April 2014 - Strong Snatch Masters Olympic Weightlifting

Starting a New Cycle

If you read my post about masters nationals, you know I wasn’t too wild about my performance. Totaling lower than your first meet at a national event is not a good thing. I know progression is not always linear and that even much more elite lifters than I have off days where they don’t total at all in important meets.

But in this case, I had been feeling off for a few weeks before the event, so it’s time to change things up. As my wise husband said, it’s time to re-think all assumptions. This includes diet, rest, programming, accessory work, mobility and flexibility.

There are many months until my next competition. September at the earliest and if I don’t feel ready for Worlds, then the masters American Open after that. I’m trying to decide between going to worlds no matter how well (or not) I would do just for the experience and to see Copenhagen, or waiting it out another year to see if I can give the current champ a run for her money.

So since I’ve got plenty of time, let the tweaking parade begin. First is programming the training for the lifts themselves. My coach and I have settled on a high volume but only 3x/week set-up. In the past I did well with high volume work, so I’m willing to try it again. I’ve also contacted a superstar of a strength coach to help me think outside that box again for developing raw strength (not just speed and technique) and to start working out some of my imbalances, with overhead strength being high at the top of that list. I might add some static strength work. I’ll certainly focus much more on mobility and trying to find new ROM, especially at the ankle and thoracic spine.

I might also try leaning out a little for summer time, both for the bathing suit aesthetics and to then try and build back to competition weight but with a little higher percentage of muscle than fat. It’s been suggested that I may be eating more protein and more calories than I really need to maintain and even build strength and that it’ll be possible to progress without feeding myself like a bodybuilder in bulking season. And since tomorrow I’ll be planting the first wave of our garden, the food quality will certainly improve for the next few months.

I’m going to continue to try and get good and adequate sleep (which are indeed two different things).

I’d like to get my USAW sports coaching certification this summer more as a learning tool for myself and so that I can offer more directed critiques to anyone who wants to post here. I really like the idea of paying back some of the immense value of free knowledge I’ve found on the interwebz by being of value to others in their journey.

And last but not least I look forward to an amazing program put on by USAW this summer for masters lifters (30 in all) to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for a few days. Once I pick my jaw up off the floor, I think it’ll be a seminal experience of my lifting career to date.

Stay tuned! I’ll share what I found worked for me and what didn’t.

RS Slomo snatch x 2 at 55lbs

This is RS, a fellow masters lifter, with a 55lb double.

Things I notice in this video: the arm bend is a little early and arms are still a little bent in receiving position. Technically this is more of a power snatch (receipt with knees above 90 degrees) with an immediate overhead squat (OHSq). Feet are going a little wide which is fine at this weight, but may make it hard to come out of the hole when the weights get heavier.

A good drill for addressing both the early arm bend and feet going wide is the “no hands, no feet drill”. Without a hook grip (this will help improve grip strength as well) and without moving feet, perform a snatch from the floor. It forces a good hip drive because you can’t cheat by getting under the bar by spreading feet wide and you can focus on the turnover without the hook grip.

A video demonstrating that drill with Jon North and Donny Shankle can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ProSkFvyWHA

Lydia Valentin, my superhero

There are many men I admire in weightlifting. Donny Shankle, Kendrick Farris, Pyrros Dimas.

But there’s nothing like having somebody with whom you can actually identify. Not only the fact that she is as strong as a grizzly, but the fact that a) she is a she, not a he, b) is a girly-girl, c) is fun and irreverent on international platforms (she has winked at the judges, made a heart sign after a gold medaling lift).

For those of you who don’t know her, may I introduce Lydia Valentin, Spanish olympian and the 2014 European champion in the 75kg class. She wears a lot of pink in training- see this “day in a life video” here:

She is gorgeous and medals in international competition with teased blonde hair and thick black eyeliner. As a mascara addict, this is important to me. I am now the proud owner of a (pink) Lydia tank top from Hookgrip.com . Someday I will lift PRs in this tank because she is that inspiring to me.

In addition to just being cool, gorgeous and stylish, she is also a perfect lifter from a technical standpoint. Here are her snatch and clean and jerk from the 2014 European championships held this month in Tel Aviv, Israel, the c&j in both real time and slomo. In slomo you can see how precisely she uses the bar whip both in the bottom of her clean to come out of the hole and at the top to reset for the jerk.

