alongthelinesof

The gang and I competed in a fun and competitive meet held outdoors in little town of Cotati, California.  5 lifters from my team competed, all of which performed very well on the platform.  I lifted as well.  It was my first meet coaching ALL DAY and then lifting afterwards.  I made out with a meet PR snatch of 145 and a PR total of 312.  I was THIS close to making a 317 total with my 2nd attempt clean and jerk, but I just didn’t have anything left in the tank.  All things considered, I’m happy with my performance and very proud of all my lifters who competed.

Here’s a sweet picture of me snatching 145.  Thanks to Jim Shmitz for the photos.

I had such a bad “bro tan” the next day from being out in the sun while wearing that sleeveless shirt.

A quick word on PR’s on the platform vs. PR’s in training.

I sort of put myself out there with this blog thing.  Everybody knows I’m going for that big 330 total and I won’t be satisfied with anything less.  So I’ve had more than a few people talk to me asking why I don’t just open with the 150/180.  Seems reasonable.  After all, you get 3 shots at each right?

The main problem with that train of thought is that at the end of the day, a weightlifting contest is a sporting event. You go to these things to make lifts, not miss them in a fantastic manner.  One must think objectively and strategically about what is the maximum that I’m able to lift given 3 attempts on a given day.  That is why training PR’s are almost always higher than PR’s achieved on a platform.

Training is training.  You give yourself every opportunity to succeed.  3 attempts?  7 attempts?  12 attempts?  I’ve seen lifters go after maximum weights and succeed after several failures, even after going back down in weight and working back up again.  Attempts also feel different on the platform than they do in the warm up room.  Whether or not that is a “good” or “bad” thing for you is dependent in the lifter, but opening up with a weight that you can make with 90% certainty is best.  Granted, local meets are local so they essentially mean nothing.  But you still want to set yourself up for success, not failure.  I’m the type of lifter that figuratively “rides waves of momentum” so the more I succeed, the better I lift.

What I’m getting at is that competition day is just one day.  As much as you plan on being in top shape for it, PR’s just might not be there for one reason or another.  My advice is to lift greedy.  Lift as much as you possibly can on that given day.  Whether or not that happens to be your all time best is unknown.  That’s why it’s a sport.