Squad sharpshooting

ECB hosted the Irish squad training camp this weekend and it proved to be a resounding success.It was great fun and there was some superb lifting. I got some footage of the lifting but only from my group on the first day. Everyone lifted well and the camp was very well organised by Wayne Healy. Here is a video of some of the top lifts from my group:

EDIT: After watching the video, I realised I put in Sami's miss with 106 not his success. I must be sub-conscious jealousy.


As for my own lifting, I did ok. On the Saturday morning I did a little wake up session forty five minutes before everyone started. I worked up to a Power Snatch with 90kg and a full Snatch with 100kg and I left it there. In retrospect I should have stopped at 90 but it did not make much of a difference; I felt strong but not particularly fast.

In the full session with my group I worked up to singles in the Snatch with 110, 115 and then I sailed to of 120 and only pulled it. A bit embarrassing. I dropped back to 100 and then hit 107.5 and promptly missed 112.5. It simply was not there so I left it. I was feeling a little tight and not as fast as I would have hoped, but 115 is the most I have Snatched in training in a year, so I am happy enough. If I can hit 115 or so in training then I now I can hit over 120 in competition. In the Clean and Jerk I was tired, but all felt fine. I worked up to 137.5kg and then for some reason, I could not Clean 142.5kg. Very frustrating and for the first time in quite a while, I threw a bit of a wobbler on the platform. On reflection, I put too much pressure on myself and I was also not in the state needed for record weights. Unreasonable expectations and fatigue are not ideal bedfellows. I finished my session with a single with 180kg in the Box Squat and I left it there. I got an awesome massage and followed this with a stretch so that I would be ok to lift the following day.

On Sunday, I was far more relaxed and I Snatched 110kg well. I missed 113 twice and I did not mind really, because, as Wayne correctly pointed out, I was "not going after it." I worked up to 130 in the Clean and Jerk and I could feel I was drained, but for pride's sake, I had to hit 135kg. An embarrasingly small weight to psyche oneself over, but it is what it is. I wanted to get a squat pb so I worked up to 160 and I got 5 reps with it on the 14 inch box.

When I got home on the Sunday, my entire back, legs and hamstrings in particular, traps, shoulders and abs were really feeling the exertion. I felt like I used to feel after a rugby match: battered and bruised. I was happy enough that a sub-par performance could yield 115/137.5 but a few issues were highlighted and I will write about these later when I have had some time to think about them. Everyone lifted particularly well, but I have to mention Sami for his Snatch pb. It was a brave lift considering he was as tired as I was; I just did not have his mental strength!