How to Fight a Goat, and Win!

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The Goat, we all have one. In case you are confused, I'm referring to that hurdle you have in the gym. In CrossFit, it's that one thing that you really suck at. For some, it's thrusters, for others ... it's burpees.

In the weightlifting room, our goats are often a particular weight on the bar. When Coach and I first started training for weightlifting, the snatch was my goat. At that time, my technique really needed a lot of work. But my goat was 95 lbs, because of the mental barrier I had about getting into the triple digits. Coach, on the other hand, his goat was 185 lbs.

I worked on my technique and thanks to squats, squats and more squats, I became strong enough to overcome that triple digit mental barrier. For the record, so did coach. But when you beat down one goat, there is always another one just around the corner.

That bastard goat is back, and this time it's a weight that I want to hit in competition. My snatch PR at the time of writing is 140 lbs, or in competitive speak - 63.6 kg. In the practice room, I haven't missed this weight in months. But do you know what weight I do miss consistently? 60 kg. I know that I can hit 60 kg, I HAVE hit 60 kg, but for some reason - this is my goat.

Why is this goat important to me? Well, it's because I want to be a competitive lifter now. In the practice room, you can take as many attempts to make a lift as you like. But in competition, you can only take 3 attempts. Your first attempt should be a weight that you know you can lift easily, but that is not terribly far away from your max. This is where my goat comes in. Your second attempt should be a weight just shy of your target. Your final lift, should be your target and hopefully a new PR!

In my first competition, the 2014 Toronto Pro Show, I wanted to open at 60 kg. I missed both my first and second attempts. Thankfully, I did make my final attempt, but missing what I thought should be an easy lift (twice) messed with my head. 60 kg became my goat.

So how do we beat this goat? Coach came up with the perfect plan. At my last competition, Coach planned my opening weight at 58 kg, which I hit with ease. He then planned to skip over my goat entirely and make my second attempt at 61 kg. And you know what? IT WORKED! I didn't think twice about the weight on the bar as I went out to the platform. I kicked that goat square in the face! But of course, there is always another goat around the corner..... waiting patiently to mess with your head. I will have to wait and see what surprises lay ahead as we train for the masters nationals at the end of April.  

Vaughn Strength and Conditioning - Competition Recap

Recently, Vaughn Strength & Conditioning decided to host a non-OWA sanctioned Olympic weightlifting competition. The event was very well attended and was a lot of fun. Ryan was there competing at his first official lifting meet, representing Guelph Barbell Club.

Ryan is relatively new to lifting and has been making some serious gains since he began training. Since he easily hit his current snatch PR 3x before the competition, coach Adrian decided that he should open at his max. I'm not sure exactly what was going through his head as he walked out onto the platform for the first time.... but Ryan did look a little bit like a deer caught in headlights. I should note that this is completely expected for first time competitors, and it still happens to even experienced athletes!

At any rate, Ryan attempted his opening lift at 84 kg..... and missed. He took a quick break, walked out to the bar, and tried agin. No lift. On his third attempt, Ryan hit that snatch and made it look easy. I'm going to guess that he was ridiculously nervous to be competing and just needed to shake the nerves off.

Up next, was the clean and jerk. For Ryan's first attempt, the confidence was clearly there as he just walked out onto the platform and ripped that bar off the ground. There was audible shock amongst the crowd as the bar came up so quickly and easily. In the snatch, Ryan took a lot of time getting set up and focusing at the bar before he began the lift. Clearly, this was not required for the C&J.

While he failed his 2nd C&J attempt due to a disqualification by the judges (elbows softer than Charmin!!), the clean had been easy. Coach decided that Ryan was ready to hit a huge PR and asked for 121 kg to be loaded on the bar for his final attempt. Similar to his other lifts, there was no hesitation, Ryan walked out and ripped the bar easily off the ground. After a slight pause to prepare for the jerk, Ryan punched that bar up and got under it easily, winning him first place in the C&J! Those of us sitting close to the platform heard a celebratory "MOTHER FUCKER!!" escape his lips when he saw the 3 white flags go up, indicating a complete lift. This was a huge PR for Ryan, who had previously hit 116 kg in practice.  