Masters Nationals

For those who don’t compete, olympic weightlifting is divided into four groups: youth (the under 17 crowd), juniors (the under 20’s), senior (20-35) and masters (35 and above). These are not inviolable divisions. I watched a 14yo girl snatch a US record at the American Open this year (ostensibly a senior event) in the same session as last year’s 53kg masters champion who is 47 years old.

The competition I went to this past Friday was Masters Nationals, so a national level competition for lifters over the age of 35. It is further subdivided in 5 year age increments, so 35-39, 40-44, etc as well as the traditional international weight classes.

It was an amazing experience for a variety of reasons. First, to see 80+ year old lifters still competing with good form (albeit with more power receipts than full squats) was encouraging. Having found this sport late in life, it’s nice to know that there is still a place to compete and encouragement for people who worry more about hormone replacement than hormone surges.

Second, it was held at LSUS (Louisiana State University Shreveport) the home of Kendrick Farris, two time olympian and a nationally competitive weightlifting team.

But most importantly, it was the culmination of a year of training, studying, worrying, and discussing these two lifts for me personally. It was a chance to qualify to compete at the masters world championships in the fall. It was an opportunity to prove to my family that their support wasn’t in vain.

First, the good news. I am now the 53kg/45w national champion. I lifted a total that will allow me to go to Worlds and compete against some of the best lifters in my age and weight class from around the world.

But now, the analysis. As meets go, it was actually fairly awful for me. I went 1/3 on the snatch and 2/3 on the C&J and both were far lower than I had planned. My total was lower than either my first local meet and the Texas State Championships.

So what did I learn? I learned the timing of warming up. I’m a lifter who does best very warm. So I started a little earlier than everyone else with my foam rolling and standard warm-up maneuvers. But then the session in front of me went over and I ended up lifting about 30 minutes later than I had planned. Rookie mistake to be sure, but I probably should have been paying more attention to that. So I hit my opener easily in the back, then got cold, missed it on first attempt, went up a kg, got it, but was frazzled and missed the third attempt forward from overhead in the hole.

I noticed when I went to the back after finishing the snatches that I was sitting in what I consider a meek and sad position. Arms folded around my middle, kind of hunched over. So I decided to shake my disappointment at the crappy snatches by adopting a power pose – knees out, chest up and back, arms out to the side taking up space. It really did help me get back in the game and get focused on the second half of the competition. I convinced by brain (though adopting a physical pose) that I wasn’t pitiful and was still in the game.

Cleans and especially jerks are harder for me technically than snatches. I don’t work them as much because a) I like snatches more (and yes, I realize this is not a mature way to train) and b) since snatches were initially more challenging, I spent more time focused on them. So my C&J aren’t the big powerhouse savers for me that they can be for other people and that is most surely going to be a big focus going forward. How? Squats, leg power, plyo accessory movements and simply more reps from the floor.

My competition cleans have been overwhelmingly power cleans which means I’ve got a lot more kgs in me if I can just trust myself to get under the bar. What I noticed with both cleans and snatches this competition is that I can get even heavy weights up to my eyebrows, so strength ain’t the issue. Technique and speed most certainly are. Part of technique is keeping the bar closer so that I can just scoop under it after the second pull is finished. So there’s my homework for the next 5 months.

Jerks just need work. I just started playing with squat and power jerks, and who knows, maybe I’ll end up there because I’m much faster down in a squat than a split. But I am going to keep working on my split jerk for now, with more aggressive feet and moving back leg first and landing with front leg at 90 degrees, not with knee over toes.

With snatches I need to strengthen the overhead position. What good is it to get it overhead than lose it because you can’t lock it out? Sots presses, heaving snatch balances (learned courtesy of the Catalyst website) and static overhead holds around 200% of max snatch is my plan there, along with more behind the neck push-press work at “stop being such a giant candyass” weights (as opposed to what I often lift).

All this may sound very negative, but overall I’m pleased. I learned a lot about competing, about training about my weaknesses and even discovered a few strengths.

And if I choose to go to Copenhagen for Worlds in September, I’ll get to wear a USA masters singlet. That will be an extraordinarily proud day indeed.

If you want to see a slomo version of the snatches here it is:

Side View Snatch with Bar Path Traced

My thoughts – the bar seems a little far out in front and doesn’t come into the hips for the second pull. It then kicks forward after meeting the hips instead of traveling straight up, partially because it was too far in front to begin with. Hold it close, maybe even think of shaving your legs with the bar. Remember, it’s not a deadlift, so think in and back not just up. Plus, check where the bar starts – is it in front of feet or by the ball of foot or midfoot?

I’m still very impressed with how much progress you’ve made in such a short time. Kudos!