Why I’m dedicating 2020 to the olympic lifts
I’ve been lifting in one way or another for 15 years now and have learnt a lot along the way. Part of the reason for this blog is because I’d love to share what I’ve learnt with you. I’m not attempting to tell you what’s wrong and what’s right, rather I’d like to share what I’ve done and what’s worked and what hasn’t and allow you to take away what you will from that.
In terms of programs, I’ve done them all (most of us have). I’ve done programs from the back of magazines, programs from personal trainers, programs from coaches and random programs from the internet. I’ve done programs focused on ‘getting swole’ (quite literally), programs focused on sports performance and programs focused on strength.
The strongest I’ve ever been was in 2016. This was off the back of doing ‘Squat every day’ for about a year and I achieved all of my all time maxes that year. My profile picture is off my max deadlift, hitting 210kg. I also hit 160kg squat, 120kg bench and 125kg front squat that month. This was all at about 83kg bodyweight. Some of you may consider those numbers good, others might consider them a warm up.
You can check out my article on every day squatting here: https://medium.com/@Coffee.Whisky.Barbells.and.B/the-magic-of-daily-heavy-squatting-e0d9dfef1d0c
However since that peak, I’ve been a bit in-between. I’ve continued training at least 3 times a week however I’ve not dedicated myself to a program and have been shying away from going towards my maxes. A variety of factors contribute to this including moving gyms and training for sports and focusing on conditioning to name a couple.
I’ve decided to make a change recently. This year, I’m going to focus on learning the olympic lifts properly with a view of competing in them. I’ve dabbled in them before however I’ve never fully dedicated myself to them and never put in the time required to get a coach and learn them properly.
Why the change?
Firstly, a reason why I’ve not dedicated myself to a program is that I got a bit bored of all of them. They are all great, but I’ve done them in the past and there’s only so many times I can do 5x5 or GVT. I’ve tried new programs but many of them didn’t fit in with my goals and lifestyle.
Secondly, we need to continuously push ourselves to learn new skills. It’s how you keep your brain and body active. Whilst I could definitely progress beyond my maxes, I’d also continue to stress my body and get fixated in a routine provider ever decreasing returns.
Thirdly, I’m looking to become more all-round strong. I’ve been a bit inspired by those that can perform not just in the silo of powerlifting or weightlifting but are strong in both those domains.
Finally, it’s really just quite fun and satisfying throwing a decent number of weight above your head. And it’s satisfying seeing improvement and getting better at something new.
I’ve started off the year strong, I’d already had a few coaching session towards the end of last year and now I’m going full steam ahead with 4–5 sessions a week dedicated solely to the olympic lifts (and a bit of vanity benching thrown in for fun).
I’m looking at joining British Weightlifting, the UK’s recognised Governing Body for weight lifting and entering my first weightlifting competition towards the second half of this year.
It’ll be a tough journey and I’m sure I’ll experience set back but I can guarantee I’ll learn a lot and come out the end a better person.
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This article was written by Stuart Munnich. If you’d like to know more or receive notifications for future articles, please head over to the Agoge Project Website or subscribe to updates right here!
