Greater Cincinnati Weightlifting

Greater risk; greater reward

2012-02-01T04:37:00.001-08:00

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!

Close to perfect

2012-01-26T05:11:00.000-08:00

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.

Sunday's meet results

2012-01-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

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.

Lots of Cowboys and Cowgirls in town

2012-01-13T06:01:00.000-08:00

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!

A Method for Getting Stronger

2012-01-13T04:03:00.000-08:00

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.

Battle for the Belt, Last 2011 Contest

2012-01-01T04:33:00.000-08:00

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!!

Last Chance for a PR Meet: Results

2011-12-19T12:51:00.000-08:00

In the new facility, a healthy set of 15 lifters were able to go at it. Many PR were attempted, more than a few were made, and there were a couple of first time lifters. Hopefully, the weightlifting bug bit them and bit them hard.

Many thanks to the lifter for coming and the volunteers who make the meet flow smoothly. The judges: Fern, Rick, and Steve. There were not any white flags for sale from this crew! Loaders: Luke and Adam. Frank donated prizes for the best male and best female lifters.

To the details. Grace, now 10 years old, returned to lifting after a year or so off. Competing in the 52 kg category, she went 6 for 6 and posting PR lifts of 20/22 for a 42 total.
Brigid, attempting nationals qualification, hit her snatch opener with ease, missed her second in front, then nailed the third with about 5 kilos to spare. Credited with a 57, she had to PR in her CJ to qualify. CJ opener was an easy 70 then 74 was loaded. Easy cleans times two, but no jerk . 57/70/127 for the Best Female Lifter.

Zach, lifting in his first meet, posted an official total of 53/68/121, going 6 for 6 in the process.

Ralph the elder, lifting in a post-surgery test meet, also went 6 for 6 hitting a nice total of 50/75/125.

Zach from Central Kentucky Weightlifting Club hit an easy opener of 52, went up to 56 missed it, then called for an increase to 58, which was easy. He hit his first CJ of 90 then was unable to hit PR lifts of 98 and 100. 58/90/148 for him.

Keith, fresh from the American Open, hit his first two snatches then went after a state record lift. Just a bit in front of him. He was credited with 72. The CJ did not go so well for him as the 85 was cleaned each time, but looked to increase to 185 when he went for the jerk. No total for him.

Kyle from Indiana lifting in his first meet did a fine job. Solid lifts of 55/76/131 for him. A little bit more work on getting the hips down and he will start to see the numbers go up!

Mike Johnston from C KY WLC, hit 77/105/182 and looked solid.

Ralph the younger had a PR day hitting 3 of them: snatch, CJ, and total. 75/101/176

Ron hit an easy 77 to open things up then got 82. He went after a PR of 86 but it ended up getting away from him. He got the CJ opener of 95 then missed 102 and a PR 106. Needing a little more strength to last for the 6 lifts...

Matt from C KY WLC provided most of the day's entertainment. He hit two solid snatches then he was just a bit too anxious putting his 86 down as he failed to wait for the center ref's down signal and got two red flags. He nailed his first two CJ with strength to spare. His 130 clean was a grind to stand up, then he laboriously moved his hands to jerk position, then set up for the jerk. Practically 20 seconds passed with him standing there. Then, he grabs a breath and he nails the jerk, posting a 82/130/212 total.

Jon, lifting in his first meet, posted a total good enough to lift in the junior national championships next month. Weighing in at 84.2 he hit 100/130/230 with a Sinclair total of 275.21156.

Coached by the 1987 world weightlifting championships silver medalist helped Douglas hit a solid 82/115/197. He has room to spare.

Aaron, Doug's teammate, hit a nice 100/120/220 in the 94 class.

Chadd, teammate to Aaron and Doug, went 3 for 3 in snatch posting a 112 as his best. Then he hit 130 and 140 in CJ. To win best lifter title, and beat Jon, he would have to hit his third CJ of 150. A solid clean lead to a solid push jerk and the Best Lifter prize. 112/150/262 for a Sinclair of 279.3795

A great meet and thanks to the lifters, coaches, spectators, and volunteers!

Random, though coherent, thoughts on talent

2011-12-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

Starting off, let it be noted that there were quite a few PR lifts generated in the last few weeks by our lifters.

This leads me to the discovery of talent. Specifically, how does one identify weightlifting talent? More specifically, since weightlifting has only one governing body (begging the question: What happened to Ivan's American Weightlifting?), how is talent identified keeping the mission statement of said governing body in mind?
"...The Mission of USAW shall be to enable United States athletes to achieve sustained competitive excellence in Olympic competition and to promote and grow the sport of weightlifting in the United States..."

I guess "...sustained competitive excellence.." is defined as 2 slots in the upcoming Olympic Games for women and none for men. Though I did laugh out loud when I received a nice letter asking me to contribute to the USAW Olympic development program.

Conclusion: make sure that said potential weightlifter has championship level weightlifting parents.

Another way is to market the living daylights out of weightlifting to not only the general populace, but to youth sports in general. A kid turns 5 and his parents are already on the phone trying to find the local soccer club to put the kid into that program. Talk to said parent about getting this same kid to perform skilled athletic maneuvers which may involve a barbell and your life is in jeopardy.

Importantly, there are not that many out of the box talented weightlifters. Not everyone can run sustained 4 minute miles; not everyone can total 350 kilos as a 77. Let's define the talent pool as one of the top 10% in the world in every one of the 15 weight classes. now, how do you pick that set of people, one at a time, out of a line up of athletes? And, make sure that you have enough in the pipeline so when one lifter gets derailed by life's happenings, there are bodies waiting in line to replace him.

Presumably, the person selected will be somewhat athletic and coordinated. Perhaps that prospective lifter can jump well and is moderately quick. The most basic physical desire would be that the person be able to fog a mirror. From there, we look at coordinated, conditioned, coachable, possessing good body awareness, and committed.

The prospective lifter has to be able to rub his stomach and pat his head at the same time. Has to be able to go into a split position, with either leg, and not fall over. Conditioned enough that he can squat more than a few times with his own bodyweight and that exercising for an hour or two won't lead to certain death. It's difficult to coach someone when he is bent over gasping for air after picking up an empty barbell.

Coachable in that the person can handle cajoling, challenge, cues, adjustments, criticisms, and make progress without incredible amounts of consternation or argument. Eventually, the training will take on a solo effort in the lifter's garage or gym.

Committed to the monotony of training. Committed to the monotony of steady progress toward goals. Committed despite setbacks. And, by corollary, committed enough to realize when there is no progress in training leading to the conclusion that it is time to cut one's losses.

How does one develop this talent pool of lifters in a timely, steady manner? To me, it appears as if the game would be one of numbers. Take a large pool of athletes who have these qualifications (and hopefully have them be under the age of 25) and start funneling them down towards the aforementioned mission statement. The athletes could be involved in football, soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, etc, during the course of development in weightlifting.

Without the numbers, one is out of luck. More young people learning the lifts, completing at meets, and lifting in general should lead to the discovery of latent talent as well as "getting lucky" with more than a few gems who could be headed to the Olympic Games.

In a sales training class, I ran into a fellow who told everyone his close ratio was 100%. At first glance, that seems like an astounding feat, especially thinking that sometimes I am meeting with 50 people a month. Upon digging deeper, he only called on a couple of people. Not hard to have a 100% close ratio if you are meeting with only 2 people!!

AO: By the lifters for the lifters? OR: Is weightlifting a secret sport, not even worthy of cult status?

2011-12-04T04:53:00.001-08:00

Hardly. Of course, I was only there for the Thursday and Friday. Perhaps it cleaned up a bit for the rest of the weekend. Specifically, here are the items which indicated that something was amiss with the meet organization.

No water in the warm up area for lifters.
No food in the warm up area for the lifts.
Long, long, long walk for the lifters from the meet hotel to the platforms.
Hard, if not impossible, to hear the announcer in the warm up area.
Flags versus lights for referee signals.
No posting of a copy, except in one spot, of schedule changes implemented post-technical meeting.
No signage of where the meet actually was taking place. Though I knew where the Crossfit Challenge was happening...Is weightlifting a secret sport, not even worthy of cult status?
Results posted only for Friday, here it is Sunday, and then the results for Friday are incomplete. I repeat: Is weightlifting a secret sport, not even worthy of cult status?
No indication of where the check scale was located.
Once located, it was in the middle of a meeting room, offering no privacy.
10 years of the Arnold and not one lesson learned. Sigh...

American Open: Results

2011-12-04T04:26:00.000-08:00

The good news is that both lifters posted totals and hit PR lifts. Unfortunate news was a massive coaching mistake and the list of details that this meet was not by the lifters, for the lifters grows.

Keith, after a one week taper and hitting good numbers about 10 days ago, was our first lifter. After an 800 mile drive, there was some relief that he was not the first session of the day on Friday, 12/1.

Warm ups were nice. Some lifts kind of getting away, but nothing serious. All good. Opener: solid. Whew. Second attempt with a PR 72: straight up off the floor; no salvaging that one. Coaching cue: "Tight." Not quite finished at the top on the second attempt though it swept in nicely and off the hips was good. Miss.

CJ. Keith will be following himself so, need to get that opener in and then go for it. 82 opener: Whew. Total can be posted. Second attempt at 87. Left the floor out in front where it stayed throughout the jerk, too. Miss. Loading it to a PR attempt, Keith gets ready. Nice off the floor; the clean was much easier than the 87. Stands up nicely. Now,the jerk. Straight down, drive was good, but the arms became engaged too early and the bar ended up over the forehead. Miss. 69/82/151 and a competition PR clean.

Afterwards, an international level coach came to Keith to tell him that he looked good and he needs to stay with it.

After what seemed like forever, it was finally Brigid's turn. She gives a mini-clinic on the warm up platform of how to move quickly around the bar. All looks good. Some jostling of attempts among the other lifters (none of whom were in podium contention...) puts her going first. Bang. Superb lift to open.

Then the inexcusable happens.

Somehow, she is called but nobody, including Brigid, hears her name until Three Ring (hat tip) yells, "Brigid is up!" 13 seconds on the clock and she is running to the platform. Or, wait a second, maybe it was a coaching tactic to make sure there was no thinking and all doing... She nails the lift with absolute smooth perfection. 2 red flags and no lift. Nobody knows why.

A former national champion now coach of champion lifters says, "She looked great on that lift. You are going to move her up, right?"