After a successful first time on the platform, we look forward to Ryan joining us as a competitive member of Guelph Barbell Club for future competitions!

Blame that one on Coach!

Your Coach ... They are always there for you. Coach plans your training, gets you to the competition, and calms you down when you are nervous. They tell you to slow down, sit down, and get you out to the platform on time. But every now and then, Coach can be a bonehead. 

At the Ontario Masters, Dawn had the luck of lifting first for both lifts. After we completed the the snatch, there was a 5 minute break as they set up for the clean and jerk and during this time, they set the clock to count down until the start of the next lift. 

The venue wasn't exactly a great set up and we couldn't hear the announcer or see the clock from the warm up area. The next thing I know, I hear a muffled "Dawn Larson" coming from the announcer. Suddenly, coach looks at Dawn and says: "They are calling, you better get out there!"

Dawn has a slight moment of panic to which coach tells her to suck it up and get out there and lift. So, Dawn pauses, gathers herself and runs out onto the platform (running is a warm up, right??). She looks at the clock and it is counting with less than 20 seconds to go. With very little time remaining, Dawn grabs the bar and rips it off the platform. In her haste, her hips come up faster than her shoulders which results in her rowing the bar. No matter, she is able to get the bar up to the front rack position anyway and completes the lift. As she looks around for the judge to give her the "OK" to put the bar down, Dawn notices that there are no judges at the tables! 

And the realization set in, Dawn had not been called to the platform. The clock had not been counting down her lift. Rather, the announcer had stated that Dawn would lift first and the clock had been counting down to the end of the break period. Everyone had a good laugh as Dawn walked off the platform from a "warm up" lift. She then proceeded to trash talk Coach while she waited for the C&J session to begin. 

Thanks Coach, you're normally always there for us ;)   

Competition Recap - Ontario Masters Championships

Guelph Barbell Club attended our first Ontario Masters Championships.  Our Masters team consisted of Jadon, Dawn, myself and of course, coach Adrian. What makes a Master, you ask? In weightlifting, you must turn 30 during the calendar year of the competition. The weight categories are divided into age groups at 5 year intervals, all the way up to 80 years of age. So instead of being the Golden Oldies, we were the #GoldenOlys !

Both Jadon & Dawn have the challenge of a body weight which lies exactly in between 2 weight classes. As a result, both decided to compete at the upper weight class. Myself, on the other hand, preparing for this competition may have been the most challenging weight-cut yet. Apparently, I enjoyed myself way too much during the month of December and it really kicked my ass. Cutting weight is not foreign to me, but it's certainly not easy.

To get down to 75 kg, I had to spend about 2 hours in the sauna the night before the competition. When I got up on Saturday morning, my home scale said 75.0 kg precisely. You never know how close your home scale will be to that of the competition scale, so I opted for not eating or drinking anything until after weigh-ins. Normally, I weigh in in my singlet, but because I knew that I was going to be close to not making weight, I jumped on the scale in my sports bra and underwear. Much to my disappointment, I was over weight! So to make weight, I actually had to strip down and weigh in naked - this was definitely a first for me.

Up first, was Dawn "the Lorax" Larson! Dawn hit her 22 kg opening snatch easily, followed by a 25 kg 2nd attempt. Her final attempt was 28 kg - which is equivalent to the current national record for her age & weight class. Dawn just barely missed her final attempt, but she was so close! 28 kg is not far away for this lifter!
In the clean and jerk, Dawn hit a set a new PR at 33 kg on her second attempt and finished with a 58 kg total.

I was up next, trying to chase my goat, the 60 kg snatch. I hit my opening lift at 58 kg, and instead of attempting the goat for my second lift - coach jumped me up to 61 kg. This was a competition PR lift for me. I missed my final snatch attempt at 63 kg. Coach and I decided to open at 77 kg for the C&J. Although I completed my first lift, unfortunately, I felt my left elbow graze my knee in the catch position - which is an immediate foul. So I had to repeat 77 kg for my second lift.  My second lift was successful, and coach decided to go for 80 kg for lift #3. I had a great  pull but rocked slightly forward in my catch and dropped the weight forward. I finished with a 138 kg total.

