Local Meets and Weightlifting Careers

A fun Sunday afternoon meet inside a sweltering gym. What better place to start a lifting career?

With the outside temp around 80 degrees and the inside temperature about 110, the lifting began for 15 competitors. 5 lifters competing in a first meet with one lifter 10 years old. All sorts of skill and experience levels at the meet.

Many thanks to the spectators for suffering through the heat as well as our volunteers:

Stephanie (scorer), Jeb, Frank, and Jordan for officiating, and Nic and Tony for helping with the loading.

The ladies, all new lifters, started the competition with Samantha going first. She nailed all three snatches perfectly: 15, 18, 20. Her CJ were equally as solid going 3 for 3 and hitting 23, 26, 28. Hopefully, she comes back for more lifting!

Kat from Bluegrass Barbell hit 35 and 41 easy then seemed unable to decide between squatting or splitting her last one and missed the 45. Her CJ were caught just a speck low on her shoulders causing some extra adjustment for the jerk, but she got them all! 50/57/61, credited with a 102 total.

Ryan from Central Kentucky hit solid lifts of 47, 48, 49. She got 4 attempts on the CJ. Her first lift had no collar on one side so, she was able to shake that off, come back and nail her opener. She nailed the next two, also. Credited with 49/66/115; she was best lifter and earning the gift basket and cash.

The guys went next with Ralph starting.

Ralph started with a misloaded bar (by 5 kg, pesky collars) and nearly got it. He came back to get his next two lifts with ease. His CJ started off well and ended better: PR! Ralph was credited with a 60/85/145 for a post surgery PR.

Shae went 2 for 3 hitting 55 and 58. Then he comes into the CJ strongly with a good opener and ending with a nice looking 80. Plenty of talent in this slim youngster: 58/80/138.

John, from Columbus and with plenty of experience under his belt, hit 3 good lifts of 62, 67, and somewhat shaky 72. His CJ were equally as good. He had solid 82, 88, and 93 lifts. 72/93/165 total.

Zach, from the host club, hit nice lifts of 62, 68, and 72. He opened with a solid 86 and closed with a PR of 96. 72/96/168 for the day.

Kyle,moving up a weight class, hit a smooth opener of 70 then jumped to 75. A miss behind and then he comes back to hit it. The CJ went much better for him: 83, 87, 90, no misses. 75/90/165 and PR all around.

Keith, chasing state records in both lifts, hit easy 70 and 75. Then the 81 proved just a bit out in front: no lift. He hits a very solid controlled 90 for his CJ opener then a PR of 96. He calls for 101. Just not enough there, but soon. He gets a 75/96/171 and is the leader in the Best Male Lifter competition with 251.91 Sinclair.

Matt, in his first meet, hits a solid opening snatch then misses his second. It stayed glued to the ground for just a bit too long. He comes back to make the 82, though. No problem with his opening CJ, but not so good with his next two. He is credited with his opener of 100 for a nice 182 total.

Anthony, from Team Spartacus, hits his opening snatch of 80 and cannot seem to get the next two where he wants them. He hits a good 105 for his CJ then 110. He calls for a PR of 115. He cleans it, stands up, jerks it, but just not enough finish gets him two red flags and no lift. He is credited with 80/110/190.

Jordan, also in his first meet, misses his first two snatch attempts. With everything on the line, he comes back to hit the 82 opener. He is a bit more solid in CJ where he gets his first two lifts of 107 and 111, but cannot get the final lift of 116. He is credited with a 82/111/193.

John, from Central Kentucky, had great snatch lifts of 90 and 92 to start. His third, 95, went up, he went down, but not locked out. He nails 102 and 108, calling for a final attempt of 115. He cleans it, stands up with it, and just puts it a bit to the front. He is credited with a 92/108/200 and posts a 250.99 Sinclair.

The three 94 now start the lifting in earnest.