She goes for a PR 59 on her third and final attempt. The lift was doomed to stay in front as her elbows were just slightly pointing backwards from the start. Everything else about the lift was good; it is a game of millimeters and milliseconds when you are going after a PR.

Need to move on to the CJ. Fortunately, she is able to flush the coaching mistake and move on to a focused warm up. Another clinic on the warm up platform and she is ready for the opener. Nailed. Now, it's time to go for it.

73, PR clean, jerk just to the front. 74, PR clean (up from the bottom much more nicely than the previous lift). She sets, good drive, but the arms got involved a millisecond too early putting the bar over her forehead. She finishes with a 53 (a moral 56)/69/122.

A Good Week for all

2011-11-21T06:35:00.000-08:00

Nice work by the lifters this past week, including a couple of PR. Brian got the week off to a good start by setting a PR in squat. Increasing it from 180 to 185. In addition, he hit a PR in CJ of 117. He had tried it the week before and was unable to get under. This time, he pulled a bit harder and got the bar to just below his shoulders. The jerk was routine after that. Snatch needs to be emphasized a bit more over the next period of time so that it can catch up to CJ.
Garrett unknowingly hit a PR in clean grip dead lift. The bar was misloaded on purpose just to see how he would react. Despite his near refusal to use his legs and make a back exercise, he was able to crank out 10 reps at just over bodyweight.
Fern and Zach. Since they are just starting out, every day is a PR for them!
Keith and Brigid make the final preparations for the upcoming American Open.

Great Performance: Beta Laten Eva

2011-11-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

Under the category of better late than ever, Saturday November 5 saw the last possible chance for Brigid to qualify for her second American Open and second Nationals. Practically one year of training came down to this last meet...no pressure though.

Warming up: no problem though a couple of warm up lifts were a bit loose.
Snatch opener: smoked.
Snatch second: smoked. Drawing gasps from the crowd at how smooth the lift was.
Snatch third: smoked.

She is halfway to the goal. Focussed and feeling confident, she begins CJ warm ups. Nice progression with no problems of any kind. Opening CJ; hits it solidly so, she has at least totalled with 2 attempts left to qualify.

Second CJ: she hits this, she is in. Clean is solid; the jerk even more solid. Fantastic lifting. She qualifies for the 2011 American Open with this total.

Third CJ: An attempt is made at a "should make" weight, but not as much fire in the belly as on the prior attempts and the weight is not racked.

One meet a month since September and this one sticks. Great job. See you in Mobile.

Weightlifting Needs a Libero

2011-10-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

A few years back, volleyball became boring. Tall people jumping and killing a tiny little ball that had done nothing to them, with apologies to Joseph Heller. Participation was down as was spectator interest. Lo and behold!

The marketing guys got a hold of the problem and were able to invent the libero. This new position had a couple of key requirements. One of which was that the athlete did not have to be tall! The libero is not allowed to play the ball if the ball is over the net. Wow.

Suddenly, young boys and girls with no hope of getting over 5'5" could now play volleyball. Well, weightlifting needs a libero.

Not trying to put national meets into the bustling downtown section of major metropolitan cities where they will be lost in the noise. Not being elitist and spouting off about the purity of the sport. Nor setting up a contrived love/hate with Crossfit. Weightlifting needs a libero to get more people, kids especially, interested in the sport for the sport's sake.

Now that I have identified the problem, perhaps I can come up with weightlifting's version of the libero.

Big Week: PR galore!

2011-10-31T08:12:00.000-07:00

Who knew? A slight meet hangover from the October 16 event had everyone's tongue dragging. Then recovery and Voila! PR in the books.

Brigid solves the CJ problem and hits a PR 72.5 in it. Good training information for the next cycle came from that lift...

Brian pulls a bit harder than usual and gets under a PR (85) snatch. Incremental improvement. then, to cap off the week, goes for a PR double (145) in the front squat.

Ron was the usual PR machine that he can be. He gets an excellent groove going on with 3 pulls to a lift and hits a PR CJ (105). Then, he caps off the week with his own front squat PR work. He hits one (120) and tries for two PR (125, credited with 1.75) in the front squat double.

More good will for sure come of these efforts.

Open Meet: In the books

2011-10-17T03:36:00.000-07:00

Another meet in the books. An amazing meet all around. So much drama compressed into 12 people doing 6 lifts!

Many thanks to Alicia, the owner of Crossfit Power Performance, in providing the facility on short notice. Thanks to the volunteers, Frank, Josh, Jess, Mark, Zach, Rick, and Andrew who helped the meet run smoothly. Most of all, thanks to the lifters who came and lifted the weights! Here are the details.

The women lifted first with Megan, Brigid, and Ashley, in her first meet, all going after it. Openers for all three were smooth and no problem. Megan ended up getting a bit loose on her 2nd and 3rd snatches, missing both. A traumatic injury kept her from competing further.
Brigid put the next two lifts in front of her and was credited with her opener. This upped the pressure on her to hit a higher number in the CJ. Ashley hit all three lifts, credited with 65 on her 3rd.
With Megan out, Ashley and Brigid took to the CJ. She hit her opener and next two lifts being credited with 84. She went 6 for 6 with a 65/84/149 total and won the best female lifter award. In addition, she qualified for the 2011 American Open in the 75 kilo class with her 149.
Brigid had to hit 76 to qualify for her second American Open. Three valiant attempts at the weight, but to no avail. She got credit for her opening snatch.

9 men lifted.
Keith,looking very fatigued, missed all three attempts at his opening snatch and got one CJ of 80.
Mike,in his first meet, powered up all three snatches and was credited with 70. He went 2 for 3 in the CJ getting credit for 90 on his last lift.
Ralph hit a PR 74 snatch going 3 for 3. Then, he tied his PR in the CJ only to break it on the next attempt. He hit 100 with authority and was credited with a 74/100/174 for three PR.
Zach, another lifter from Central Kentucky Weightlifting, went 6 for 6 hitting a very comfortable 60 and 95 for a total of 155. Plenty of potential for improvement in the snatch.
Brian muscled up a relatively easy 80 then missed at his 2 attempts at 85. The CJ was a bit better. The opener of 110 was routine and he got a bit of sympathy from the judges on CJ attempt number 2. The bar was caught a little off the shoulders which put the jerk a bit in front. The 118 which would have been a PR was a very fast moving deadlift. He was credited with 80/115/195
Ben, testing out new starting positions on both lifts, hit a solid 90 for his opener in the snatch. The 95 proved to be too heavy today. He hit his opener of 120 on the jerk, despite obvious wrist pain, and missed his next two attempts. He got credit for 90/120/210, all of which are competition PR.
Ron, fresh from a heavy meal and anniversary celebration the night before, weighed in 0.5 kilos over his usual 69. He hit 82 in snatch, just missing a PR of 86. He hit 95 solidly in CJ on his second attempt at it then missed his nemesis of 105. He got credit for 82/95/177.
Anthony, lifting for Team Spartacus out of Minnesota, posted a solid performance. He went 6 for 6, setting PR in the process, and his total of 85/110/195 qualifies him for the National Junior Championships in 2012. He was best lifter, too, until Zach hit his CJ. Congratulations Anthony!
Zach, from Louisville, got his second attempt on the snatch of 120 then missed the 125. He tried 150 once in the CJ, missed, but came back and made it solidly the second time. This lift got him the Best Male Lifter. He was not done as he nailed 155 for a PR CJ and total. A great way to end the day!

Location Change for Sunday Meet

2011-10-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

The good news is that the meet is still on this coming Sunday, October 16. It is not going to be at our usual location due to a scheduling conflict. Good chance has lead to Crossfit Power Performance in Loveland, Ohio, stepping up to host the meet. The address is 112 North Second Street, Loveland, Ohio, 45140.
Weigh in begins at 11 am and the lifting will get underway at 1 PM. Have lifters from Lexington, KY, Louisville, KY, Virginia, Indiana, and Ohio. Should be a nice little meet. For a description of the facility and more formal directions, here you go:

http://www.crossfitpowerperformance.com

Good luck to all lifters!

Tough week for some

2011-10-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

What a week. Highs and lows. Lows and highs. Brigid and Keith are experiencing the volume and loading effects of the last few weeks. The next few weeks bring about a volume reduction, an increase in intensity, and the hitting of PR lifts. And, just in time for the American Open. The improvements will come...

Brian cracks the 82 barrier and does it consistently. Hits an 85 snatch for a PR and snatches 82 2 times out of 3. he earns a sticker!

Garrett hits a PR in the BTN push press, but cannot get down with this weight into the overhead squat position. What is up with that? He does earn a sticker for the PR, though.

Next up is the meet at home on October 16 and the "Can you do a double?" squat off. The club's title belt is at stake. Will Josh be able to hang on to the belt?

Good day for a PR

2011-09-28T18:13:00.001-07:00

Definitely not a good day to die.
Apparently, today picked Keith for him to have the energetic session. Snatch work started off OK, not great. Lifts above 90% were just a millimeter to the front and a nanosecond off in timing.
Clean and jerk improved immensely. 92% was challenging, but do-able. Nice work. Then came the best part: squats. After being pinned to the floor under a 105 front squat on Saturday, Keith was smashing his squats, today. A few sets at 92% had him pumped and feeling pretty good.
"Can I go to 120; just give it a try?"
"Yup, but to prove you have increased your strength, why not do it for a double?"
So, doing my best imitation of Captain Kirk's spotter, "Don't nobody touch the bar!", Keith double dunked double bodyweight and obliterated his previous PR. He has much more in him...
Fun stuff and excellent performance!

Saturday Maximum Training

2011-09-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

With the dog show trumping training at the usual location, 4 lifters came to the newly christened RWF Regional Training Headquarters (LOL). Today's plan was max snatch, CJ, and front squat double. Lifters over 5'9" could only clean.
Snatch results with the goal of each lifter hitting at least 90% of current maximum.
Ron, PR 85, hit 78 with attempts at 81.
Brian, PR 82, hit 78 with attempts at 87 (an on-purpose misload) and 90.
Ben, PR 95, hit 90 with a few steps to chase after it.
Keith, PR 77, hit 71, after valiant attempts at 72 & 73.

Clean and jerk was a bit more iffy. So much energy was expended in the previous lift that there was not much left for the King of the Lifts.
Brian, PR 115, could get no higher than 97.
Ben, PR 127, could get no more than 95.
Keith, PR 94, hit 85 with no problems, cleaned 90 three times. No jerk on the latter, too much press and not enough punch under.
Ron, PR 102, hit 100 easy, but could not stand up with 105.

