off the ground for his next two attempts. He nailed the 4th attempt.
Standings after the snatch:
Keith 5
Ben and Pat: 4
Zach: 3
Garrett: 1
the CJ would hopefully get some separation in there.
Garrett got things going again hitting 2 of his 4 attempts for 2 points.
Pat, not so great on getting the elbows around, but if he cleaned it, he jerked it. He nailed all 4 lifts gaining himself another 4 points.
Zach was great all around through his first 3 attempts. he goes for the PR, does all the work to get it racked, get ready, dip, drive, and almost punch under the bar. Just a bit to the front and just not enough arm power.
Keith was moving great with the bar. He nailed his 3 sub PR attempts and went for a PR of 95. He hit it with authority, earning himself a sticker in the process. Then, he came back and hit a PR clean.
Ron was having problems getting that right heel down fast. It threw him a bit to the front on each clean. He did nail all 3 sub-PR lifts. He attempted 110 to set a new PR. a bit forward so, no lift. His only reward here was a tweaked wrist.
Ben needed to hit all three lifts then come back and PR in a BIG way on #4 to tie Keith and go to the Triple C Leg Crank tiebreaker. Opener was a bit dodgy, but made. The good news is that he posted a total at his new svelte 94 kilo bodyweight. Last time, well, that was last time. he was not able to hit any more CJ.
Points totaled out this way:
Keith 18
Ron 9
Pat 8
Ben 6
Zach 6
Garrett 3
Keith takes the belt back and is the first repeat winner!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Then Robin said to Batman: "Holy loaded barbells!"
What a month it has been since the Arnold Meet in early March.
Keith after months of tough work, hits PR CJ, PR total, and finishes 4th at National Championships.
Jake gets screwed out of lifting at national championships because of competition secretary last minute scheduling changes. He has hit some PR lifts since then.
A lifter who began her career in our club and won a national junior championship with us qualifies for the Olympics.
Now it gets crazy; fortunately crazy in a good way.
Ben: PR competition CJ and competition total
Brigid: after spending a morning showing a Russian strongman how PRs are made, she becomes a PR machine for the month of March. Tying and breaking PR right and left.
Brieh: despite not being a weightlifter just a talented athlete, she has been posting PR in front squat (bodyweight) and snatch (60% bodyweight).
Garrett gets into the mix by moving up in his front squat.
Zach: SN/CJ/Total competition and training PR
Ron: in a particularly tough training cycle is still hitting vital PR numbers including a RJ PR.
Fern was able to make excellent progress in the "Stand up shrug down" department.
Imagine if the lifters were even more committed! Great stuff!
Keith after months of tough work, hits PR CJ, PR total, and finishes 4th at National Championships.
Jake gets screwed out of lifting at national championships because of competition secretary last minute scheduling changes. He has hit some PR lifts since then.
A lifter who began her career in our club and won a national junior championship with us qualifies for the Olympics.
Now it gets crazy; fortunately crazy in a good way.
Ben: PR competition CJ and competition total
Brigid: after spending a morning showing a Russian strongman how PRs are made, she becomes a PR machine for the month of March. Tying and breaking PR right and left.
Brieh: despite not being a weightlifter just a talented athlete, she has been posting PR in front squat (bodyweight) and snatch (60% bodyweight).
Garrett gets into the mix by moving up in his front squat.
Zach: SN/CJ/Total competition and training PR
Ron: in a particularly tough training cycle is still hitting vital PR numbers including a RJ PR.
Fern was able to make excellent progress in the "Stand up shrug down" department.
Imagine if the lifters were even more committed! Great stuff!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
PRs were smoked all day
Another meet in the books and progress is being made by a bunch of lifters. Nice progress. The Cabin Fever Open had 15 lifters and all had great lifts.
Thank you to the volunteers for helping make the meet run well: Frank, Fred, and Steve acting as judges, Pat helping with loading, and Frank contributing to the Best Lifter awards. Great stuff! Great bunch of spectators, too.
Of course, the meet was about the lifters and they did indeed provide entertainment.