Ben, from Cincinnati Weightlifting, hits his 90 opener nicely. He is not able to complete the snatch attempts at 95. He recently set a PR in the CJ and is focused on that. He puts himself behind the 8 ball by missing his first attempt. He gets the 122 on the second try. He cannot clean his third attempt. He is credited with 90/122/212, PR at this new, lighter weight class.

Ben, from Bluegrass Barbell, hits an easy 100 then gets his second snatch. His final attempt is not good. His 104 stands. If he gets his opener in the CJ, he will be leader in best lifter. He misses. Gathering himself, he comes back to get the 120 and take over best lifter with 254.88 Sinclair. He finishes with a 104/120/224, PR at his new, lighter bodyweight.

Zach, from East Coast Gold via Louisville, misses his opening snatch of 120, but comes back to make it. His third attempt is no lift. If he makes his opener of 150 in CJ, he wins the Best Lifter Award. He does. Now, what will he go for? He calls for 155. Miss. He hears that 163 would hit the national championship qualifying total for 94. He cowboys up and calls for the increase to 163. After a valiant effort, he cannot stand up with it and is credited with 120/150/270.

Next meet at Cincinnati Weightlifting Club is set for Saturday July 14; many records, personal and otherwise, should fall!

A night for personal bests

Sometimes, the best PR attempts and makes just materialize in front of you. Tonight was one of those nights. Lifters were warned that when the temperature outside rose, the temperature inside would go through the roof and it did. 85 outside, 100 inside. Not much need to warm up. Keith, chasing a couple of personal records, asked, "Why am I so loose in the bottom (of the snatch)?" "It looks as if you are not spreading the bar and getting tight." "Ok, I am going to try 80." He smashed it and obliterated an old, old 56kg snatch record. Now, the goal is to do it in a meet. After hitting 95 in CJ in the BFB the other day, he attempted 100 tonight and attempted it twice. Solid clean, solid rack, popped off his shoulders, just a bit weak in the split despite the two attempts. His third attempts on Sunday will be to hit each of these lifts. Brieh, getting stronger each session, hit a PR in front squat and hit her first ever CJ. Nice work! Ron got the CJ he was after, hitting a 110 solidly the other night. Zach missed a 94 CJ on BFB day, but did make the rack quite happy with a 100 jerk. Great stuff and just in time for Sunday. One can only hope 3 days off will get everyone well rested.

The Battle for The Belt: in the books

Another battle for the belt today as 6 lifters went at it and a new point scoring system was tested. I can already see one tweak in it before I use it for a weightlifting league. To the matter at hand. Zach has been the proud holder of the belt for the last few weeks. He has certainly lived up to the title: posting PRs and showing good progress over the time period. Plus, 4 days a week of lifting have helped tremendously. Will he keep it or will he relinquish it? Lifters made 4 attempts at snatch and CJ. The attempts were: 90%, 93%, 97%, and PR. Points were tallied for each lift made and there was a multiplier for lifters with totals closer to Ohio state lifting records. Kind of made it interesting. Garrett opened the contest up with his first attempt at 40. he makes it. His legs were dead after this as none of his attempts were good after this. Patrick, theoretically not in contention at all, hit all of his snatch attempts. With no true PR yet established, he got 4 points. Zach, certainly getting good elevation on the bar, hit 3 of 4 lifts. He failed to lock out the last PR attempt. So close! Keith, strong off the ground, but just a little off in pulling himself under the bar, hit two attempts. Ron was solid in his first three snatch attempts, missing a PR @ 90. Ben hit his opener solidly then was weak off the ground for his next two attempts. He nailed the 4th attempt. Standings after the snatch: Keith 5 Ben and Pat: 4 Zach: 3 Garrett: 1 the CJ would hopefully get some separation in there. Garrett got things going again hitting 2 of his 4 attempts for 2 points. Pat, not so great on getting the elbows around, but if he cleaned it, he jerked it. He nailed all 4 lifts gaining himself another 4 points. Zach was great all around through his first 3 attempts. he goes for the PR, does all the work to get it racked, get ready, dip, drive, and almost punch under the bar. Just a bit to the front and just not enough arm power. Keith was moving great with the bar. He nailed his 3 sub PR attempts and went for a PR of 95. He hit it with authority, earning himself a sticker in the process. Then, he came back and hit a PR clean. Ron was having problems getting that right heel down fast. It threw him a bit to the front on each clean. He did nail all 3 sub-PR lifts. He attempted 110 to set a new PR. a bit forward so, no lift. His only reward here was a tweaked wrist. Ben needed to hit all three lifts then come back and PR in a BIG way on #4 to tie Keith and go to the Triple C Leg Crank tiebreaker. Opener was a bit dodgy, but made. The good news is that he posted a total at his new svelte 94 kilo bodyweight. Last time, well, that was last time. he was not able to hit any more CJ. Points totaled out this way: Keith 18 Ron 9 Pat 8 Ben 6 Zach 6 Garrett 3 Keith takes the belt back and is the first repeat winner!