Front squat was made more difficult with a very stiff, unforgiving bar so, no boing out of the hole.
Keith, double PR of 105, could double 100 but was pinned by 105.
Ben hit a double of 155 which is 5 kilos away from his single PR.
Ron, double PR of 110, hit a new PR of 115 and a new single PR of 125, earning himself 2 stickers.

Back to the usual location on Monday with the usual suspects.

Training Update

2011-09-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

Brutality is the one word that can sum up this past week. Loading with heavy weights, many reps, bodies sore days later, and more. All in the name of "Will this help my snatch and CJ?" Short answer, "Yes."
First step to solid signs of lifter improvement: ETSU Meet on Saturday the 17th. Tight, close, finish, keep the feet flat for as long as possible. How many PRs will be set at this meet? In October, the plan is to host a local meet at the new location of the weightlifting club on a Sunday to provide another step along the way to improvement.

Mom Was Right

2011-09-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

And I say what she said, "Eat food rich in vitamins and minerals as well as hefty amounts of protein. Watch your sweets and fats. Get some sun." With the added qualifier that you can keep more money in your pocket to buy essentials for the weightlifting room: bars, bumpers, chalk, tape, etc.
Too many supplements and you are risking shortening your life.
From a doctor's update:

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
September 11, 2011

Get Vitamins from Food, Not Pills

One in three women and one in four men in the United
States take vitamin pills regularly. This month, a study that
followed 182,099 people in California and Hawaii for an average
of 11 years showed that taking multivitamin pills neither
decreased nor increased the death rate for all causes or the rates
of heart attack or cancer (American Journal of Epidemiology,
August, 2011).
A previous review of 67 randomized trials of vitamin pill
effects on life and health found that taking vitamin pills may
shorten life (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 1,
2008). The authors found an increased death rate of 16 percent
in those taking vitamin A pills, seven percent with beta-
carotene, and seven percent with vitamin E. The Women's Health
Initiative study followed women for eight years and found that
taking multivitamin pills has little or no influence on the risk
of common cancers, heart attacks or death rate in postmenopausal
women (Archives of Internal Medicine, February, 2009). A review
of the world's literature shows that multivitamin use neither
increases nor decreases risk for breast cancer (Annals of
Pharmacotherapy. published online April 2011)...
...VITAMIN B PILLS MAY CAUSE HARM: Every chemical reaction in
your body is started by an enzyme. For your body to convert
chemical A to chemical B, you need an enzyme to start that
reaction. All eight B vitamins are parts of enzymes. When you
take large doses of one enzyme, you accumulate end products that
must be balanced by also taking large doses of other enzymes.
For example, NIACIN LOWERS CHOLESTEROL, BUT RAISES HOMOCYSTEINE:
People who take large doses of niacin to lower cholesterol have a
marked elevation of homocysteine, a risk factor for heart
attacks. Here is how it happens: Proteins are made up of
building blocks called amino acids. The B vitamin, Niacin, is
part of the enzyme that converts an amino acid, cysteine, into
homocysteine..."

Now, I am not a doctor nor do I have a doctorate, but it seems that there is some pretty good data to concentrate first on food and much further down the list cramming a truck load of supplements down your gut.

Mini Meet in the Books: Instructive

2011-08-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

Competition is where you learn how your training is progressing. 3 weeks of training since the state meet (with a few changes in the programming) and this was the first check point. With the Title Belt on the line, anything could happen. It did.
The meet format was a point system. Each lifter would get 4 attempts per lift. Attempts would be at 92, 95, 97, and 102% of current maximums. 3 points for each lift made, bonus for 3 lifts and a bigger bonus for 4 lifts. Lifter with the most points gets the Title Belt. A crazy tiebreaker would take place if there was a tie.
The details.
Ron and Brian started at the same opener in snatch of 78. Easy. Megan, Ben, and Josh also easy times with their openers.
Ron had trouble the rest of the way with 80. Obviously thinking of drinks, food, and ships...
Brian progressed nicely hitting a PR snatch.
Ben made the second snatch, but slipped back into old habits as he edged closer to 100%
Josh went 3 for 3 and on number 4 ran it far in front of himself.
Megan hits her opening 2 snatches easily then tightens up the wrong way for #3. She pulls it together for the fourth and nails it.
3 way tie after snatch. Funny, it always seems to come down to the CJ.
Megan: easy opener. Cleans the second, valiantly struggles to stand, gathers herself, and misses the jerk. So much work for nothing! She gets credited with her first CJ of 64.
Ron's tropical woes continue in the CJ. he hits the first one with a bit of bother and gets nothing after that. He struggled to stand with 100 but could not put it overhead.
Brian cleans his first two with mostly upper body and jerks with authority. He misses attempts 3 and 4, leaving the door open for Josh to step on through.
Ben steps up to the platform and hits a solid three initial CJ. he calls for a PR of 130. It was a very fast moving dead lift, but not a clean.
Josh matches Ben by going 3 for 3. His fourth attempt is loaded; will he lift the weight or lift the bar? The weight. He misses, but still totals 22 points to Brian's and Ben's 17 each to take the Title Belt.
Lessons learned: it's still a meet and you still only get the one shot on the platform. It's tight, close, finish with your feet flat for as long as possible.

I see programming changes for all starting next week!

Thanks for Frank for visiting and Garrett for cheering the lifters on. Josh got the belt, but everyone else got cupcakes.

Borders to Tryharder Land are closed

2011-08-15T05:42:00.000-07:00

Sadly, Tryharder Land has closed its borders to all immigrants. No more of "I will try harder next time". The good news is that the borders of DoGood Land are wide open and always looking for newcomers.

Competition requires one to do good (grammatically it should be Do Well, but this ain't English class...) at that point in time. To have goals to accomplish or to reach based upon what training and preparation has led up to that point is what competition is for. If you do not hit your goal(s), then something in the preparation went poorly.

Nor is progress linear; if it were we all would have 200 kilo snatches, 350 kilo squats, run 4 minute miles, and weigh what we want to weigh. Trying harder does not magically put 100 pounds on to your PR. Just saying, "I will put 5 kilos on my snatch in the next month" won't happen if you don't do the necessary and sometimes tedious work to get to this point.

"I keep missing snatches out in front when I get near my max weights. I will just try harder." No more. Knuckle down, perhaps even asking the ego to step aside for a while, develop the plan, work the plan, check yourself, and then adjust the plan.

Recently, our program has gone through some minor adjustments in the last few weeks. The effects will be checked at a meet simulation day, read that to be a competition. So much information in such a compact little piece of time.

Who will have his or her visa to Tryharder Land refused? Who will enter DoGood Land?
Saturday August 27 will be the day for the test.

Details for ZKC International Meet, July 23

2011-07-31T04:05:00.000-07:00

Last year, not one point was scored by the club in the ZKC International Meet. The goal was set that we would like to get one point in the 2011 version, hosted by Paul Coffa and the Oceania Weightlifting Federation. How about this: 23rd in the WORLD!!!

That's right: 23rd. Clubs from the 5 continents who took part in this year’s tournament. 129 clubs, total. We don't, we don't, we don't mess around.

Megan: 27th in her weight class, just outside the top 25.
Josh: 13th in the world in the highly competitive 105 class, imagine if he had been in the 94...
Keith: 7th in the world in his weight class
Brian: 22nd in the world in the very competitive 94 class
Ron: 35th in the world in the huge 69 kilo class.

The club finished one measly point behind the Sandbox Club lifting out of the USA.

Congratulations to the lifters...great start to the fall training season!

E mail international meet results

2011-07-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

The annual Oceania International E-mail tournament took place on Saturday. This is the second year in a row the club has posted a result in this meet which is coordinated by Paul Coffa from Oceania Weightlifting Federation. Club objective this year is to get at least one point (meaning a lifter is within the top 25 lifters on this day). The breakdown.

The meet served as a checkpoint for the state meet of next week, too. Looks as if the lifters should post good results for themselves at the state championships.

Brian, in the 94 class, hit 79/113(PR)/192(PR) for a two sticker day

Josh, in the 105 class and returning after a one year hiatus, hit 92/120/212. He did go 5 for 5 having to pass on his last CJ attempt. A sticker worthy CJ progression as he went from 105 to 120 in a single jump while following himself.

Keith, in the 56 class and fresh from 4th at nationals, hit 72/85/157 for a total 4 kilos more than last week!

Megan, given credit for being in the 63 class, hit 49(a PR)/62/111 narrowly missing her PR total of 113.

Ron, in the 69 class, fired off some explosive lifting hitting 80/90/170.

August 1, 2011, the results will be out and we will see if the club has arrived at the international level by getting that one point.

Perspective: Nationals and A World of One's Own Making

2011-07-17T04:36:00.000-07:00

3 lifters at nationals, 2 of whom were visiting for the first, and not the last, time. Definitely excellent accomplishments as there are 100s of US lifters watching the nationals on the web cast.

Brigid was the first of our lifters to go at nationals. Solid weeks of training got her to the nationals platform. And she was smoking hot in the snatches, going 3 for 3 and coming within a kilo of a PR. Big Mo in the house.
CJ warm ups go great with a 64 easily taken care of in the back. The platform told a different story. She cleans her opener and, from the side, her back is rounded like the letter C and that bar is sunk so deep into her throat it appeared as if I was watching a UFC choke hold. She stands up, clearly woozy. No J.
She has time to recover, but not enough. No full CJ are made and she is not able to post a total. Not the end of the world, but it does set a good perspective point from which to work. Of course, not 8 weeks ago, she could not press the chick bar overhead.

Keith next up for his small session of 5 lifters. Excellent warm ups. Excellent opener in the snatch. Not a PR, but a solid 90% to bring Big Mo back to the house.
73 snatch: wow, way out in front, no way to salvage that thing. Move up, gotta hit a mid-70s to stay in medal contention. 75: fast, explosive, no solid lock out.
Quick tactical change: channel Mattias Steiner for the CJ.
Opening CJ: missed! Second CJ: 2 reds! What the heck? Keith is hot off the platform and the chalk container and doors are begging for mercy. He must make the lift to total at the meet. No messing around: he locks out the lift for a fourth place finish. Note the perspective reference above: 4th place in nationals ain't bad!