Grace, all of 11 and in her 4th year of lifting, hit solid lifts of 20/25 for a 45 total. She continues to improve.
Fern, in only her second meet with an entourage cheering her on, hit a solid opener of 35 in snatch. She cleaned a misloaded CJ attempt and just barely missed that jerk. Ah, well, she had three more attempts ending up with a 42.
Ralph, thankful he was away from his family members with the cold and flu, hit a respectable 55/80/135 going 5 for 6.
Zach in his third meet opened with a PR snatch then could only hit his opening CJ. The jerk proved to be his undoing. He posted a 62/75/137 total, meet PR all three.
Kyle opened with a PR and got it. Then closed with an even better lift. He was a bit more cautious in the CJ, but got a nice PR on his third attempt. 67/82/149 for Kyle for a really good day.
Bret, 12 y.o. and 38.2 kg, provided the most entertainment for the day with aggressive attempts at national records. He opened with a 40 snatch which was missed. Then went up for his second attempt. he nailed that 41 then came back with a 42. Both were American records. He called for an AR opener in CJ and nailed it. He made valiant attempts at a 58 but his knee hit the ground in his jerk. He was credited with a 42/55/97 total.
Keith opened with what proved to be a very comfortable 70. The jerk was the objective for the day and he was able to nail the 87 which had been dogging him for some time. Fresh from a Russian Squat Cycle, he went after a meet PR of 93 in the CJ. Nailed. The state record 100 was attempted but there was just not enough pop coming off the hips to complete the clean. 70/93/163 were his final numbers.
Adam, lifting as a very light 77, nailed his 75 snatch. His slender build proved to be his undoing in the CJ as he just could not rack his second and third cleans. he did post a fine 75/95/170 total.
Milo, in the 69 class, showed good speed in the snatch with a solid 82 on his second attempt then a nice comeback in the CJ where he got a 98. A bit more muscle and his CJ will skyrocket as the speed is there. 82/98/180 was his total.
Ron, also in the 69 class, opened with a solid 77 and nailed all three snatches. His CJ went well, too, as he went 2 for 3 and hit a niiiice lift of 102. 85/102/187 for solid meet PR and 5 for 6. A good day for him.
Anthony, the third lifter in the 69 kilo class, made it interesting. His first snatch was behind him. His second was in front. Can you guess where the third one was? nailed a very, very solid 80. His Cj opener of 105 looked a bit press-y, but the referees gave all whites. He went for a 110 and got it albeit with some lazy arms just at the finish. He was credited with a 80/110/190 for a fine effort.
Ben, seeking continual improvement, nailed all his lifts. He was the insider's favorite for most improved lifter. 3 for 3 in the snatch finishing with a meet PR of 95. 3 for 3 in the CJ, finishing with an all time PR of 130. 95/130/225, more PR on the horizon.
Quinn, fast and strong, in the 77 class, hit his first two snatches of 90 and 95. He smashed his first two CJ of 115 and 120. His third CJ seemed to drain the life from him and he could not get it. Credited with a 95/120/215.
White Ben opened with a very comfortable 95. Then he rolled to what one can only assume was a PR snatch based upon his reaction of 106. He got it though there was a bit of a fight as it was just a bit in front of him at the finish. He made an easy opener of 120 in CJ, missing the next two. a 106/120/226 was his total.
Jake closed out both sessions. Wanting to get a meet under his belt prior to nationals in a few weeks, he banged out solid 110 and 115 in snatch. The 120 was 98% made but just a bit weak on the punch had him miss it. The CJ was interesting. A 145 opener was missed, but form was good enough to warrant going up. 150 was loaded and Jake nailed that guy. solid. 157 for a meet PR CJ and a PR total was loaded. A solid clean. The jerk was launched nicely, but just a bit too much arms and not enough legs: failed to lock it out. Still a nice 115/150/265 for the day.
Fern and Jake were best lifters. Jake graciously declared Bret the best lifter for the meet and transferred his award to Bret.
A nice, fun, entertaining meet by all!
