Weightlifting
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Rookies, Experts, And Pimps
Matt Foreman
| May 14 2013 |
Weightlifting
Those of you who read Performance Menu (i.e., the cool crowd) got a nice treat a few months ago when we published an interview with Christine Girard, the little Canadian weightlifting tornado who won the Olympic bronze medal in London. She gave us terrific answers to the questions we asked, stuff that provokes some hardcore pondering.
One of the things that caught my attention was Christine’s discussion of how she trains. She’s been lifting for seventeen years now, and she’......
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Progress... Twice As Hard For Half As Much
Matt Foreman
| April 29 2013 |
Weightlifting
In the spring of 1993, I was snatching 120 kilos (264 lbs). I was twenty years old and I had been training as an Olympic lifter for about three years. In my workouts at this time, I was usually doing my snatch pulls with 135-140 kilos. This weight was so heavy…I wondered how the hell I would ever be able to snatch it. It felt like I was trying to drag the Titanic off the floor of the ocean.
But I snatched 137.5 for the first time a year and a half later, in the summer of 1994.
Thi......
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Lots Of Variety? Or Just Sn, C&j, And Sq?
Matt Foreman
| April 15 2013 |
Weightlifting
Ooohhh, this is a good question. Weightlifters and coaches have been debating it for a long time. Let me give you a little more explanation so you know what we’re talking about.
You’ve probably already figured out that there are many different training programs and methods out there. Not all lifters train the same. Hell, not all world champions train the same. A lifter from China wins the Olympics and breaks a world record using a certain type of training program, while another l......
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Simple Keys For Weightlifting Success
Mike Gray
| April 11 2013 |
Weightlifting
I have noticed over the years that people really try to make this sport much more difficult than it is. Now, don’t get me wrong, this sport by itself is a pain in the ass; however, people then try and complicate it even more by adding things to it.
So to help you out, I am going to list some questions then give you the best answer that I can come up with to save you possibly years of frustrations.
What kind of bar should I get?
How much room do you have left on your credit card? ......
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This Is The Last Thing I'll Ever Write
Matt Foreman
| April 1 2013 |
Weightlifting
This is going to be the last thing I write for Catalyst Athletics. It’s actually going to be the end of my whole journey in the iron sports. I didn’t think I was ever going to say this, but it’s time to finally get it over with.
I’m giving up weightlifting, and everything involved with it. Training, competing, coaching, all the work and the sweat and the pain…screw it. I’m sick and tired of it. After all these years, I just can’t see the point in lyi......
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Spasm!! Spasm!! Dang It!!
Matt Foreman
| March 25 2013 |
Weightlifting
We’re all such a bunch of little go-getters, aren’t we?
We love to train hard. One of the big pleasures in our lives is going to the gym and working our asses off until we’re drained, sore, and completely shot. We want to feel like we made ourselves better, conquered obstacles, or whatever. Everybody who reads this blog knows what I’m talking about, so I don’t need to explain it much more.
And we get sore, right? Actually, it often goes way past “sore.&......
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What The #@%! Just Happened?
Matt Foreman
| March 12 2013 |
Weightlifting
Let me tell you about a little conversation I had recently. This is an exchange between me and one of the gals I coach after she attempted a heavy snatch and missed it.
Me: “Okay, do you know what you did wrong on that one?”
Her: “Yeah.”
Me: “What did you do?”
Her: “I f-----d up.”
I love people. They’re my favorite.
We all know things aren’t always going to be perfect, right? We’re going to miss attempts occasi......
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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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