Jake, in his second nationals appearance, is in fine shape and ready to go. Tough to control the energy of a raging bull, but his snatch warm ups go great. Then, coaching panic sets in: 107, the last warm up, looks like a dynamic upright row. No turning back as the platform had 112 and he opens at 115. Practice lifts had this as a solid opener and he has nailed it at nationals before.

Opener: miss. Second lift: much better than the first, but still not to be. Third lift that he must hit to stay in the meet. Coaching advice: "I don't care how you hit this one, just hit it." Didn't work, arms bend immediately and there is no salvaging the lift. No snatches are good. Not a chance to post a total.

CJ needed an opening adjustment and that lift is hit solidly. Whew. 150 did prove to be elusive as neither one was made.

The head demons won this meet, but they will be crushed in the next go around as each lifter takes away an awesome learning experience. Did I mention perspective? This was not a local meet, a national meet where you shake the hand of former national champions, Olympic team members, and gold medal winners.

Not a bad weekend at all.

State Of Readiness

2011-07-10T04:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday before: 3 national lifters all ready for the meet this week. This state of readiness should translate to PR on the platform.
Brigid: confident, hitting all lifts with no misses, and within a few percent of her weight class. Ready.
Jake: hitting all lifts, strong, and well within his weight class. Ready.
Keith: ties PR total in practice, hits PR in front squat. Ready.

On Saturday, Brian hits snatches, dialing in the "stand up, shrug down, tight, close finish" mantra. The goal today was a PR CJ. The bar is loaded and the first attempt is loose, falling in front: no good. Second attempt: if he keeps the clean tight, close, and finishes if off, he will make it. Paydirt: 110 is locked out overhead.

Ron, with the empty stomach, hits a seemingly routine 80 in snatch. His CJ was good until the bar was loaded with a near PR attempt. Two attempts @100: clean is a struggle, but he stands up. The jerk: well, he will get it next time! Front squats got him well acquainted with the black out demons.

Steve, in his last Saturday lifting session til December, didn't quite have the pull to get under the bar for his CJ. Monday.

Sizzling Saturday

2011-07-03T04:33:00.000-07:00

4 weeks away from the state meet and less than 2 weeks until nationals provided an excellent chance for progress check.
Ron has PR lifts scheduled in both lifts. He goes through his snatches and loads a PR on the bar. A strong pull under the bar gets him a PR and one more sticker... Now, will he get the second PR for his final snatch attempt? He gives it a good ride, standing up, shrugging down, but not quite locking it out at the top: not this time...
His CJ work was strong, too, ending on a maximum effort clean which crushed him into the ground.
Ben blows through some hang snatch/snatch combos and hits what should be a very routine snatch of 90.
Megan just could not keep that upper back tight to hit 95% snatches today, but she more than made up for it with an exhausting series of very explosive clean-and-jerks.
Brian banging out doubles at 95% though kissing the hitch goodbye was kind of a challenge. Luke generates good power in his cleans and jerks.
Steve rolls through his CJ warm ups with an excellent dip and drive at 110. Can he sustain it to 140? 120 was a bit wobbly, 125 improves. 130, strong clean, weak on the jerk. The big jump to 140. A strong pull from the floor, not quite strong enough pulling himself under the bar puts the 140 a bit low on his chest. So low that his elbows were between his knees. He stands and, after a few seconds of deliberation, promptly passes out; no jerk.
Keith proves he is on track to do battle for the podium at nationals.

Max (Disruption) Day

2011-06-26T04:55:00.000-07:00

With the state championships, planned for outside, a month away, Saturday was max out day in snatch, CJ, and front squat double. The disruption came from performing the lifts outside in the parking lot. Who knew that body awareness would be disrupted by no horizon other than the clouds over your head?
All of the day's lifters, that's who.

Ron, 72/92
Keith, 72/85
Brian, 77 (80 overhead, but not meet worthy)
Luke, 80/97
Ben, 90 (squatting a purposely misloaded bar for 7 x 177)

Keith HAD to improve his front squat double today. He loads the bar to 102 dunks once, dunks twice, but cannot rise. He unloads the bar, re-racks it, psyches up cuz he has that Irish guy, Plenty O'Fight in his legs, and double dunks the 102 the next time. PR and the obligatory sticker, now putting him in the lead for the next reward level of 30.

More disruption is planned!

Title Defense Results: Squat Off

2011-06-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

An interesting and fun time for the team today as the battle was on for the Belt. Would Keith keep the belt? Who was the biggest challenger? Who would dig down for a PR?

The winner would be the lifter with the most points based upon formula for the squats and the total weight lifted in the pull ups (not number of pullups).

Jon laid it down first with his lifting on Friday: 147 front squat, 172 squat, and 10 pull ups. These numbers gave him 5th overall.
Garrett got an early Saturday start and got 57 front, 74 squat, and 7 pullups. The squat numbers are PR numbers so, he hits the second reward level!

Then, it got serious. Steve, Keith, and Brian all start off comfortably. Steve goes up a bit in front squat to tie his PR of 160. His back was kind of loose, but he still made it. Brian, being cautious, hits 140. Keith hits a PR of 107 and then misses number 3 attempt. Steve loads the bar to a PR 170 for front squat. Excellent form on the way down; no return trip up. Brian calls for a big jump to 160 and ends up hitting it.

Ben finally throws his hat into the ring with a 170 first attempt at front squat. He makes that easily with plenty to spare and goes to 180. This turns out to have only an eccentric component with no concentric component.

Standings after the first round: Brian, Ben, Steve, Keith.

Back squat is next. Brian, done sandbagging Steve, calls for 170 which he hits easily. Steve, knowing he has to come in first place in this squat portion to take the belt back to England, calls for a 180. He struggles mightily with the spotter's hands ready to help. No downward motion: he completes the lift with all he has. Then, he calls it quits as that was everything for him. Brian calls for 180.

Halfway up, he is stuck and starting to move down, the spotter applies upward pressure and Brian makes the lift. No good so, he must go again. He ends up powering his way through the sticking point on his next attempt for a good 180.

Keith bangs out a solid 120, but cannot seem to master the increase to 125. This he misses twice. Ben suddenly appears on the platform!

After responding positively to the "Make Weight for State" challenge, he bangs out an easy 200 squat. This lift wins the squat portion for Ben. He calls for a PR and absolute club record of 210. This is made! The call is made for a huge 220.

No good; though he did get a nice massage as the bar rolled down his back!

Standings after 2 events: Ben and Brian tied! Steve in 3rd, Keith in 4th. It is anybody's title belt at this point. Each lifter draws a card from a deck of playing cards with the high card going to Steve, who goes first.

Steve hits 14 pull ups. Keith next: he hits 15. Ben next: he hits 5. Brian has to hit at least 15 to win. He gets 19 and the title belt passed to Brian.

Stickers for Ben, Keith, Garrett, and Brian, too. Nice job by all lifters. Next belt defense will be July 23!

Early Summer Open: Results, June 5

2011-06-06T04:39:00.000-07:00

Summer hit with full force as it was hot in the lifting area today. A youngster from Kentucky was the focus today as it was his first meet. He shows excellent promise; definitely strong.
Here are the numbers:

Fred, 20/25/45 (first meet!)
Zach, 17 y.o., 52/90/142 @ 72.72 k
Chris, 57/70/127
Ron, 83(PR)/97/180 and best lifter with a 241 Sinclair!
Brian, 77(PR)/108(PR)/185(PR) 3 stickers!
Ben, nursing a hurting wrist, 87/110/197

Thanks to Frank, Steve, and Dave for being judges. Back to the trenches, tuning up for the outdoor state meet on July 30.

Events that make you think, "WHAT?!"

2011-06-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

A backyard bean bag toss game (a.k.a American Cornhole) is having an event in Cincinnati June 18. It has a $5000.00 purse.
To toss bean bags?? What about puttin' 227.5 kilos over your head??

Official Restaurant of the Ohio Weightlifting Championships

2011-06-03T06:35:00.001-07:00

Just announced is the fact that Dingle House, http://www.dinglehouse.com, will be the Official Restaurant of the Ohio Weightlifting Championships: Who is Ohio's Strongest Man?
When you are at the meet, show your USAW card to the staff and you receive a 20% discount on your order (not applicable to alcohol). Plus, the Restaurant will make a donation to Cystic Fibrosis in the amount of 10% of the food portion of the check for the entire party of friends, coaches and family members dining with the participant.

What a Saturday!

2011-05-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

With 4 national lifters in the house, you knew lots of weight would be put up. It was. Puttin' up weight overhead, making attempts on weight you would never have thought about weeks ago, nice!
Ron almost sticks an 85 snatch. The 105 CJ proved elusive, too.
Keith solid at 98%+ just could not do the PR numbers. He did hit a 105 front squat. Nearly double bodyweight!
Megan was a CJ machine; needing to bend the legs and get under when doing snatch.
Brigid showing speed off the floor and under the bar. Learning to ram the daylights outta the bar when needed in the jerk.
Garrett even put up a solid effort in squats. Now if he could just forget about working the calves.

PR snatch and squat

2011-05-24T18:11:00.000-07:00

Something is in the air as the intensity level has gone up in the last few days. Nice programs, excellent level of work by all.

Tonight had Ben snatching heavy. He finally broke through a pesky barrier and hit a solid PR 95. It looked as if he had a couple more kilos in him, but he still had work to do. He finished off the session with 25 squats at 85% (5 x 5 not consecutively).

Keith, working under a new program, had 5 heavy front squat singles in front of him; uncharted territory. He tied a PR and set 2 new PRs in the front squat.

Brigid even threw her hat in the ring with a fine week 3 lifting performance. Luke cleaned up his squat nicely though reps 4 and 5 are close to his undoing.

The gauntlet was thrown down and the call was made: PR Squat Day with title belt implications will be held at the club on June 11. Should be a lot of fun!

Squatting results and stickers

2011-05-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

Ben, deep into his quest to become Klokovian, had a long, demanding lifting session last night. Heavy snatches ended on a miss at 87. Then a lot of CJ. This served to warm him up for the Russian 6 x 6 session. Begging for mercy by set three, Ben joined Steve, Keith, and Brigid in completion of this tough physical and mental session. He earned himself an OSU sticker for the effort and let's hope that this leads to a bodyweight snatch soon.
At one point during the evening session, an observer pointed out that there were all young, healthy, strong males lifting. A very rare occurrence which soon was murdered.