Thank you to the volunteers for helping make the meet run well: Frank, Fred, and Steve acting as judges, Pat helping with loading, and Frank contributing to the Best Lifter awards. Great stuff! Great bunch of spectators, too.
Of course, the meet was about the lifters and they did indeed provide entertainment.
Grace, all of 11 and in her 4th year of lifting, hit solid lifts of 20/25 for a 45 total. She continues to improve.
Fern, in only her second meet with an entourage cheering her on, hit a solid opener of 35 in snatch. She cleaned a misloaded CJ attempt and just barely missed that jerk. Ah, well, she had three more attempts ending up with a 42.
Ralph, thankful he was away from his family members with the cold and flu, hit a respectable 55/80/135 going 5 for 6.
Zach in his third meet opened with a PR snatch then could only hit his opening CJ. The jerk proved to be his undoing. He posted a 62/75/137 total, meet PR all three.
Kyle opened with a PR and got it. Then closed with an even better lift. He was a bit more cautious in the CJ, but got a nice PR on his third attempt. 67/82/149 for Kyle for a really good day.
Bret, 12 y.o. and 38.2 kg, provided the most entertainment for the day with aggressive attempts at national records. He opened with a 40 snatch which was missed. Then went up for his second attempt. he nailed that 41 then came back with a 42. Both were American records. He called for an AR opener in CJ and nailed it. He made valiant attempts at a 58 but his knee hit the ground in his jerk. He was credited with a 42/55/97 total.
Keith opened with what proved to be a very comfortable 70. The jerk was the objective for the day and he was able to nail the 87 which had been dogging him for some time. Fresh from a Russian Squat Cycle, he went after a meet PR of 93 in the CJ. Nailed. The state record 100 was attempted but there was just not enough pop coming off the hips to complete the clean. 70/93/163 were his final numbers.
Adam, lifting as a very light 77, nailed his 75 snatch. His slender build proved to be his undoing in the CJ as he just could not rack his second and third cleans. he did post a fine 75/95/170 total.
Milo, in the 69 class, showed good speed in the snatch with a solid 82 on his second attempt then a nice comeback in the CJ where he got a 98. A bit more muscle and his CJ will skyrocket as the speed is there. 82/98/180 was his total.
Ron, also in the 69 class, opened with a solid 77 and nailed all three snatches. His CJ went well, too, as he went 2 for 3 and hit a niiiice lift of 102. 85/102/187 for solid meet PR and 5 for 6. A good day for him.
Anthony, the third lifter in the 69 kilo class, made it interesting. His first snatch was behind him. His second was in front. Can you guess where the third one was? nailed a very, very solid 80. His Cj opener of 105 looked a bit press-y, but the referees gave all whites. He went for a 110 and got it albeit with some lazy arms just at the finish. He was credited with a 80/110/190 for a fine effort.
Ben, seeking continual improvement, nailed all his lifts. He was the insider's favorite for most improved lifter. 3 for 3 in the snatch finishing with a meet PR of 95. 3 for 3 in the CJ, finishing with an all time PR of 130. 95/130/225, more PR on the horizon.
Quinn, fast and strong, in the 77 class, hit his first two snatches of 90 and 95. He smashed his first two CJ of 115 and 120. His third CJ seemed to drain the life from him and he could not get it. Credited with a 95/120/215.
White Ben opened with a very comfortable 95. Then he rolled to what one can only assume was a PR snatch based upon his reaction of 106. He got it though there was a bit of a fight as it was just a bit in front of him at the finish. He made an easy opener of 120 in CJ, missing the next two. a 106/120/226 was his total.
Jake closed out both sessions. Wanting to get a meet under his belt prior to nationals in a few weeks, he banged out solid 110 and 115 in snatch. The 120 was 98% made but just a bit weak on the punch had him miss it. The CJ was interesting. A 145 opener was missed, but form was good enough to warrant going up. 150 was loaded and Jake nailed that guy. solid. 157 for a meet PR CJ and a PR total was loaded. A solid clean. The jerk was launched nicely, but just a bit too much arms and not enough legs: failed to lock it out. Still a nice 115/150/265 for the day.