Then Robin said to Batman: "Holy loaded barbells!"

What a month it has been since the Arnold Meet in early March.

Keith after months of tough work, hits PR CJ, PR total, and finishes 4th at National Championships.

Jake gets screwed out of lifting at national championships because of competition secretary last minute scheduling changes. He has hit some PR lifts since then.

A lifter who began her career in our club and won a national junior championship with us qualifies for the Olympics.

Now it gets crazy; fortunately crazy in a good way.

Ben: PR competition CJ and competition total

Brigid: after spending a morning showing a Russian strongman how PRs are made, she becomes a PR machine for the month of March. Tying and breaking PR right and left.

Brieh: despite not being a weightlifter just a talented athlete, she has been posting PR in front squat (bodyweight) and snatch (60% bodyweight).

Garrett gets into the mix by moving up in his front squat.

Zach: SN/CJ/Total competition and training PR

Ron: in a particularly tough training cycle is still hitting vital PR numbers including a RJ PR.

Fern was able to make excellent progress in the "Stand up shrug down" department.

Imagine if the lifters were even more committed! Great stuff!

PRs were smoked all day

Another meet in the books and progress is being made by a bunch of lifters. Nice progress. The Cabin Fever Open had 15 lifters and all had great lifts.
Thank you to the volunteers for helping make the meet run well: Frank, Fred, and Steve acting as judges, Pat helping with loading, and Frank contributing to the Best Lifter awards. Great stuff! Great bunch of spectators, too.
Of course, the meet was about the lifters and they did indeed provide entertainment.
Grace, all of 11 and in her 4th year of lifting, hit solid lifts of 20/25 for a 45 total. She continues to improve.
Fern, in only her second meet with an entourage cheering her on, hit a solid opener of 35 in snatch. She cleaned a misloaded CJ attempt and just barely missed that jerk. Ah, well, she had three more attempts ending up with a 42.

Ralph, thankful he was away from his family members with the cold and flu, hit a respectable 55/80/135 going 5 for 6.

Zach in his third meet opened with a PR snatch then could only hit his opening CJ. The jerk proved to be his undoing. He posted a 62/75/137 total, meet PR all three.

Kyle opened with a PR and got it. Then closed with an even better lift. He was a bit more cautious in the CJ, but got a nice PR on his third attempt. 67/82/149 for Kyle for a really good day.

Bret, 12 y.o. and 38.2 kg, provided the most entertainment for the day with aggressive attempts at national records. He opened with a 40 snatch which was missed. Then went up for his second attempt. he nailed that 41 then came back with a 42. Both were American records. He called for an AR opener in CJ and nailed it. He made valiant attempts at a 58 but his knee hit the ground in his jerk. He was credited with a 42/55/97 total.

Keith opened with what proved to be a very comfortable 70. The jerk was the objective for the day and he was able to nail the 87 which had been dogging him for some time. Fresh from a Russian Squat Cycle, he went after a meet PR of 93 in the CJ. Nailed. The state record 100 was attempted but there was just not enough pop coming off the hips to complete the clean. 70/93/163 were his final numbers.