Meet Results

2011-05-15T04:31:00.000-07:00

A nice meet on Saturday! Thanks to the Kyle family and Sandusky Weightlifting Club for putting it on! A short drive to Sandusky, not much longer than Toledo meets, for Keith, Ron, and Brian to lift.

All goals for all lifters were accomplished-- cannot get better than that! The details.

Keith (57.6) hit 75 in the snatch, not a PR but the PR attempt went up like it was a toothpick. He just could not control 78; he is good for it later. The CJ opener was very smooth and powerful. The 2nd attempt was a good clean, then not as much oomph in the jerk drive. Needed faster elbows on the 3rd attempt. Still, Keith was good for a 165 PR total as a very light 62 along with 1st place.

Ron (68.8), working diligently on the CJ since the last Test Day, wanted to get over the 100 mark in the CJ. Snatch was 3 for 3 with a meet PR of 82. Final attempt at CJ had him staring down 102. The prior two attempts were very smooth despite some front of the foot landings. He cleans the bar, chases it to the front of the platform causing some judges to be concerned, then drives himself UNDER the bar for a good lift.
Meet PR snatch, 6 for 6, 102 PR CJ, 184 PR total, 2nd place in 69s.

Brian (89.4), lifting in his first meet, hit all objectives. He powers up all 3 snatches in moderately good form though the last snatch could have been about 3 feet closer to him. He hits a nice round of 3 for 3, including a PR, in CJ. Weighing in at a very,very light 94, he was able to come away with 2nd place by going 6 for 6 with 73/107/180 total.

Looking forward to June and July!

Saturday: Heavy Day, PRs, and The Belt

2011-05-01T03:51:00.001-07:00

The intra club battle for The Belt was a good one. PRs were set, stickers were earned, and fun was had by all. Three spectators enjoyed the action. Thanks to Frank, Fred,and Amelia for watching.

The entire snatch session of lifts at 92% had only 1 miss! And, that one was overhead but Brian just could not lock it out and hold it. Megan had a dodgy back which would prove to be her undoing and she retired from the competition.

As usual, the CJ would determine the winner. If not, an entertaining tiebreaker would be used. The details.

Garrett went first in the CJ and he was only able to clean the weight. He made attempts to jerk the bar, pressing it above his head, but the feet were bolted to the floor. He managed to to get 51, a PR clean, to his shoulders, but that was it.

Brian working off an estimated PR from other events, started easily with 85. The weight piled on and he lifted the PR of 107 as his final attempt.

Ben lifted the absolute most as he hit his 90% of 114, but that was all his wrist could handle.

Ron, working on foot replacement issues decided to change his focus point and hit his opener @ 90% easily. 92% was a bit in front and he bounced back to hit the 95 and 97 markers. He gave 102 a ride to about waist high, but it was not to be...

From the dust, Keith and Luke were battling back and forth. Brian would have been in the mix except for that one snatch miss... Each nailed their lifts with Keith finishing with a PR 94 and Luke a PR 102. The winner of the club belt would have to be the one who could stand the longest on one foot blindfolded.

One and only one attempt in this test. (BTW, if you think it's easy. close your eyes tightly and stand on one leg. 20 seconds is pretty good.) Luke throws it down with a time of 48.62 seconds. Keith goes last and has to do it longer. He gets stopped at 50 seconds and is declared the winner.

Nice work by everyone! The question is "Who will the belt go to at the next contest?"

Club Heavy Day

2011-04-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been a month since the last "Test Day". This coming Saturday throws a new twist into the mix. Lifters will have to concentrate as each and every lift has more meaning than usual. Here is the set up for the event on Saturday.
Each lifter will have to qualify by performing 4 singles in snatch with 92% of his or her current maximum. Miss a lift, you are out of the competition and destined to a squat and conditioning torture session. Make all 4 lifts, move on to the CJ phase.
Each lifter will get 5 attempts with the goal of setting a PR. Each lifter will attempt a CJ at 90%, 92%, 95%, 97%, and 102% of current PR. Miss a lift and you are out.
That's it; 9 lifts. The contest winner is the last person to miss. If it's tied, there is a tiebreaker...
New lifters with no PR yet established can lift but will be evaluated in a different manner.

Another Saturday; more PRs

2011-04-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

Good thing that the Collegiate Nationals were last weekend rather than this weekend. Might have been tough driving! Megan returns from a record setting meet for herself (4 PRs all in a day's work for her!) and a short layoff after the Collegiates. A bit sluggish on some of the lifts though good form on the squat work. Should be easy to get the groove back this week.

Keith, scheduled for a PR CJ, fails to disappoint. Warm up lifts are going well and then the singles start. One after the other all good. He aggressively pulls himself under the bar and stands up with a yell. BAM! Jerk is made. Nice work for a 2 kilo PR. He moves up 3 more kilos and nails the clean, but falls short on the jerk. A CJ of 92 and a clean of 95. Not bad when you weigh 60!

Nice work by Ben and Ron finished out the late morning lifting.

Club Test Day(s)

2011-04-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

An interesting test day!
Brigid sets the standard by setting a PR in squat. 6 weeks of hard work pay off in a 7 k increase. Excellent work! Next up: more weight!
The number of participants for Saturday's test day was low, but it was enthusiastic. With the flu, sinus infections, and cold feet hitting a couple of people, lifters could concentrate on their own lifts.
Garrett, despite having a cold of some sort, did not disappoint and made a valiant go at a PR triple in the squat. One excellent squat and good information on the classic lifts was gained.
Megan, the only one participating in singlet Saturday, was a little out in front on her snatch and CJ PR attempts. Her one rep squat was solid and took about the same amount of time as a triple!
Keith went after it in the snatch, but was a bit slow in the second pull and could not get much more than usual. A 95% snatch is nothing to sneeze at.
He nailed his first CJ PR attempt. Then a sneaky misload led to a miss. Loading the bar correctly had him set a new PR in the clean, but was not able to drive the bar up for the jerk. He nailed a double bodyweight squat to set a new PR.
Ben had great form on his two openers and then left his PR snatch a bit out in front for a miss. He had to bag the CJ due to a nagging injury.
He then attempted to set a new absolute club record in squat. 190 was a toothpick, but 210 made him into a smashed cat.
Dave looks to be setting his own PR at the meet this weekend!

Earning Stickers

2011-03-30T03:16:00.000-07:00

Good day for doing so.
Brigid hits her previous squat 1 RM for a double double! Ron hits a front squat triple triple PR. Keith does the same with his front squat. Lotsa hard work by all three lifters.
Both Ron and Keith show that they have the strength for more weight in the two lifts. It will come soon enough.
Test Day better be ready for some fine lifting!

Lack of Testosterone Reported: Wussification Continues

2011-03-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

In musing about the lifting session of the club yesterday, it became glaringly apparent as to what is upsetting about so-called training in gyms.
3 big, beefy men are working out on slide boards and on a Swiss (why do the Swiss have a monopoly on these balls??) exercise balls. There is a lot of grunting, groaning, and sweating by a couple of men in particular (possibly late 20s to early 30s and each well over 100 kilos). I notice one fellow in particular on the ball doing dumbbell presses with what appear to be incredibly heavy dumbbells. He is pressing 25 pound bells and grunting like he is wrestling a tiger.
I am pretty sure the testosterone level in his blood went down as he was thinking about his workout. I would bet he went home to Birkenstocks and an organic meal of tofu and beans.
Meanwhile, not even commenting upon the male lifters in the club, two female lifters have produced more testosterone in the last two days than those guys on the exercise balls could even dream about. Megan does squats with 130% of her bodyweight. Brigid does reps of heavy squats and RDL with 135% bodyweight.
The men, after finishing up with 30 second planks, comment about heavy weights being dangerous to lift as they leave the room talking about their latest waxing appointments and what spray tan to use.

What a Wednesday

2011-03-24T04:08:00.000-07:00

Ron motors through a fast lifting session finishing off with an outstanding 140 CG deadlift. Most he has picked up off the floor. Excellent form.
Garrett realizes that he does have legs and getting tall, rather than expending horizontal energy, is critical.
Kayla, feeling sick, pounds out a PR set of 5 squats. She should be ill more often if she can lift more weight!
Brieh shows excellent promise with her speed on hang snatches.

Not only are weighlifting girls...

2011-03-21T05:39:00.000-07:00

hot, they are kicking the guys all over the platform. More PR were accomplished this past weekend as Megan kicks it into high gear on her squats posting a triple triple triple at what was her 2 rep max. And, she put more weight over her head (albeit slowly in the form of a press) than she has done in the past.
One can only hope there are some guys who decide to "...cowboy the fuck up...", paraphrasing Lt A.K. Waters in the fantastic movie, Tears of the Sun.

Knuckling down to get stronger

2011-03-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

Brigid, nursing an injury for the past few weeks, committed to getting stronger. This she has done by really knuckling down to do heavy squats. Her hard work has paid off and today had her lifting nearly 150% of bodyweight for 4 x 4. Awesome work. Whoop whoop!

Practice, practice, practice

2011-03-15T06:55:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a concept. This is written by a former pro hockey player for The Hockey News. The next time you are considering the latest and greatest techno-gadget for core stability or to reveal your 6-pack abs, consider this:
"...Looking at all the knick-knacks, I couldn’t help but wonder about some of the folks handing over cash at the tables that housed the most mind-blowingly unnecessary products. The question I wanted to ask them was: how much of a difference do you think the improve-your-game trinkets actually make?

I hope they know the answer is ‘not much, if any.’..."

There you have it. Lift heavy stuff, lift it often, and try to move it quickly. Link to the article:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/39054-Justin-Bournes-Blog-Want-to-improve-at-hockey-Practice-practice-practice.html

Ohio Weightlifting Club State Championships

2011-03-11T12:36:00.000-08:00

This meet is set for July 30 in Butler County, Ohio, just north of downtown Cincinnati. The meet will determine Who is the Strongest Man in Ohio? Look for an exciting venue, information on tickets for Reds versus Giants that weekend, and more to come soon!

Happenings from the Arnold

2011-03-09T10:21:00.001-08:00

Beta Laten Eva results.

A strong showing by 9 lifters for the club. Brigid made the trip and got some pointers on how to speed up her recovery to get her back on track. The club needs her so we can go after the state title in July.

Keith goes officially to the nationals as a 56 with the total of 68/82/150.
Ron hit some good lifts and got knocked flat by his PR CJ attempt. 80/96/176
John did well with 63/88/151. First meet since last year.

Jon, lifting according to a special Bulgarian/Slovakian program, came back from the kettlebell grave and hit 80/115/195.