Fern and Jake were best lifters. Jake graciously declared Bret the best lifter for the meet and transferred his award to Bret.
A nice, fun, entertaining meet by all!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Squat cycle results
Another long Russian squat cycle in the books and, shockingly, improvement in the squat PR. Oh, and the snatch and CJ are doing well, too.
Keith, working with a two rep squat PR of 120, double dunked 127 last week. Valentine's Day was planned for an assault on the one rep PR. It happened. 130 went up and down smoothly then enthusiasm got the better of everyone. 137 was loaded. 75% of the rep was done. The second attempt was a pure negative.
With better selection of the second attempt, he probably could have dunked 135. In any case, the squat goes up the CJ goes up, the snatch goes up. With 39 "good" stickers, Keith has leap frogged Ron for the sticker lead. The meet on Sunday should prove to be exciting to see who can set PR and move past 40 stickers!
Keith, working with a two rep squat PR of 120, double dunked 127 last week. Valentine's Day was planned for an assault on the one rep PR. It happened. 130 went up and down smoothly then enthusiasm got the better of everyone. 137 was loaded. 75% of the rep was done. The second attempt was a pure negative.
With better selection of the second attempt, he probably could have dunked 135. In any case, the squat goes up the CJ goes up, the snatch goes up. With 39 "good" stickers, Keith has leap frogged Ron for the sticker lead. The meet on Sunday should prove to be exciting to see who can set PR and move past 40 stickers!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Greater risk; greater reward
But, you can also go down in flames. Keith decided after his nearly perfect performance last week to go after the greater reward and had to hit 9 squats to do so. Some months back, he put in an all out effort to do a double at 120. Last night, it called for 3 x 3 at the same weight (which was previously an absolute 1 RM PR for him).
Even more piston like, Keith hit every single squat with authority, let out a scream when he hit the 9th squat, and earned himself 3 stickers for the effort.
Under the bar, you learn a lot.
Ron had to get under the bar in his own way. Hitting 95% jerks while making the rack happy...legs tired from driving the bar, arms tired from punching his 70 kilos under the bar...
Ben finally learns that the jerk is a leg exercise. Funny how driving with the legs makes the weight light. And the pipe never lies...
Under the bar, you learn a lot.
Great stuff by the lifters this past evening!
Even more piston like, Keith hit every single squat with authority, let out a scream when he hit the 9th squat, and earned himself 3 stickers for the effort.
Under the bar, you learn a lot.
Ron had to get under the bar in his own way. Hitting 95% jerks while making the rack happy...legs tired from driving the bar, arms tired from punching his 70 kilos under the bar...
Ben finally learns that the jerk is a leg exercise. Funny how driving with the legs makes the weight light. And the pipe never lies...
Under the bar, you learn a lot.
Great stuff by the lifters this past evening!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Close to perfect
In the final run up to a PR squat maximum, Wednesday night calls for 4 x 4 @ 90% for Keith. First, he bangs out multiple doubles in snatch balance. He learns to really commit to punching himself down.
Warm up complete, he is a machine: squatting perfection for 1 set, 2 sets, 3 sets. He has 15 reps under his white Eleiko belt and squats for number 16. It looks good as he rises. Wait! He pauses just at the point of poorest leverage. The bar stops dead. Incredibly, he has to dump it at the 15.85th rep. Progress nonetheless as he had never done this much weight before.
PR on the horizon.
Warm up complete, he is a machine: squatting perfection for 1 set, 2 sets, 3 sets. He has 15 reps under his white Eleiko belt and squats for number 16. It looks good as he rises. Wait! He pauses just at the point of poorest leverage. The bar stops dead. Incredibly, he has to dump it at the 15.85th rep. Progress nonetheless as he had never done this much weight before.
PR on the horizon.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sunday's meet results
A nice little meet at the Central Kentucky Weightlifting facilities. Thanks to John and his volunteers for putting the meet on and hosting. And, it was the first meet in Kentucky since who knows when. Could be the start of a lot of good things.
