It’s a common known fact that in the sport of weightlifting the number one factor that must be included in order to produce success is the element of time. Today I was confronted with two different athletes in whom time had become the distinct component promoting their development as a weightlifter.
One of my clients and also one of my longest standing clients was warming up for his snatch workout today when it dawned on me how much he had improved over the two years we’ve been working together. Let’s suffice it to say he is not in his younger, more limber days and when we started working together his snatch looked more like Britney Spears dance moves than it did athletic movement. However, today as I watched him warmup and eventually hit his 90% for a double it dawned on me how much he had developed over the years. Sure programming had something to do with that and coaching had something to do with it but the essential element that produced such a stark development was consistency in workouts over time. This client from day one was putting into practice the skills he needed to learn and consistently work hard week in and week out. His success up to this point has been a direct result of his hard work over the better part of two years. And he’s not done yet…
Another lifter I work with is on the other end of the spectrum. He’s just getting started and to say that athleticism and coordination alludes him is like saying a sumo wrestler is good at the vertical leap. This is honestly his greatest struggle and major weakness holding him back. He knows this and I know this. We are working on it and working on it hard. A weightlifter cannot be a good at the sport without both being balanced and agile. This particular lifter asked me today if there any ways to speed up this process and how long would it take. My response was quick as the succinct and not exactly encouraging, “there’s no way to speed up the process just work hard and athleticism takes years to develop.” He didn’t leave the conversation feeling great about the future but I hoped reality hit him in the face. Weightlifting takes time.
Anything that is worth being good at doesn’t come easy. Consistency and 100% effort over the breadth of years and often decades is the key component to success.
I often wish I could get young, new lifters to see the bigger picture and trust that many years down the road their current struggles will be mountains they have climbed and conquered.
Consistency and time is the key. Nothing good comes easy or quick.