Ben hit a PR total with 85/116/201.

Jake posts a terrific 3 PR meet with 118/153/271.

Megan, after a truly awful day prior to starting to lift, hit 47/63/110 for a PR total. She hits the 4th reward level with this lifting.

Our schoolage & junior lifters were impressive.

Dustin gets new shoes and goes 3 for 3 in snatch hitting PR lifts. then, he goes 3 for 3 in the CJ and beats his father on the last lift of the day. he posts 55/90/145 for 3 PRs.

Luke, lifting in his first big meet and getting compliments on his improved form, hits 65/80/145.

An Active Thursday with another PR

2011-02-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

Fresh from the squat PR of Wednesday, Megan attacked another squat PR. She got it and another sticker. Pressing from the rack proved to be no problem either.
Kayla, in only her 5th session, squatted over half her bodyweight for 6 reps. Considering a PVC pipe was a challenge just a few weeks ago, excellent progress.
Ron made a deposit into the "Prove Myself" account with a gutsy, near PR CJ (97%).

Knuckling Down to a PR

2011-02-16T08:35:00.000-08:00

After commenting very loudly about the squat portion of last night's lifting, Megan knuckled down and made the bar her patsy. A triple triple with a PR indicating that there is plenty of room at the top end. Soon, her squat of last night will be her CJ of the night. Earned herself another sticker, heading for reward level 4.

New PR and Reward Level 3

2011-02-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

After frustrating himself with a lack of punch in the snatch (!), Ben moves to CJ. He moves nicely through the progression til 112. Looks good. He hits 120, tying his current PR. The plan calls for 125 and the bar is loaded. What he couldn't do on Test Day became his victim today. Ben hit 125 solidly, getting his 15th sticker, and reward level 3. The Wolf is sighting in on the Prodigy.

Calling It: PR Sunday

2011-02-06T16:48:00.000-08:00

A great little test day for the lifters in the club. All four lifters did a great job with everyone gutting out some type of PR. Warm up for everyone looked great with good bar speed all around. Here are the details.

Ben, looking to hit 95/120/215, was able to hit 87, missing 92, in snatch. Not a PR. Not to be outdone, he HAD to hit a PR CJ. After a somewhat "reverse curly" CJ @ 110, bar gets loaded to 120 for a PR lift. Smoother than the 110, he hits it. The 125 was not made. So, a 87/120/207 with PR in CJ and total.

Keith, looking to crack a couple of PR barriers, hit 70 in the snatch. His 75 attempts were doomed from the start, so he had to set his sights on the CJ. A smooth 82 then a smooth 88 sealed the deal. He attempted 90 twice to no avail though he was able to clean it twice. So, he gets a 70/88/158 tying a PR total.

Megan, looking to improve once again, set her sights on a 115 total. Warm up lifts smoothed out at around 42. She was able to hit 45 with a step forward then hit 47 easily for a PR. She used that momentum to hit a PR 61 in the CJ. Then a mis-loaded barbell had her attempting 70, despite her calling for a 65. Yikes, fire that loader. She nearly stood up with it even with her back rounded to look like the letter "C". When the bar was properly loaded, she hit the 65. A PR machine, she hit 4 today ending up with 47/65/112, all PRs. She earned a pair of straps.

Ron, setting his sights on the 100 CJ barrier, was smooth in warm up for the snatch. His 72 was solid, 75 was a miss (shocker), the 80 comeback lift was made. No PRs yet. In the CJ, a solid 87 followed by a PR 96. He still needed 2 PR to get his Chipotle gift card. The bar is loaded to 100. He pops it solidly off the hips for a great clean then jams it overhead for the PR! The lifts of 80/100/180, along with the PR 96, give him the three points he needed for the gift card.

Well done by all! Looking good for an excellent showing at the Arnold.

Toledo Development Meet: Results

2011-01-23T03:55:00.000-08:00

Long day in the saddle, but productive for all. This meet was hosted by Toledo Weightlifting and had about 17 lifters. 5 in the woman/schoolage and 12 in the open/masters. 1 woman lifted and a lot of old guys were there! Wow.

Megan came in with the goal to hit a Q-total for the collegiate nationals. She did. She snatched 42 then 45. She missed 48 as she was a bit anxious and left the bar behind. Then in the CJ, she hit 56 on her opener (officially qualifying her) then hit 60 on her 2nd (PR). The 65 should have been made but fell in front of her. 4 for 6, national collegiates: not bad for 2nd meet.

a three time Olympian told her to drop her hips a bit more when receiving the bar and her total would go up. Advice like this cannot be ignored.

Luke, in his first meet and fresh from some PR work on Thursday, hit his opening snatch (60), but just could not get the groove going on with the other two. He quickly forgot the snatch and moved on to nice warm up with CJ. He hit 80 on his opener so, one goal accomplished: post a total. He hit 85 on his second and went for a PR 90 on his 3rd. Gutsy clean, decent drive, but a poor punch out caused this one to be red lighted. So, 3 for 6 and a 145 total.

Keith had competition in his weight class! It proved to be a nice little battle. He went 3 for 3 and hit a PR of 76; finally breaking the 75 barrier. His competition hit a 65, but missed the next two lifts. CJ: Keith misses his opener. Yikes. He comes back and strongly makes the second. The other guy has not even opened yet!! Keith's 3rd attempt is 88, a PR. he cleans it, throws it up there, and almost gets under. No lockout.

With a 9 kilo lead and the other guy heavier, Jonathan would have to lift 10 kilos more than Keith in the CJ to win. He calls for 90 and gets it. He is at 155 and Keith is at 158. Jonathan goes for 94 and the win. he cannot clean it then goes up for his third! He missed the 98 and Keith wins the weight class.

Ron, feeling slow in the snatch, but actually looking pretty good, hits his opener of 72. 76 and 80 were just not quite there and he had to settle for the 72. Today's objective was to improve on the CJ so, he attacked it well in warm ups.

He hit 90 with authority. he hit 95 in the same manner. Then, 100. Good drive off the ground, just could not whip the elbows around fast enough to rack it. So, 3 for 6 and a 167 total. Nice work.

Ralphie's Eatery provided the Weightlifter Burger on the ride home! Nothing like a pound of meat in your stomach after a meet!

Megan: 45/60/105
Luke: 60/85/145
Keith: 76/82/158
Ron: 72/95/167

Calendar Updates

2011-01-14T07:22:00.000-08:00

Check out the calendar at Cincinnati Weightlifting for some updates on events over the next few weeks. January 22, development meet; February 6, Club Test Day. january 24 and 25 limited coaching available.

Steve Smashing a 100kg Snatch

2011-01-06T05:12:00.000-08:00

He Done Did It

2011-01-06T04:47:00.000-08:00

Appreciating the "Do or Die" of tonight, Steve was able to be mentally prepared and do what needed to be done. Steve hit the 100 snatch PR on the first try (saving himself $20 in the process) and later cleaned 125 and 130, both PR. Along with the squat PR of 160, not a bad week to be getting on a plane to medical school.
Congratulations, Steve and Good Luck!

Do or Die Night

2011-01-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

2 attempts at the snatch. Will he make the 100 PR? A 20% improvement in one year. Steve's plane leaves tomorrow for London, England. He has said that he will not be on it if he doesn't hit 100 before doing so. Do or die.
Normal lifting times for tonight: about 6-630 getting started about 8-830 ending.

PR Night in the House

2010-12-30T03:26:00.000-08:00

Lots of smashing going on! As well as learning what to work on next.

Unfortunately, Keith hit a snatch at a bad angle and re-tweaked his back. He did provide moral support with an ice bag on his back!

Luke and Ron were PR machines making it look easy. Luke hits PR in snatch, CJ, total, and squat. Wow! And, at his height, the weights must travel a looong way.

Ron hits PR in the snatch, CJ, and total. He is well ahead of Arnold schedule with his snatch. Just gotta work the strength for the CJ. Ditto Luke.

Steve hits a SN PR. Still has to hit that 100 mark prior to leaving for England next week.

Ben hits a PR in CJ. If he can follow the advice of a 4-time Olympian, his snatch will go up, too!

Megan hits a PR snatch and just barely misses on CJ. Her front squat takes a huge leap indicating the strength is there, just gotta harness it.

Garrett, not to be outdone, gutted out a PR squat.

Overall, a fantastic night for every lifter. What a way to end the year!

PR on the night!

2010-12-22T19:24:00.000-08:00

Garrett hits a PR in the clean. He earns an OSU sticker. Now, just gotta get that jerk to match it. Squats were hard work, but he hit all of them. Nice work.
Steve learned anger direction with PR on the horizon.

New PR and Stickers Earned

2010-12-18T03:48:00.000-08:00

Been quite a week after the high of the American Open. Luke earns an OSU sticker for hitting PR in hang snatch. His squat form continues to improve. Megan hits a PR in the hang clean and is well on her way to a 65 CJ. Ron "I ain't did it yet" indeed did do it and hits a double PR session in squat. Posting 125 and 127 for triples.
Looking forward to test day on December 29; should be a lot of smashing going on!

Cincinnati Weightlifting Last Minute Qualifier - Men's Clean & Jerk

2010-12-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

Club Closing

2010-12-01T05:13:00.000-08:00

The club will be closed beginning next Thursday night, December 9 through Monday, December 13. Regular lifting will begin again on Tuesday December 14. No problem if you want to lift on your own-- just don't get hurt.

New Lifting Hours effective: NOW!

2010-11-23T19:42:00.000-08:00

Well, the good news is that we are in the same general location. the bad news is that we have moved to a much smaller location and must suffer with shifted hours. Regular hours will be Monday through Thursday 6:30 until 8:30 ish. Saturday will be a little later than usual; starting around 10. NOW! If you need to come in a bit earlier, you can do so. That is no problem. As of right now, our available space has been decimated. We have less than half the space of before.
So, coming earlier in the evening during the week is OK though the kids, Boot Camps, and other items trump us. For sure, every night of the week, we will have the place to ourselves after 7 pm.
Just to emphasize, these new hours will begin on November 24. I apologize for the inconvenience.

PR Week

2010-11-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Steve hits a PR in the clean and, unfortunately, not the jerk. Megan hit a PR then broke this PR on her second lift. This she did in the CJ. She said 18 months ago she was barely deadlifting for 1 what she did a CJ for the other day. Now that is progress.