Everybody totaled! Yay. Our newest lifters, Fern and Zach, both had great fun. Zach posted PR lifts and Fern is just getting started.
Fern was first and followed herself. She opened with a solid 32 then hit 35 though got one red for her efforts. She then put up her next lift, but not all the way to lock out so, she was credited with the 35. She opened with 40 in her CJ then got her next lift missing her third. 4 for 6 and a nice 35/42/77 total.
Zach hit his 52 opener then missed 56 (a bit of a press out). 60 went up nice and easy. CJ was the same. 70 nice and easy to open. Then 75 on his next attempt was red flagged though his arms did not move to press out. He just did not quite get them completely straight. The tough referees tossed the lift and he made it with authority on his third. PR all across the board: 60/75/135.
Ron had good warm ups and was looking to break through a CJ barrier. A routine opening snatch proved to be anything but as he missed it the first time and made it on the second. The third attempt was a complete discombobulation. In the CJ, the opening 95 was very comfortable and the second at 102 was the same. Going for the 110 PR, he had plenty of pull on the bar, just not enough getting under...77/102/179
Ben, arriving late and able to take very few warm ups, hit his opening 85 like it was a toothpick. The next 2 attempts proved to be a bit much as he did not pull himself under the bar to lock them out. He hit a nice 120 and an even nicer 125 in the CJ. He went for a PR of 128 and was unable to rack it; looking at me right after saying, "I cut it, didn't I?" 85/125/210, tying his previous PR.
All in all, not a bad day for everyone. As always, physical and mental information is accumulated with every meet.
Everybody totaled! Yay. Our newest lifters, Fern and Zach, both had great fun. Zach posted PR lifts and Fern is just getting started.
Fern was first and followed herself. She opened with a solid 32 then hit 35 though got one red for her efforts. She then put up her next lift, but not all the way to lock out so, she was credited with the 35. She opened with 40 in her CJ then got her next lift missing her third. 4 for 6 and a nice 35/42/77 total.
Zach hit his 52 opener then missed 56 (a bit of a press out). 60 went up nice and easy. CJ was the same. 70 nice and easy to open. Then 75 on his next attempt was red flagged though his arms did not move to press out. He just did not quite get them completely straight. The tough referees tossed the lift and he made it with authority on his third. PR all across the board: 60/75/135.
Ron had good warm ups and was looking to break through a CJ barrier. A routine opening snatch proved to be anything but as he missed it the first time and made it on the second. The third attempt was a complete discombobulation. In the CJ, the opening 95 was very comfortable and the second at 102 was the same. Going for the 110 PR, he had plenty of pull on the bar, just not enough getting under...77/102/179
Ben, arriving late and able to take very few warm ups, hit his opening 85 like it was a toothpick. The next 2 attempts proved to be a bit much as he did not pull himself under the bar to lock them out. He hit a nice 120 and an even nicer 125 in the CJ. He went for a PR of 128 and was unable to rack it; looking at me right after saying, "I cut it, didn't I?" 85/125/210, tying his previous PR.
All in all, not a bad day for everyone. As always, physical and mental information is accumulated with every meet.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Lots of Cowboys and Cowgirls in town
Once again, the lifters have upped their intensities; now up yours.
Ron, struggling to hit a PR in snatch for a few weeks, finally did so. Moving up 2 kg to post a new PR of 87.
Keith mans up under the bar with the always productive Russian Squat program. The volume portion is always a killer.
Brieh front squats a mis-loaded bar for a triple. This was her former 1 RM.
Brigid hits the squat numbers she needs to hit and her snatch and CJ are the better for it.
Garrett shows what repping the Title Belt really means by nailing PR bottom position front squats and lifting mere hours after dental surgery.
Way to go!
Ron, struggling to hit a PR in snatch for a few weeks, finally did so. Moving up 2 kg to post a new PR of 87.
Keith mans up under the bar with the always productive Russian Squat program. The volume portion is always a killer.
Brieh front squats a mis-loaded bar for a triple. This was her former 1 RM.