Adam, lifting as a very light 77, nailed his 75 snatch. His slender build proved to be his undoing in the CJ as he just could not rack his second and third cleans. he did post a fine 75/95/170 total.

Milo, in the 69 class, showed good speed in the snatch with a solid 82 on his second attempt then a nice comeback in the CJ where he got a 98. A bit more muscle and his CJ will skyrocket as the speed is there. 82/98/180 was his total.

Ron, also in the 69 class, opened with a solid 77 and nailed all three snatches. His CJ went well, too, as he went 2 for 3 and hit a niiiice lift of 102. 85/102/187 for solid meet PR and 5 for 6. A good day for him.

Anthony, the third lifter in the 69 kilo class, made it interesting. His first snatch was behind him. His second was in front. Can you guess where the third one was? nailed a very, very solid 80. His Cj opener of 105 looked a bit press-y, but the referees gave all whites. He went for a 110 and got it albeit with some lazy arms just at the finish. He was credited with a 80/110/190 for a fine effort.

Ben, seeking continual improvement, nailed all his lifts. He was the insider's favorite for most improved lifter. 3 for 3 in the snatch finishing with a meet PR of 95. 3 for 3 in the CJ, finishing with an all time PR of 130. 95/130/225, more PR on the horizon.

Quinn, fast and strong, in the 77 class, hit his first two snatches of 90 and 95. He smashed his first two CJ of 115 and 120. His third CJ seemed to drain the life from him and he could not get it. Credited with a 95/120/215.

White Ben opened with a very comfortable 95. Then he rolled to what one can only assume was a PR snatch based upon his reaction of 106. He got it though there was a bit of a fight as it was just a bit in front of him at the finish. He made an easy opener of 120 in CJ, missing the next two. a 106/120/226 was his total.

Jake closed out both sessions. Wanting to get a meet under his belt prior to nationals in a few weeks, he banged out solid 110 and 115 in snatch. The 120 was 98% made but just a bit weak on the punch had him miss it. The CJ was interesting. A 145 opener was missed, but form was good enough to warrant going up. 150 was loaded and Jake nailed that guy. solid. 157 for a meet PR CJ and a PR total was loaded. A solid clean. The jerk was launched nicely, but just a bit too much arms and not enough legs: failed to lock it out. Still a nice 115/150/265 for the day.


Fern and Jake were best lifters. Jake graciously declared Bret the best lifter for the meet and transferred his award to Bret.

A nice, fun, entertaining meet by all!

Squat cycle results

Another long Russian squat cycle in the books and, shockingly, improvement in the squat PR. Oh, and the snatch and CJ are doing well, too.
Keith, working with a two rep squat PR of 120, double dunked 127 last week. Valentine's Day was planned for an assault on the one rep PR. It happened. 130 went up and down smoothly then enthusiasm got the better of everyone. 137 was loaded. 75% of the rep was done. The second attempt was a pure negative.
With better selection of the second attempt, he probably could have dunked 135. In any case, the squat goes up the CJ goes up, the snatch goes up. With 39 "good" stickers, Keith has leap frogged Ron for the sticker lead. The meet on Sunday should prove to be exciting to see who can set PR and move past 40 stickers!

Greater risk; greater reward

But, you can also go down in flames. Keith decided after his nearly perfect performance last week to go after the greater reward and had to hit 9 squats to do so. Some months back, he put in an all out effort to do a double at 120. Last night, it called for 3 x 3 at the same weight (which was previously an absolute 1 RM PR for him).
Even more piston like, Keith hit every single squat with authority, let out a scream when he hit the 9th squat, and earned himself 3 stickers for the effort.
Under the bar, you learn a lot.
Ron had to get under the bar in his own way. Hitting 95% jerks while making the rack happy...legs tired from driving the bar, arms tired from punching his 70 kilos under the bar...
Ben finally learns that the jerk is a leg exercise. Funny how driving with the legs makes the weight light. And the pipe never lies...
Under the bar, you learn a lot.

Great stuff by the lifters this past evening!