On Monday, I snatched 60kg at 48kg bodyweight! This wasn't an ordinary PR for me. I wanted this so bad since the time I decided to switch from CrossFit to Weightlifting, just over a year ago. Up until last month, I wasn't confident that I could make it this year, but instead, I surprised myself this week and turned this goal into reality.
As a 48kg lifter, there's something about a 60kg snatch that feels like a special milestone and when I made it, I had to check again to make sure there was actually 60kg loaded on the bar. It was one of the happiest moments in my athletic career. What blew my mind was how fast I achieved this goal. Before I joined Greg's weightlifting team, my best snatch was 118lb (~53kg) and I was very inconsistent even at weights far from my PR. Now, just over a year later, my PR is 60kg and I'm a lot more consistent at heavier weights! I feel like I've been experiencing beginner's luck with my snatch over the past couple months. Although I couldn't have done it without my most awesome, best coach ever, Greg Everett, a large part of it was the work I put in to addressing issues I have full control over and in this case, it was the mental game and learning how to snatch with confidence and determination.
How do you address the mental game? For some people, it may be lifting the target weight over and over again. For me, I thought that would work, but there were too many variables. So to break it down to bare basics, I felt like my head was the only thing I had 100% control over. Regardless if everyone is telling me I can lift that weight, if I don't believe I can lift it, it won't happen. In the quest to overcome my mental game, I decided to narrow my focus down to just snatches since it's my favorite lift. In addition to confirming I'm a total nut case, I also learned that time management and blocking distractions truly allowed me to approach the snatch with confidence and determination.
My programming had snatches on the minute: 5x1 at three different weights, increasing. If I made all 15 OTM snatches, I could go up to a heavy single. Working with that, I ran a series of experiments on myself and analyzed the outcomes and details of each (oh, the engineer in me). Below is what I learned about myself and what worked best for me to get me in the zone!
When doing snatches OTM, I used a stopwatch, so I didn't have to look up a zillion times to see when I should go. It also kept me from looking around the room and getting distracted. I noticed that when I'm "late" for an OTM, it freaked me out and I couldn't lift anymore. If I made all my OTM, I used the digital wall clock because the seconds constantly changing on the stopwatch and analog wall clock made me antsy. Here I gave myself either a minute or two depending on the timing of my fellow teammates lifting. I also noticed it was best for me to not watch anyone lift, listen or have conversations during this time. It's not that I didn't care or want to, but I get distracted so easily. I didn't want any negative thoughts flowing into my mind, from people complaining about how they're going to have a bad training session since they had a bad day to the possibility of watching my teammates miss lifts since I don't like it when that happens. However, I also didn't want any positive or neutral external thoughts flowing in my head either. For example, if someone was talking about food, I would get distracted and think about eating the food. The only thing I allowed myself to hear was the feedback from my coach. This allowed me to feel the determination and desire I had to achieve my goal.
I often joked around that I would be done after I snatched 60, but that's not the case at all. Rather, I feel strong motivation and desires. Now I want to snatch 60 in competition and hopefully by the end of the year. I also started dreaming about snatching 70 and maybe 72 for 1.5 BW... and it goes on. I'm excited of what's to come!
Related Posts: 2014 Fitness Goals | 2013 Fitness Goals | 2012 Fitness Goals | Jes' CrossFit Beginnings
Greg's Commentary & my lifts leading up to 60kg
As a 48kg lifter, there's something about a 60kg snatch that feels like a special milestone and when I made it, I had to check again to make sure there was actually 60kg loaded on the bar. It was one of the happiest moments in my athletic career. What blew my mind was how fast I achieved this goal. Before I joined Greg's weightlifting team, my best snatch was 118lb (~53kg) and I was very inconsistent even at weights far from my PR. Now, just over a year later, my PR is 60kg and I'm a lot more consistent at heavier weights! I feel like I've been experiencing beginner's luck with my snatch over the past couple months. Although I couldn't have done it without my most awesome, best coach ever, Greg Everett, a large part of it was the work I put in to addressing issues I have full control over and in this case, it was the mental game and learning how to snatch with confidence and determination.
How do you address the mental game? For some people, it may be lifting the target weight over and over again. For me, I thought that would work, but there were too many variables. So to break it down to bare basics, I felt like my head was the only thing I had 100% control over. Regardless if everyone is telling me I can lift that weight, if I don't believe I can lift it, it won't happen. In the quest to overcome my mental game, I decided to narrow my focus down to just snatches since it's my favorite lift. In addition to confirming I'm a total nut case, I also learned that time management and blocking distractions truly allowed me to approach the snatch with confidence and determination.
My programming had snatches on the minute: 5x1 at three different weights, increasing. If I made all 15 OTM snatches, I could go up to a heavy single. Working with that, I ran a series of experiments on myself and analyzed the outcomes and details of each (oh, the engineer in me). Below is what I learned about myself and what worked best for me to get me in the zone!
When doing snatches OTM, I used a stopwatch, so I didn't have to look up a zillion times to see when I should go. It also kept me from looking around the room and getting distracted. I noticed that when I'm "late" for an OTM, it freaked me out and I couldn't lift anymore. If I made all my OTM, I used the digital wall clock because the seconds constantly changing on the stopwatch and analog wall clock made me antsy. Here I gave myself either a minute or two depending on the timing of my fellow teammates lifting. I also noticed it was best for me to not watch anyone lift, listen or have conversations during this time. It's not that I didn't care or want to, but I get distracted so easily. I didn't want any negative thoughts flowing into my mind, from people complaining about how they're going to have a bad training session since they had a bad day to the possibility of watching my teammates miss lifts since I don't like it when that happens. However, I also didn't want any positive or neutral external thoughts flowing in my head either. For example, if someone was talking about food, I would get distracted and think about eating the food. The only thing I allowed myself to hear was the feedback from my coach. This allowed me to feel the determination and desire I had to achieve my goal.
I often joked around that I would be done after I snatched 60, but that's not the case at all. Rather, I feel strong motivation and desires. Now I want to snatch 60 in competition and hopefully by the end of the year. I also started dreaming about snatching 70 and maybe 72 for 1.5 BW... and it goes on. I'm excited of what's to come!
Related Posts: 2014 Fitness Goals | 2013 Fitness Goals | 2012 Fitness Goals | Jes' CrossFit Beginnings