Brigid hits the squat numbers she needs to hit and her snatch and CJ are the better for it.
Garrett shows what repping the Title Belt really means by nailing PR bottom position front squats and lifting mere hours after dental surgery.
Way to go!
A Method for Getting Stronger
First of all, you need to lift heavy weights to get stronger. A study referenced below indicates that muscle damage must occur to experience full strength gains. I am not sure who has the time to do the high volume approach, but if you are willing to suffer for 6 weeks, perhaps the results on the other end would be worth it. And, I doubt one could do it on one's own. A DI would have to be assigned to you to browbeat you through the 3x per week grind.
Who can do 10 reps at 80% of his or her true 1 RM? Then do it for multiple sets? For 3 times per week? I am still recovering from a 10 x 10 squat day I did in 1998.
In reality, the conclusion is: work hard, lift heavy, recover, repeat. Any volunteers?
ABSTRACT
Robbins, DW, Marshall, PWM, and McEwen, M. The effect of training volume on lower-body strength. J Strength Cond Res 26(1): 34–39, 2012—The objective of this study was to examine the chronic effects on lower-body strength in resistance trained men of performing varying training volumes over 6 weeks. A pretest and posttest design was used to investigate the effects on 1-repetition maximum (1RM) squat strength. Also, 1RM testing was performed at 3 weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to an intensity-matched (80% of 1RM) low (1-SET), moderate (4-SET), or high (8-SET) volume condition. In addition to significant strength increases in all groups at the end of the 6-week period, increases were observed at 3 weeks under the 4- and 8-SET conditions, which were greater than the improvement under the 1-SET condition. At 6 weeks, the magnitude of improvement was significantly greater for the 8-SET, as compared with that of the 1-SET group. The magnitude of improvement elicited in the 4-SET group was not different from that of the 1-SET or 8-SET groups. The results suggest that “high” volumes (i.e., >4 sets) are associated with enhanced strength development but that “moderate” volumes offer no advantage. Practitioners should be aware that strength development may be dependent on appropriate volume doses and training duration.
CONCLUSION (Gabe Mirkin, M.D.):
After six weeks, the athletes doing eight sets of 10 repetitions could squat much heavier weights than those doing fewer sets. Those in the four-set group were not stronger than those in the one-set group.
This shows that you have to damage your muscles to make them stronger. After you do one or two sets of 10, your muscles really start to hurt. If you stop, your muscles usually stop hurting immediately. With each additional set, you increase
the muscle damage, and your muscles hurt even more. FOR LIFTING WEIGHTS TO MAKE YOU STRONG, YOU HAVE TO HURT AND REALLY DAMAGE YOUR MUSCLES TO MAKE THEM GROW LARGER AND STRONGER. Of course, you have to know when to stop lifting, because you can pull and tear your muscles if you lift weights that are too heavy for them.
Who can do 10 reps at 80% of his or her true 1 RM? Then do it for multiple sets? For 3 times per week? I am still recovering from a 10 x 10 squat day I did in 1998.
In reality, the conclusion is: work hard, lift heavy, recover, repeat. Any volunteers?
ABSTRACT
Robbins, DW, Marshall, PWM, and McEwen, M. The effect of training volume on lower-body strength. J Strength Cond Res 26(1): 34–39, 2012—The objective of this study was to examine the chronic effects on lower-body strength in resistance trained men of performing varying training volumes over 6 weeks. A pretest and posttest design was used to investigate the effects on 1-repetition maximum (1RM) squat strength. Also, 1RM testing was performed at 3 weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to an intensity-matched (80% of 1RM) low (1-SET), moderate (4-SET), or high (8-SET) volume condition. In addition to significant strength increases in all groups at the end of the 6-week period, increases were observed at 3 weeks under the 4- and 8-SET conditions, which were greater than the improvement under the 1-SET condition. At 6 weeks, the magnitude of improvement was significantly greater for the 8-SET, as compared with that of the 1-SET group. The magnitude of improvement elicited in the 4-SET group was not different from that of the 1-SET or 8-SET groups. The results suggest that “high” volumes (i.e., >4 sets) are associated with enhanced strength development but that “moderate” volumes offer no advantage. Practitioners should be aware that strength development may be dependent on appropriate volume doses and training duration.
