Post by osu122975 on Oct 11, 2017 16:08:56 GMT -5
Odd thing I came across this weekend that kind of lined up at the right time that I never really thought about in the past.
On Sunday, my buddy Nate Matthews competed at 100% RAW's World Meet in Erie PA. He opened at 407 squat and got called for depth then got it on the second attempt. Third attempt at 440 was good. On to the bench.....
Our plan was for him to open at 407 although I wanted it to be lighter at 396. He opted for 418. So he got his opener at 418. We discussed second attempts and I wanted 440 for him. He was thinking 430-435, which he had already done in the gym. He finally conceded on the 440 and missed both times at the 3-board height. On to the deadlift.....
He already had an idea of attempting 675-680 for a third attempt so he opened at 622, which I felt was a little heavy for an opener but I let it go. He pulled it but seemed to struggle with it, which kind of baffled me because I was part of the last 6 weeks or so of his DL training. He opted for 644 on his second attempt and couldn't get it off the ground. Upon his third attempt, he walked up to the bar and started like normal: hands on the bar cinching it deep into his grip and pulling himself into position, but it didn't look normal. He stood up, shook his head and walked off the platform. In all the years I have known him, I'd never seen him like that.
I got to him a few minutes outside the hall and found him very upset and disappointed in himself. His family was there. My gym's owners came to see him. He felt like he'd let everyone down. So even tho he went 1480 at 234 at age 58, better than many of us; he was hurting mentally over it all.
I blame myself in part for not persuading him to open lighter to gain confidence and make bigger jumps between lifts. Nate is also very instinctive with his training and how he feels plays a big part of it. I monitored the majority of his warm ups. Nate tends to over do it. I didn't allow him to get too warm, but I may not have allowed him to get warm enough.
He told me after that the squat was the best lift he did. I knew right then and there the bench was what set the mood for the rest of the meet. Too heavy an opener and not confident in the next jump in weight. This is the first meet where neither of us seemed to be on the right page with each other.
After Nate's final attempt, Big Mike Eaton was attempting 859 for a second time as his final attempt at a 1900lb total. I was talking with his wife a few minutes before his pull and I asked how he was doing. She said he was trying to get his mind right. Although I believe he told me he recently pulled 880 in the gym, 859 did not happen.
After getting home, the next day I came across an article on Vasily Alexeyev, the Russian Weightlifting Champion. The article was called "The Science of Winning". I would encourage anyone to Google that article. It was recently on EliteFTS.com. One quote that hit me pretty good was this, "You see, the question is not one of strength, not one of talent. It's a matter of what's in the head." There is a lot of good info in that article that I know I will reread over and over to get a better grasp of it.
All this said, there is a value that goes far beyond training, sets, reps, weight, method, days, week, years, etc. The mind seems to be a major contributor of what separates first and second place. I personally am taking this entire week off from training as the next 6 weeks will be pretty brutal preparing for heavier weights for the meet in December. I feel great but I feel antsy. This time away from the gym is much needed. I will be paying close attention to how my body and mind respond to this break.
Anyway, just wanted to share this with all of you. Hope you find some value in it.
On Sunday, my buddy Nate Matthews competed at 100% RAW's World Meet in Erie PA. He opened at 407 squat and got called for depth then got it on the second attempt. Third attempt at 440 was good. On to the bench.....
Our plan was for him to open at 407 although I wanted it to be lighter at 396. He opted for 418. So he got his opener at 418. We discussed second attempts and I wanted 440 for him. He was thinking 430-435, which he had already done in the gym. He finally conceded on the 440 and missed both times at the 3-board height. On to the deadlift.....
He already had an idea of attempting 675-680 for a third attempt so he opened at 622, which I felt was a little heavy for an opener but I let it go. He pulled it but seemed to struggle with it, which kind of baffled me because I was part of the last 6 weeks or so of his DL training. He opted for 644 on his second attempt and couldn't get it off the ground. Upon his third attempt, he walked up to the bar and started like normal: hands on the bar cinching it deep into his grip and pulling himself into position, but it didn't look normal. He stood up, shook his head and walked off the platform. In all the years I have known him, I'd never seen him like that.
I got to him a few minutes outside the hall and found him very upset and disappointed in himself. His family was there. My gym's owners came to see him. He felt like he'd let everyone down. So even tho he went 1480 at 234 at age 58, better than many of us; he was hurting mentally over it all.
I blame myself in part for not persuading him to open lighter to gain confidence and make bigger jumps between lifts. Nate is also very instinctive with his training and how he feels plays a big part of it. I monitored the majority of his warm ups. Nate tends to over do it. I didn't allow him to get too warm, but I may not have allowed him to get warm enough.
He told me after that the squat was the best lift he did. I knew right then and there the bench was what set the mood for the rest of the meet. Too heavy an opener and not confident in the next jump in weight. This is the first meet where neither of us seemed to be on the right page with each other.
After Nate's final attempt, Big Mike Eaton was attempting 859 for a second time as his final attempt at a 1900lb total. I was talking with his wife a few minutes before his pull and I asked how he was doing. She said he was trying to get his mind right. Although I believe he told me he recently pulled 880 in the gym, 859 did not happen.
After getting home, the next day I came across an article on Vasily Alexeyev, the Russian Weightlifting Champion. The article was called "The Science of Winning". I would encourage anyone to Google that article. It was recently on EliteFTS.com. One quote that hit me pretty good was this, "You see, the question is not one of strength, not one of talent. It's a matter of what's in the head." There is a lot of good info in that article that I know I will reread over and over to get a better grasp of it.
All this said, there is a value that goes far beyond training, sets, reps, weight, method, days, week, years, etc. The mind seems to be a major contributor of what separates first and second place. I personally am taking this entire week off from training as the next 6 weeks will be pretty brutal preparing for heavier weights for the meet in December. I feel great but I feel antsy. This time away from the gym is much needed. I will be paying close attention to how my body and mind respond to this break.
Anyway, just wanted to share this with all of you. Hope you find some value in it.