Jadon lifted in the last session of the day. He missed his opening lift, but hit 80 kg on his second snatch and hit 83 kg on his final lift. With a slight press out on his first C&J attempt, Jadon reattempted 100 kg on his second attempt. He finished the competition with a 180 kg total and competition PRs for both lifts. Not a bad day at all.

After the competition, we headed out for some well deserved beers and carbs! We were also invited to participate in the Canadian Masters National Championships coming up in April. Two more months of training and Guelph Barbell will be at it again!
                   

Competition Recap - Guelph Barbell Club

In December, the Guelph Barbell Club hosted it's first (non-sanctioned) weightlifting competition at Royal City CrossFit. As the sport of weightlifting becomes more popular (thank you CrossFit!!), it is becoming increasingly difficult to get into competitions in Ontario. As a result, we are seeing more of these non-sanctioned events as well as hybrid events, to give lifters the opportunity to get some experience on the platform.

Our friends from Forever Strong Fitness in Uxbridge had planned to host a weightlifting competition in December. A number of Guelph Barbell athletes had registered for this event but unfortunately it was cancelled due to issues with the planned venue. 

Coach Adrian swooped in and saved the day by offering to host the competition in Guelph instead. This event was not sanctioned as we did not have an official judge or competition plates. But it was a great opportunity, especially for the novice lifters, to have a chance to practice lifts in a competitive environment.

So we built a sturdy platform and got to work! Four novice female lifters from Guelph Barbell participated in addition to a novice male from Forever Strong Fitness and coaches Adrian & Tyler. The day was full of new PRs, especially from Emily who rocked the platform! And who can forget coach Adrian lifting in a "nut-hugger" singlet? We have got to get that man a proper singlet!

Thanks to all the Royal City CrossFitters came out in record numbers to cheer on the competitors. 

Weightlifting Etiquette

A new year always comes with new people joining your favorite gym. This is a good thing - new training partners, new skill sets and diversity is great. I’m always open to new people joining our little club.

HOWEVER – there is something that all newbies to the weightlifting club should learn. And that is a thing called Weightlifting Etiquette! A little bit of etiquette can go a long way in preventing your grizzled and seasoned teammates from handing out a throat punch.

(1)  Please don’t walk across my platform while I am lifting or setting up for a lift. Seriously, it’s plain rude. Please be aware that weightlifters need space. Space to set up for a lift without someone walking through my field of vision. Space to complete my lift without fear of you walking into my bar. And perhaps, most importantly, space so that if I need to bail out of a lift, I won’t kill you.

(2)  There are good weightlifting barbells …. And some that are not so great. CrossFitters, I love you. You know that I do. But if you are going to come play in my arena, don’t take the good bars for your deadlifts and leave me with the shitty bar that does not spin. Especially when I am less than 2 weeks out from competition.

(3)  Speaking of bars, please allow the women to use the slimmer bars. I realize that some of you males out there prefer the 25 mm bars rather the 28 mm bars, but in most gyms the slim bars are few in number. The narrow bars are for those of us with small hands so as a male, please don’t take the 25 mm bars when the platforms are dominated by female lifters.

(4)  High density rubber weightlifting plates are in short supply. As such, don’t be a donkey. If you are increasing the weight on your bar by 20 lbs each lift, please don’t be a lazy ass and add 10 lb plates each lift. Take some of those 10s off and use a couple of 25s already!

(5)  And this brings me to my final point. DO NOT STEAL PLATES! Some of my teammates like to joke that am like a raven and collect shiny objects (plates) to surround my platform. I’m not being an asshole, I do this for a reason. In preparation for competition, I take specific breaks between sets. I surround myself with plates so that I don’t have to go far for what I need next. I like to be prepared and I don’t want to have to go on a lengthy search for my next working set. I will share, I promise to share my shiny plate stash with teammates. But please ask for them. SO - Don’t be a plate-stealing-ninja. Do not wait until a lifter to turns their back and then steal their plates.  And when that lifter calls you out on your bullshit – own up to it.