Contest Simplified

2010-11-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

After the exceedingly complicated contest of last Saturday, much easier this Saturday. Lift more or do more or go faster.
4 events: Press from racks, Bar lowering, Pullups, Strongman medley.

Press from racks had Steve and Luke in 1 & 2 after a nice, if short, battle.
Lowering the bar (loaded bar from overhead is lowered until arms are roughly parallel with ground then held for a pause) had Garrett and Megan first to drop off. Steve hung around until the end again.

Pullups should equalize the field. Luke was done early and Ron hung around for a quick, winning 14. He appeared to have a few more in the tank.

After 3 events, the standings were: Steve (33), Ron (29), Garrett (23), Luke (22), and Megan (12).

The medley was brutal. Megan was on wobbly legs after squatting near her maximum for 3 sets. The medley consisted of jumps, ball toss, running, sled pushing/pulling. Luke was fastest, Ron was second, Steve averaged to 3rd, Garrett, Megan, Maggey, and Therese rounded out the rest.

Final standings were: Steve, Ron, Luke, Garrett, Megan.

Great work. No contest next Saturday as the meet will be the contest.

PRs, Stickers, Contests!

2010-10-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

Great Saturday morning as there were PRs galore as well as nice, albeit somewhat complicated, contest to round out the morning.

Ben hit a PR 90 in snatch for a good sticker. Just has to keep hips low to make solid improvement in the CJ. Megan hit a PR in the front squat, going over her previous PR by 2 kilos and hitting it for a double. And, Keith tied individual PR in the lifts (70/87) and hit a PR total (157).

The contest had 2 ways to score points for the 2 contested lifts. In the unlikely event of a tie, a strongman medley on the soccer field. 7 contestants for $8 in the pot and 3 cupcakes. Who would call home to say he or she has cupcakes?

In the vertical bar lift, Steve and Fred tied for first in absolute total with Steve getting the nod because of lower bodyweight. They did 310 pounds.
Ron (270), Ben (220), Garrett (205), Keith (190), and Megan (190) rounded out the rest.
Percentage of bodyweight had it Ron, Steve, Keith, Garrett, Megan, Ben, Fred.

Steve and Ron were separated by one point with 3 tied for 3rd place.

On to the bent over row with a pause. Proving to be somewhat tricky and was not without protests from some.

Fred and Steve mastered the pause to tie for absolute first. Ron bowed out due to time constraints and Ben, Keith, Megan, and Garrett rounded out the rest.
Relative bodyweight, Keith, Steve, and Megan went 1, 2, 3.

Final result was:
Steve 22 points
Keith 14
Fred 11
Ron & Ben tied with 10
Garrett 9
Megan 8

Next week will have another crazy, fun contest with pride, money, and cupcakes on the line. Should be fun.

Today's Contest Results

2010-10-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

Not quite the turnout that was expected, but fun nonetheless.

After a PR squat by Keith, earning him an OSU sticker, the contest began. Money and cupcakes were at stake so, competition would be intense.
First, the front squats. 80% of projected maximum for as many reps as possible in 90 seconds. Agony awaited.
Megan 26 reps
Garrett 22 reps
Ron 21 reps
Keith 16 reps
Steve 14 reps

Tonnage:
Ron
Steve
Megan
Keith
Garrett

After one event, Megan and Ron were tied for first, Steve and Garrett tied for third. Keith, after a PR squat, was in last place and out of the contest.

One arm lift-- anyhow.
Garrett was out after 4 rounds. Megan was out after 5 rounds, Ron was out after 7 rounds, and Steve stood alone after 8 rounds.
Tight finish had:
Ron, a.k.a. "I ain't did it yet", in first with 26 pts
Megan in second with 24
Steve in third with 22
Garret, a.k.a. "G. Murder", in fourth with 14
Keith in fifth with 8

Nice job by Keith in achieving the PR. Good work by Ron to win the contest. He's your daddy until next week...

Upcoming Visit: October 25

2010-10-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

Gwen Sisto from Risto Sports will be visiting the club and will have samples of singlets for all to review. All active lifters should take a look at the singlets as the more interest shown, the lower the price per singlet. The singlets can be seen at the Risto Sports web site.

Toledo Redemption

2010-10-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

4 lifters with multiple objectives made the trip to Toledo for a development meet. Thanks to Toledo Weightlifting for putting it on. thanks to Frank for making the drive and doing a fine job with the white and red lights.

Keith, a.k.a. "American Open", 62 kg, hit 66/83/149 going 4 for 6 AND completed his workout for the day.
Ron, in his first meet, 69 kg, went 4 for 6, hit 75/90/165 for a PR CJ and Total. He hits the 2nd reward level earning himself a $10 gift card to Qdoba.
Steve, a.k.a. "Canadian Intensity", 85 kg, went 4 for 6, hit 88/112/200. One hopes that the extra lifting sessions will help him out in the November 14 meet.
Ben, 94 kg, er, 105 kg, went 4 for 6, hit 84/110/194.
Ben's total put him behind Steve meaning Steve "won" the intra-club contest. Ben will complete the bet next week and it remains to be seen who the real winner of the bet is!
Next meet is November 14 at the club.

PR: Boiling the frog

2010-10-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

Megan's lifting session today was cleans from blocks (above and below knees). She points out that she is doing about 95% of her clean PR from the blocks and it's going well. Time to clean from the floor. She lifts the barbell, not the weight thinking only about this lift, not the one before nor the one after, and cleans a PR-- earning herself an OSU sticker. Practically a bodyweight clean. She'll be ready for the Open Meet in November.

Why not set a PR and hurdle a mental block?

2010-10-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

All in the same day. it saves time that way. Steve SMASHED his snatch PR tonight. And, he easily had 3 or so more kilos in him. Nice work and earns an OSU sticker.
Garrett sets a 3 rep PR in the squat. Not one set, but 2 sets with the weight. Nice work.

A Fun Saturday

2010-10-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

Is when you make progress as a lifter and have a good time doing it. Keith is muscling his way through another Russian Squat cycle. Looking good and near the end. Definite translation to better SN & CJ. Ron lifting well after his multi-PR day. Steve and Ben dialing it in for next Saturday. Garrett muscled his way through his heavy dead lifts. Fred had a lil trouble with his heaviest squats having to cut it short.
Today's contest had Fred coming out on top in the triathlon with Ben in second, and Steve, lifting for all of Canada, in third. Fred earned his first OSU sticker for his efforts.
The finisher was the Old Man showing how to get it done with pullups. In the post event interview, he was quoted as saying he had at least 3, maybe 4 more in him.

Can it be believed? A 3 PR night!

2010-10-04T17:53:00.001-07:00

On a crowded night at the gym, Ron was up to hit PR singles in both lifts. He was looking very good with his snatch lifts. He hit 72 hitting a PR then demolished it with a jump to 77. He had 80 in him, but 77 was the stopping point. On to the clean and jerk. The CJ lags behind the snatch just slightly, but could he do the same in the CJ?
He did. He hit a new PR in CJ. If he can now just break the 100 barrier in CJ, ...looking forward to it.
Ron earns 3 OSU stickers.
James cleans his squat up very nicely and earns an OSU sticker.

Today's Fun Contest: Results

2010-10-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

After a long day in the saddle, Steve requested a finishing contest. The contest selected is a medley where each lifter will jump onto a 24" platform 3 times, push a sled of about 200 pounds, and then do a farmer's walk/run/jog with a 95 pound dumbbell in each hand. Keith was at a disadvantage as the 'bells outweighed him by about 80% and Garrett was deep into the master's division.
Results: Ben, earning himself his second OSU sticker of the week, in first with a time of 21.81 seconds, Steve in second with a time of 22.50, Ron, Keith, and Garrett rounded it out.
Good job by all! Next week, perhaps reverse curls with the thick barbell.

New Equipment in the House

2010-09-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

After a full week where all four platforms got a lot of use by a lot of lifters, there is more equipment in the house. Luke got his shoes and his position immediately improved. Equipment was purchased from an old club member who is retiring from the sport. His loss is our gain. More bumpers, more metal plates, even a new couple of training bars.

Meet Results: ETSU

2010-09-19T04:54:00.000-07:00

Lifters traveled to Johnson City, TN to lift at this meet. Goals were high for all lifters. All lifters had a learning experience.

Brigid, attempting to qualify for the American Open in 58 category, went 3 for 6. She totaled 55/70, just barely missing the Q total by 3 kg. She did get first place and was the meet's best female lifter. She will qualify for the Open in November.

Keith, attempting to qualify in the 56 category, was shocked to weigh in at 54. Had he known he was that light, he coulda had that burger at Steak and Shake. He hit a 65 snatch and needed 80 in CJ. He got it on hi first lift. Fortunately for him as the weight loss took its toll and he missed his next two lifts. He also won his category.

Ashley, still lifting for CWLC, lifted in the 63 category performed well. She hit 2 snatches (45 best) and 2 CJ (56 best). A triple digit total. A few more meets under her belt will help her a lot.

Steve having put in a tough training regimen over the past few weeks expected to hit a few PR. 87 for snatch seemed good, but the next two were missed. CJ warm ups went well and expectations were high for the lift. 113 was missed out in front 3 times. Unfortunately, no total was posted by Steve.

Dave, nursing two injuries, warmed up well and powered up his snatches. Keeping the bar reasonably close, he hit 58 in his snatch. The CJ proved tricky as the lift really hurt his iced, but not numb, knee. With an opener set at 70 and hitting 90 in the warm up room (!), it was decided to move his opener up. He hit it and the second (85) easily. On the platform, the easy 90 in the warm up area did not go up as easily and he was red lighted for arm unlock/pressout. Oh, well, 58/85/143 is not bad for a guy heading to the doctor on Monday.

ETSU Meet Info, Thursday Results

2010-09-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

The meet at ETSU is Saturday. Steve, Keith, Ashley, Brigid, and Dave are lifting. Keith and Brigid are attempting to qualify for American Open. The press release is already written so...Good Luck to them (and the rest of the lifters)!

On Thursday night, after who knows how many months, Garrett and Frank were finally able to get the punch out for a jerk. A series of drop jerk repetitions prior to them each jerking off the rack (making the rack happy and feeling special). Nice arm punch in the split and push jerks by both lifters.

Clean and Jerk PR

2010-09-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Ugly, but workable. Steve hits a milestone in the CJ and ugly cleans 120, stands up, re-sets himself, and hits the jerk. Nice work. PR lift and earning him sticker numbers 15 and 16. A pair of lifting straps are on the way!

