4/27/2011

Today was interesting. I didn't do a hard workout, but I did dynamic warm-up and a ton of technique work on my O Lifts/Overhead-Squat. I went to an O lifting center and watched, and learned from, some athletes training for the 2012 Olympics. To see a woman literally warm-up with my 1 rep max on both the CJ and Snatch was sobering. Not to mention the weight the men were using (300+ snatch, 350+ CJ for the weight class I would be in). I came away with a lot more confidence in both lifts and learned of some key technical mistakes I was making. I came away with an actual Jerk, something I didn't really have before; just a half jerk and a press/lockout.

It was really interesting to me that even though these athletes compete at the international level, they are relentlessly correcting and critiquing each other's form and technique on every lift. This really speaks to the high level of technicality of these lifts. And I completely understand why O lifters are so critical of Crossfit. Many Crossfit gyms are sanctuaries of terrible form for the O-lifts. O-lifting at the highest level is as technical and dangerous as a barbell can get. Even though I'm a half decent crossfitter, my O-lifts, like 95% of crossfit athletes, are not half decent. This is something I really need to work on and a realm of fitness that I can develop a huge amount of strength, speed and athleticism from. There is something almost beautiful about watching someone throw 2.5x their body weight above their head. The technique and the strength/speed of these athletes is unreal.

I want to be good and strong at the O-lifts. I wish I had more of a background in it. One athlete I spoke to, who has been training for 8 years said he is just now beginning to get 'good' and technically proficient at the lifts. For the time being I guess I have my future years to create my 'background' in the O-lifts, because as of now I don't really have one. Today was a learning experience, just as was the 2011 Open. My attempt at fitness has so many goals; goals that are literally combative of one another, its hard to achieve perfection in them all. Over the last year I've gotten a lot stronger and have been able to maintain most of my endurance. If I can keep this up, specifically with my O-lift numbers increasing, I will be happy.