So please feel welcome to come visit our weightlifting club. If you keep my top 5 weightlifting etiquette tips in mind, then you might just be invited to stay while avoiding the dreaded throat punch.   

OWA Fall Classic - Competition Recap

Now that we are getting into the 2014-2015 competitive weightlifting season, the standards are starting to be set. Two of the largest OWA competitions, the Fall Classic and WinterLift, now have minimum qualification standards required for competitors to be eligible to enter. The standards must be performed at a sanctioned event at least 30 days prior to either of these competitions. Both events are good measures to check out the competition and attempt to qualify for the provincial championships.

In order to qualify for events, competitors are required to hit a minimum total which is the amount lifted during the snatch added to the amount lifted during the clean and jerk. For the 2014 Fall classic, competitors in my weight class (75 kg) had to hit a minimum total of 108 kg.

For this event, I had to lose 6.8 kg in October. Let me say that again... I had to lose weight in OCTOBER! Both Thanksgiving and Halloween are events in October which I enjoy greatly, primarily due to the food! But alas, the event organizer decided that the best date to host this event was on November 1 - the day after Halloween. This meant no Halloween candy for me.

Before the last competition I participated in, the Kanama Summeriest, I also had to lose some weight. I didn't really take it seriously though, and ended up having to cut 3 kg in water weight in the sauna the night before weigh ins. In an attempt to avoid this issue before the Fall Classic, I tried to cut all my weight through diet manipulation. Thankfully, my previous life as a wrestler has prepared me well for weight cutting and I was successful in reaching my target, weighing in at 74.6 kg 2 hours before my event began. However, going without beer and mini chocolate bars was a challenge!

On the day of the competition, my goal was to hit both my opening lifts. Historically, I have this issue that a friend described as "monkey's having a shit fight in your head". Which, I must admit, is a pretty apt description of what goes on up there! So this time, I wanted to hit those bastard openers! I had planned to open my snatch with a 57 kg lift and to open my clean and jerk with a 75 kg lift.

Getting ready for my warm up, coach Adrian told me to tell my brain to "Fuck off", which is easier said than done. But we had a great warm up without missing a single lift on my ascent up to 55 kg. I went out, stepped on the platform and hit that 57 kg! Totally pumped, we bumped up to 60 kg for my second lift, which I successfully executed, meeting my previous competition PR. We decided on trying for 64 kg for my third and final lift, which if I had hit it, would have been a new personal record. Sadly, although I was able to get under the 64 kg snatch, my weight was too far forward and I fell to my knees. Upon seeing this, one of the other coaches apparently commented to coach Adrian, "Yep, THAT'S a CrossFit snatch!"

We had a quick turn around after the snatch component and began the clean and jerk right away. I aimed to open with a 75 kg lift. I hit this lift and the clean came up with ease! Jacked up, we went for 79 kg for my second lift, which was a competition PR. Aiming for a 144 total, we bumped up to 84 kg for lift number 3. On my third lift, I pulled the barbell off the floor and caught it low in the front rack position. In doing so, my elbows touched my knee, which I have now learned is a fail in weightlifting. So the buzzer and lights went off indicating that my attempt had failed. 84 kg would have been a new PR.    

After the competition was complete, the first thing we did was try to find a place to grab a great meal
and beer. We left Variety Village in Scarborough and headed West on the Danforth until we found a pub. What did I find instead you wonder? An absolutely delicious Russian Imperial Stout from Guelph's own Wellington Breweries!

Overall, I had a great competition and although I didn't hit new PRs, I did achieve my goals. I had wanted to increase my OWA total from the previous 135 kg and I had wanted to hit both my opening lifts. NAILED IT!

Now to start a new training cycle in preparation for the Winterlift in February, which requires a 122 kg total as a qualifying standard. Coach Adrian says that I have to focus on 2 objectives: (1) all my squats need to be pause squats (hooray!) to work on getting up out of the bottom and (2) I have to add hook grip to my repertoire. The ultimate goal is hitting a competition total of 144 kg (which I have previously hit in practice) to qualify for the Ontario Provincial Championships.

Thank you to all my friends from Royal City CrossFit who travelled to Variety Village to cheer me on. Guelph Barbell REPRESENT!