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Some Words From The Olympic Champions
Matt Foreman
| February 25 2013 |
Weightlifting
The London Olympics finished up a few months ago. Recently, I got the new issue of World Weightlifting in my mailbox. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, World Weightlifting is the official magazine of the International Weightlifting Federation. It’s published in Europe and comes out about four times a year. I’ve been subscribing to it since the eighties.
Anyway, this latest issue had the Olympic Games coverage. One of the parts I dug the most was the post-meet interv...
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The Back-off Week
Mike Gray
| February 18 2013 |
Weightlifting
Also known as the de-load week, the back-off week is by far my least favorite week during a training cycle. Coincidentally, as I write this I am wrapping up one right now. If you would have asked me last week at this time I would have told you I couldn’t wait for the damn thing to start, but that was last week and I felt like hell because I thought my body was used as a human pry-bar for the last 3 weeks.
The back-off week is a funny little animal in that you know you need it, yet it ca...
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Diagnose & Prioritize
Bob Takano
| February 11 2013 |
Weightlifting
Over the years I've developed and refined a process for working with new (to me) lifters. I thought it might be helpful to share these thoughts with those of you interested in the art of coaching.
Diagnosis: This process begins the first day when I run a new athlete through the standard exercises of overhead squats, overhead presses, and front squats. I look for joints that are lacking in range of motion, improper alignment of the spine, improper alignment of the skeletal components while sup...
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We Need More Disciplinarians
Matt Foreman
| February 11 2013 |
Weightlifting
Do you want to know one of the things I find most pathetic in weightlifting, and sports in general?
It’s when coaches let their best athletes get away with crappy behavior, simply because they’re the best athletes.
This makes me want to puke. It’s even worse when the coaches make excuses for the athletes and their shenanigans, defending them and playing the “they didn’t do anything wrong” card.
It’s sad to say, but I’ve seen this more tha...
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Learning From Your Misses
Aimee Anaya Everett
| February 6 2013 |
Weightlifting
I used to not think about other people’s training so much—about their mental state and struggles, or the fact that their minds may be racing during training as well. It’s not because I am some selfish bitch who doesn’t care about my teammates, I simply didn’t think that anyone else struggled as I do. I was oblivious.
It took me a lot of years to learn to relax in the gym, to learn that a missed lift wasn’t the end of my world as I know it, but a chance to m...
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American Weightlifting: The Documentary
Greg Everett
| February 5 2013 |
General
I just recently announced the documentary I've been quietly working on for the past couple years, American Weightlifting. This is a project I'm extremely excited about and can't wait to release. It will highlight the hard work and passion of lifters and coaches in the US and their struggle to compete internationally with lifters who are well-funded and well-supported, and recognized and appreciated by the public.
You can check out a trailer and get info as it becomes available from the movie ...
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You Got A Lot Of Freakin Problems
Matt Foreman
| January 28 2013 |
Weightlifting
Okay, I’m gonna make a list of common problems weightlifters have. Read this and keep a running tally of how many you A) have right now or B) have had in the past. I’ll write them as quotes so they sound authentic.
1) “My lockout sucks. I can pull snatches pretty high and clean a lot of weight, but my lockout when I get the bar over my head is terrible.”
2) “I jump forward in the snatch. I didn’t used to do it, but now I do it all the time and I can’...
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Get Cozy Down There
Greg Everett
| January 16 2013 |
Quick Tips
Something I can't stand is watching lifters with weak or inconsistent bottom positions in the snatch rush out of the squat and drop the bar partway up, even in power snatches (this applies to jerks as well). These same athletes will often also complain about missing big attempts that "felt so easy" because they can't secure the bar overhead long enough to recover successfully.
This to me is such an obvious fix, that having to remind people drives me crazy. If this describes you, eas...
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Motivation, Inspiration, And Stabbing
Matt Foreman
| January 14 2013 |
Weightlifting
I want you to think of someone who’s a good motivator.
Know what I mean? This has to be somebody with a really strong ability to get you fired up, feeling positive and ready to rage. You’ve probably got the name of a coach in your head right now. Hopefully it’s the coach you’re currently working with, or maybe it’s somebody from your earlier years.
Now, I have to shift gears for a second. Let me tell you a story about the worst motivator I’ve ever known....
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Back Extension(s)
Greg Everett
| January 7 2013 |
Weightlifting
If one of your problems with the Olympic lifts is a weak back arch, that needs to become a focus for you in just about everything you do. Some of you have become very strong in round-backed postures and are finding yourselves unable to set a proper back arch in the pull of the snatch or clean, or even all the way through your squats. Reversing this can take a long time and a lot of patience and consistency.
One of my favorite exercises is the plain old back extension, or hyperextension...
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