Club Test Day: Results

2010-08-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

What a day! Goal was to set PR in a lift or lifts and then finish off with a "fun" contest. Dave (all the way from Lexington), Ron, Keith, Steve, Ben, and Josh were lifting.
Dave set a PR in the snatch with 64 and hit 89 in the CJ decisively, but did not break his PR in that lift.
Ron was a PR machine. He hit PR in the snatch 4 times, finishing off with a strong 70. His CJ was near PR, just not quite there.
Steve made valiant attempts at the snatch and CJ, but did not have the strength today for them. He will soon. He did earn a sticker by winning the thick bar dead lift and hold by 2 seconds.
Keith finished up his 4 week conditioning program with a strong CJ performance. He struggled mightily with his clean, was able to stand up, but just could not lock out the jerk. He is ready for more.
Josh made valiant attempts in his snatch and CJ, too. He ended up winning the thin plate pinch grip contest for his sticker.
Ben came in with the goal of a 200+ squat. He was successful. He hit a 202 for an absolute club record in the gym. Prior to this lift, he missed his PR snatch, but came back to nail two PR in the CJ. Finally leaving his handshake partner in the dust.
The results from the event will allow for adjustments to the next few weeks of lifting prior to the ETSU open. That should be a great time, too.
Excellent work by all lifters.

Keith: First Reward Level

2010-08-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

After time away from lifting, Keith has been working very hard on conditioning. Today, he hit 9 clean and jerks in 9:30 at 120% bodyweight. Earned him an OSU sticker and 6 cupcakes!

Reward Level Updates

2010-08-02T03:25:00.000-07:00

Ron was able to earn his first sticker for a good performance the other night.
Josh went all out and after being stuck at 3 for some time, earned 2 stickers in two consecutive workouts. He now receives his half dozen delicious cupcakes.
Steve was the winner of a club wager on Saturday and gets to enjoy 3 cupcakes on his way to the 94 kilo class.
With a club test date scheduled for August 21, there should be plenty more stickers earned!

Lifting Results from State Meet

2010-07-22T05:37:00.001-07:00

Here are the results from the state meet on Saturday, July 17 in Sandusky.
Frank, 53/77/130
Steve, 84/115/199 good for 3rd place in 85 kg
Jake, 116/152/268 (3 new PR) and a fierce battle for the state championship. He took 2nd in the 85 kilo class
Ben, 0/100/0, he made the weight class, but ended up not getting a good lift for snatch
Dave, 65/80/145, lifting in his first real meet
Josh, 95/112/207, providing the entertainment on the 3rd CJ attempt.

Lifting Results from Today's Invitational

2010-06-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

With the minimum amount of lifters in the meet (and coach sweating bullets he would be lifting!), had some good performances today. Dave and Ben both lifted in their first meet ever and both went 6 for 6. The bug has a firm grasp on both of them.
Eric hit PR in snatch and PR total earning 2 stickers today.
With this in mind, here are the results:

Dave, 45/60/105 6 for 6 with loads of room for improvement!
Ben, 45/60/105 6 for 6 with loads of room for improvement!
Eric, 63/75/138 PR SN and Total
Frank, 50/65/115 who withdrew due to painful shoulders.
Chad, 0/90/0
Steve, 85/108/193

Thanks for the help goes to: Ed and his son Adam, Josh (not lifting due to injury), and Andrew. Rick for driving out and then thanks to the spectators!

First Reward Level, PR in CJ

2010-06-25T03:20:00.000-07:00

Eric, after a titanic struggle, figures out pin cleans and nails it. He hits the first reward level for stickers!
Steve, after struggling a bit in the snatch, hits a PR CJ. His clean was a bit rough and he worked hard, but the jerk was the best of the night.
Nice work!

Hopefully, this translates into PR for both on Sunday.

What a day for the lifters today!

2010-06-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Jake, lifting at the Spartan Open in Michigan, went 3 for 3 in snatch, hit 115/145/260, won his weight class, and was best lifter. Not a bad Saturday! Congratulations, Jake.
A full house on Saturday morning had new lifters in there as well as "old" lifters looking for PR lifts.
Steve: ties CJ PR and hits clean PR.
Eric: breaks PR in snatch and CJ for a two sticker day.
Josh earned another sticker for his performance.

The race to the 5 sticker reward level is tight with Eric, Garrett, and Keith with 4 stickers each. Steve is on his way to the 3rd reward level with 12 stickers now.

Fantastic work all around!

Personal Record: Broken

2010-06-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

At the end of the second and last cycle of squat program, Steve exceeds his previous PR in squat. His snatch has increased 3 kg, clean has gone up 3 kg, squat has increased 6 kg. Bodyweight is the same. Sticker earned. He has upped his intensity. Now, up yours.
Ben 1, a strong fellow, is getting the hang of the lifts.
Ben 2 , also a strong fellow, is reacquainting his hamstrings with weightlifting.
Frank is getting to know the flex, extend, flex feeling.

What a night...Wow

2010-06-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Ben returns after about a month and finds out what "through the heels" and "pulling Ben under the bar" means. Frank feels "high on the hips" and pulling him under the bar. Eric ditto. Josh ditto. Garrett feels it in his legs. Chad finds 65 boring and 70 a bit of a challenge.
Steve hits a PR snatch, gets 10 stickers, and hits the next reward level.
Excellent progress being made by all! Nice work!

Sticker Day

2010-06-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

Steve blasts through his snatches and squats to earn himself sticker number 8. Two away from the next reward.
Keith has 4, Garrett has 3, and a bunch are clustered around the 2 mark. This cycle should lead to the demolition of a number PRs and many stickers being awarded.

New PR in the CJ

2010-05-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Eric, able to recover from viral bronchitis, hits a new PR in the CJ earning himself an OSU sticker. Nice work. Josh finding the snatch groove and hating the overhead work. Steve still recovering from a very tough Thursday night and Megan hitting the platform for the first time. A good morning all around.

Week of Memorial Day Schedule

2010-05-23T04:40:00.000-07:00

Here is how the schedule will run for the following week at the club:

Monday, May 24 to Thursday, May 27: Usual lifting times

Friday, May 28: No coach there, welcome to lift, assuming Explosion is open.

Saturday, May 29: Usual morning lifting session

Monday, May 31: Most likely, no lifting.

June 1: Return to usual action.

Weightlifting Meet Results: OBJECTIVES ACCOMPLISHED

2010-05-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

A great day of lifting in Cincinnati today. Many thanks to the lifters who came from all over and to the volunteers who made the meet happen.
Volunteers were: Chad, Josh, and Manu as referees; Jon, Brandon, and Garrett as loaders; Fred and Stephanie as scorers and timers.

Three lifters came to the meet to qualify for national meets. All three did so (Steven from Team Hercules 47/56/109, Jake from Cincinnati 110/148/258, and Jami from Columbus 53/66/119). A number of lifters were lifting in their first meet and were looking to total:
Steve from Cincinnati
Eric S. from Columbus
Eric C. from Cincinnati
Bryce from Indiana and only 10 years old
Kayla from Indiana and only 13 years old
Amber all the way from Memphis

In my opinion, the best lifting performances were put in by Brigid from Lexington and Chris Y from Team Hercules. Wow. Talk about effort and coming up with the big lift when needed. Great stuff.

Nicole from Columbus hit 70/83/153
John, from Columbus and making a comeback, hit 70/90/160
Michael from Memphis Team Faction hit 98/128/226
Ralph P. 62/90/152 outdueled his son Ralph A. 57/85/142
John L. hit 105/140/245
Chris Y, from East Coast Gold and tuning up for nationals, hit 113/140/253
Frank from Cincinnati and showing age is not slowing him down hit a PR snatch and 58/75/133
Keith from Cincinnati hit 68/82/150

Fantastic job by all.

Squat PR in advance of meet

2010-05-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

Steve completes the squat cycle, hits a PR, and gets another sticker. He just barely missed a second PR a few minutes later. Squat goes up, snatch goes up, CJ goes up. Crazy how that shit works. Meet Saturday with a good, good bunch of lifters: should be fun.

Hitting the first reward level

2010-05-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

Steve is the first to hit the first reward level by hitting a PR in the snatch. He snatched a PR 87 then went for another PR at 90. This was missed. Reward at the first five OSU stickers is: 1/2 dozen cupcakes.

PR Day

2010-05-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

Keith, proving once again that the "Russian Squat Program" works, went for a PR squat. Nice lifting to warm up then he attacks. He loads double bodyweight on the bar for his opening attempt. He becomes a smashed cat. Remove 5 kilos, bang, nails it. He recovers, calls for the double bodyweight. Again, a no go, but a PR nonetheless. Oh, and a sticker.
Steve nears the end of the program, squatting heavy.
Jake puts in a nice lifting session hitting a 250 total and well within reach of a Q-total for nationals.
Josh gets back into the groove with some 3-stage snatches and cleans followed by a 100 mile bike ride. Eric continues with steady progress despite hamstring soreness.

PRs hit and PRs due to fall

2010-05-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

Jeremy hit a squat PR. Working on getting the "posterior chain" involved and he was able to nail a nice PR. Earned himself a sticker in the process.
Keith and Steve continue their respective marches to hitting PR not only in the squat, but in the competition lifts as well. Keith's doubles of today were done nicely and he just missed a tie of his CJ PR.
Good work by all!

Finally, success

2010-04-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

After 6 months of 3 days a week training, Garrett was finally able to hit a hang snatch. He hit it and hit it well. An excellent job earning him an OSU sticker.

Another day, another PR, another sticker

2010-04-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

Steve hits his second PR of the week. Tonight it was in the clean and jerk. Earning himself a sticker and sole possession of the lead. One more sticker and he will hit the reward level. Steve 4, Keith 3, Ben 2. Keep up the good work!

PR and OSU Sticker

2010-04-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

Steve snatches a PR 85 tonight, earning himself an OSU sticker. He and Keith are now tied for the lead in sticker total.

Another Day, Another PR

2010-04-24T11:16:00.001-07:00

Ben was able to set a PR today in the CJ. Bested his previous by 4 kilos! Earned himself an OSU sticker. This moves him into a tie with Steve at 2 each. Keith still leads. I expect to see a rush on stickers in the next few weeks. Steve and Keith making steady progress on their respective squat programs. 5 x 5 sessions were decimated by both lifters. Maggey earned her first sticker for passing her WL test earlier in the week.