This week I was given the HUGE honor of coaching the Youth/Junior Developmental Camp at the Olympic Training Center. It's a massive honor to be considered among the likes of Tyrone Harvey, Anna Martin, and Dennis Snethen for a spot coaching our future weightlifters. I'm going to try each evening to give a brief update of what the 45 (give or a take a few) athletes have done each day and some lessons learned. Below you will find a couple things. First, their morning and afternoon workouts written up by head coach Zygmunt Smalcerz. Secondly, I have listed three observations from the first day of camp. Enjoy.
Workouts:
Three Observations:
1. Simple cues are critically important. Some of these athletes have incredible numbers and move with incredible speed yet they are lacking some of the basic principles of the lifts. I probably said "stay over the bar" 1000 times today (ok maybe 100). Many of these lifters have gotten away with some painfully obvious technique flaws based on sheer talent and strength. For instance, many of the athletes I coached didn't understand that a hang clean meant their knees needed to be back, their hamstrings tight, and their shoulders in front of the bar. This is a pretty basic position that should be taught VERY early on. This lack of understanding of positioning furthermore led to poor pulling and bar track when moving from the floor. Many of them went around their knees and never fully utilized their hamstrings during the lift. I was a little shocked that kids who have put up some incredible numbers and done some pretty spectactular things very early in their career were still struggling to grasp some of the basics. This is a reminder to coaches out there. Don't neglect the basics just because your athlete is elite. Focus and hammer the basics.
2. The future is VERY bright. I saw a room full of incredible talent today. Young, developing athletes completing lifts far beyond their years and lifters with less than a year of experience under their belt showing incredible growth. The speed, power, and strength that was in that room today was inspiring. These are all athletes who could, if they so chose, be elite at any sport they wanted to be at the high school and college level. Yet, they have chosen weightlifting. This a good things for the future of USA Weightlifting. The 45 some odd athletes training this week will fill many international teams in the next 10-15 years and I promise some of our future Olympians were standing in that room today. If you're wondering what the future looks like for American Weightlifting, it's bright, fast, competitive, and extremely hopeful.
3. With the upside of new talent and extreme potential comes the necessity for discipline and self-restriction. The energy and the excitement that filled that room today was like few weight rooms I have ever been in. Combine that with extreme talent and potential and you have a recipe for results. HOWEVER, look at the workouts pictured above. Zygmunt programmed snatch and clean and jerk waves up to 90% for the athletes. What he wanted was lots and lots of PERFECT reps eventually finishing at 90%. Now, knowing the desire and intention of the workout, go look at some of the Instagram profiles of some of our top Junior lifters. What you will see is a slew of PR lifts (that don't show the misses) and some exercises that were not written in the above workouts. Some of these incredible athletes let the energy and adrenaline get the best of them today and they missed the whole point of the workout. In fact, they likely destroyed any chance at tweaking and changing technical faults by working to max instead of following the prescribed reps. Newsflash athletes, 90% is not the new 100%, I don't care how many Instagram followers you have or how many likes you got today. Trust Zygmunt! He has forgotten more about weightlifting than most of us will ever learn. Huge lesson learned today. The gain that can often come from youth and excitement can also lead to uncontrolled disregard for the wisdom of your coach. Be excited but follow the workout! It was written that way for a reason. (and that reason isn't your social media game)
More to come…