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!

A week's winter hibernation

This last week off work has allowed some time off and I graciously took it. My shoulder has ached increasingly as the last few months have gone by, so I decided to get my shoulder and hip looked at this last week to try and get both issues sorted as well as I could. I am seeing a different physical therapist at the moment and hopefully he will be able to help me. He has already identified a basic imbalance in my overall structure which explains why I have had problems with my right ankle, hip and shoulder. Hopefully he will be able to help and if he does, I will write a lot more about the process. Until then, I will see what happens. My hip is a problem that has major implications for my future and if I do not fix it now, I know I will regret it in ten years time. I will still be able to train around it and continue getting stronger, but my future as an athlete and more importantly, as person who likes to have basic movement literacy skills, I need to face the music. If it has a positive effect on my weightlifting, it will be a bonus.

I trained twice this week and I kept the intensity in the squatting only. I basically rested a lot and caught up on an outstanding amount of sleep. I feel good and am really looking forward to the next few training weeks because there is a national training squad weekend on the 12/13th of March in ECB which will be the best ever squad session ever in Irish weightlifting.

Here are a few cool videos. David Woodhouse Power Cleans 152kg. His methods of training have clearly helped him develop as a weightlifter. I am really looking forward to seeing him lift 130/160 in competition and I know he will do it very soon.



Here is a young weightlifter from Tralee who is so far ahead of the rest of Irish weightlifting athletically, it is not even funny:



Yes, Clarence is a far better weightlifter than me and yes, he is 17. He is so much more athletic than me I am not even embarrassed, I am actually very happy to have someone like this in Irish weightlifting.