CONCLUSION (Gabe Mirkin, M.D.):
After six weeks, the athletes doing eight sets of 10 repetitions could squat much heavier weights than those doing fewer sets. Those in the four-set group were not stronger than those in the one-set group.
This shows that you have to damage your muscles to make them stronger. After you do one or two sets of 10, your muscles really start to hurt. If you stop, your muscles usually stop hurting immediately. With each additional set, you increase
the muscle damage, and your muscles hurt even more. FOR LIFTING WEIGHTS TO MAKE YOU STRONG, YOU HAVE TO HURT AND REALLY DAMAGE YOUR MUSCLES TO MAKE THEM GROW LARGER AND STRONGER. Of course, you have to know when to stop lifting, because you can pull and tear your muscles if you lift weights that are too heavy for them.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Battle for the Belt, Last 2011 Contest
With the belt in Josh's possession, a contest was held to see who would ring in the New Year wearing it. Turning the clock back to 1972, the contest was clean & press, Snatch, and clean & jerk. Two attempts at each lift with points award based upon percentage of current maximum.
The clean & press had points based upon percentage of snatch. The details.
Ben, Fern, Garrett, Steve, Ron, and Zach all lifted.
Fern hit her 2 CP with ease and then just could not lock out her second snatch attempt. The CJ were easy just like the CP. Great job going 5 for 6.
Garrett finished next going 6 for 6 and tying or setting PR in each lift.
Zach fresh from his first true contest hit his opening CP, missed his second which would prove costly, and then hit all the rest of his lifts. He set PR in SN and CJ.
Ron had a bit of trouble with CP but got in one solid lift. Then, going for the PR (now there is a crazy idea, going for a PR in a contest!) in snatch, he was just unable to lock the lift out. CJ had him nearly hitting his PR for a good comeback.
Steve hit a nice 95 on the CP then came back for a scary 102 in snatch. He had to hit his CJ opener: he did with a bit of a struggle.
Ben came in to easily hit his opening CP then a huge jump of 20 kilos to his next attempt. He failed at that lift. Then, everything on the line, he had to hit his second snatch attempt after missing the first if he was going to finish in the top 3. He got the second solidly. Then CJ. He nails an easy opener and missed on his second which would have been a PR attempt.
Final results:
Garrett had the most points and pried the belt out of Josh's hands. Now, he must live up to the standard imposed by being in its possession.
Zach was one point behind with Ben well behind the two of them in third.
Fun stuff to close out the year!!
The clean & press had points based upon percentage of snatch. The details.
Ben, Fern, Garrett, Steve, Ron, and Zach all lifted.
Fern hit her 2 CP with ease and then just could not lock out her second snatch attempt. The CJ were easy just like the CP. Great job going 5 for 6.
Garrett finished next going 6 for 6 and tying or setting PR in each lift.
Zach fresh from his first true contest hit his opening CP, missed his second which would prove costly, and then hit all the rest of his lifts. He set PR in SN and CJ.
Ron had a bit of trouble with CP but got in one solid lift. Then, going for the PR (now there is a crazy idea, going for a PR in a contest!) in snatch, he was just unable to lock the lift out. CJ had him nearly hitting his PR for a good comeback.
Steve hit a nice 95 on the CP then came back for a scary 102 in snatch. He had to hit his CJ opener: he did with a bit of a struggle.
Ben came in to easily hit his opening CP then a huge jump of 20 kilos to his next attempt. He failed at that lift. Then, everything on the line, he had to hit his second snatch attempt after missing the first if he was going to finish in the top 3. He got the second solidly. Then CJ. He nails an easy opener and missed on his second which would have been a PR attempt.
Final results:
Garrett had the most points and pried the belt out of Josh's hands. Now, he must live up to the standard imposed by being in its possession.
Zach was one point behind with Ben well behind the two of them in third.
Fun stuff to close out the year!!
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