Kicking Out the Numbers

Lately I’ve been feeling burnt out. I told my coach that I wanted to take a couple weeks off to recover and focus on my diet, but what I really wanted to do was walk out of the gym and never come back. I felt defeated, broken down, and disappointed in myself. I had set goals that I thought were completely attainable, but when I fell short I decided that I just wasn’t working hard enough. My back ached, my shoulder throbbed, my knees were sore, and my hands were wrecked; I wanted to work harder, but physically it felt impossible. I was missing lifts that I had been chasing for months. No snatch or clean & jerk PRs for a long time can be slightly depressing for an Olympic Weightlifter. Thats when my coach reminded me how fun weightlifting had been when I first walked through the door.

Remember when you first started Olympic weightlifting? That day when you first walked into a weightlifting class and learned what a snatch was. That time when your biggest worry was making sure your hands were in the right place on the barbell. The days when you never wasted a second thought on how much weight was on the bar, or the person’s next to you. These days were what my coach was referring to.

This made me think back to all the fun that I had putting more weight on the bar simply for the joy of beating myself. One day I could only lift 50 lbs, but the next I could lift 55 lbs. I liked the feeling of being strong. Not the feeling of being stronger than so-and-so or lifting more than so-and-so, but just the feeling of self-satisfaction. This is where the true love of the sport comes in. The day that you start comparing yourself to everyone of a similar age, height, weight, etc., is when you lose the love of the sport. This started after my second weightlifting competition.

I was the youngest female at the very first the meet I ever attended, and this man named Charlie told me I should quit gymnastics and cross country to do weightlifting. I also found out that I qualified for Youth Nationals. I got a big head and convinced myself that I was pretty good at this weightlifting thing. From then on I wanted to do whatever would make me the best weightlifter. I committed 100% to weightlifting. When I registered for Youth Nationals my coach told me not to worry about my competition, as he didn’t know the skill-level of my competitors. We were just going to have fun and hit a PR total. His exact words were

Snatching 54kg at 2013
Youth Nationals

“It’s just you against the bar.”

At Youth Nationals I did pretty well. I hit a PR and missed qualifying for Junior Nationals by two kilos. This gave me an even bigger head. I started watching the results of the girls I competed against. I friended them on facebook, followed them on instagram, and added them on twitter. If someone made a PR, I made it my goal to beat them. By this point I was cluelessly lost in the numbers. I stopped working as hard; because my goal wasn’t to beat myself, it was to beat my competitors. By the third meet I was already knew where I would rank as far as placement. I knew my competitors best numbers before they ever stepped on the platform. This ruins the game. It’s just as bad as having someone give you a bunch of spoilers right before you go see a movie that you’ve been looking forward to.

My coach and I after
Youth Nationals

Even with all the congratulations and impressed expressions I was not satisfied with my performance. I knew that a few of the girls I had lifted against at Youth Nationals were lifting more than me. My training showed little motivation and my numbers stalled. By the time I competed in my fourth meet, which was a high school meet, I wanted to back out the night before. I told myself that weightlifting sucked and I wasn’t very good at it anyway. A couple people commented on how disappointed I looked after my last lift. My parents even jumped to the conclusion that I was tired of weightlifting, and wanted to quit. Well they were right; I was feeling a little bit hopeless.

The day after that meet I continued my usual routine of going to the gym. My coach could tell something was up, and somehow he got me to admit that I wasn’t having fun anymore. Thankfully he is an understanding coach who has been through all this before. He reassured me that it is his job to worry about the numbers, not mine. He told me to stop worrying and just enjoy weightlifting. So I’ve decided to do just that.

I’m officially kicking out the numbers because the only person I want to beat is myself.

Moral of the story: don’t compare yourself to anyone else or it will suck the fun out of life. We all have a unique story of how we got to where we are and how we will get to where we want to be.

Why You Should Try Olympic Weightlifting

Have you ever wondered how you could become a better athlete? Well I have the answer - Olympic weightlifting. Olympic weightlifting improves strength, speed, flexibility, and body awareness. It teaches self-disciple, can boost self-esteem, and helps release stress in a constructive way. Most weightlifting gyms have a positive and welcoming atmosphere that is great for kids to be introduced to at a young age. It is an individual sport, but you get the option to train with a team. Also Olympic weightlifting is an inexpensive sport with minimum equipment required to perform the movements safely.

        First of all most sports require strength to dominate. In football you must have strength to tackle people and to throw the football. In soccer you must have strength to kick the ball down the field, and in gymnastics you need strength to tumble six feet in the air. So why not get stronger during the off-season? Weightlifting builds strength through muscle hypertrophy. This happens when the muscle is broken down then increases in size and strength after recovery. Having stronger muscles results in a leaner body mass and a faster metabolism. Strength is even good for runners. Studies have shown that over a two-week period the athletes who trained the Olympic lifts had faster sprint times than the athletes who trained using specific exercises for sprinting. It makes sense that if you can exert more force to the ground in each stride you will be able to get farther in a shorter amount of time.

       

Another reason weightlifting is good for any athlete is that it teaches self-discipline. Weightlifting is an individual sport; which means that you get direct results of how much work and effort you put in. If you fall it is your fault, but if you win a medal it is all yours. You can’t blame anyone for your mistakes. Self-discipline is an important characteristic to have in life, and is imperative to learn at a young age.

       

You may not think of the word “flexible” when someone mentions a weightlifter, but you would be surprised to find that it takes a good amount of flexibility to get into a comfortable squat position. To be efficient in the Olympic lifts you must have flexible shoulders, ankles, and hips. Working the Olympic lifts daily or even just a couple times a week can dramatically increase your flexibility.

       

Young Girl About to Clean and Jerk

You may think that it is too expensive to get a membership at a weightlifting gym, but the truth is that weightlifting costs much less than most traditional sports. You do not need any special clothing: just shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. If you decide you really like weightlifting and want to commit to it you may want to buy Olympic weightlifting shoes in the future (which cost anywhere from $40-$300). All that is needed to perform the lifts is a good weightlifting or crossfit gym. There they will have bars and plates ready to use.

               

        Many professional and elite athletes use weightlifting to give them that extra “umph” that they need to be the best. If you are an athlete that values strength, flexibility, and mental toughness then you should give weightlifting a shot.

       

Why Do I Train?

Why do I train so hard? What motivates me to spend endless hours at the gym?

I want to prove to everyone who ever doubted me that they were WRONG! Nobody needs that type of person in their life, but everyone has one. That one person that never has anything positive or encouraging to say; the person who says hurtful words to try and bring you down. What they don’t know is that you are taking those pain filled words and turning them into MOTIVATION! You are training harder than you ever knew you could just because you want to show them how dumb they are. You want to prove to yourself that you are better than that.

I want to show my family that the hundreds of hours spent commuting me to the gym and back are so worth it. They are my biggest supporters; my family. They buy me supplements, weightlifting books, training clothes, and oly shoes. They listen to me rant about how everyone should lift weights, and preach that life is just better under the barbell. I want to show them that their support means the world to me.

I train hard to represent my gym and my coach well. The gym that contains my second family and home. My coach who has not only taught me how to snatch, but also the values of life. The lessons learned in the gym can’t be forgotten. Your coach sees you live through the barbell. The anger, happiness, sadness, nerves, excitement, and passion are all taken out on the bar. I want to show my coach that I was listening when he told me to never give up.

I train to show all my past coaches that they made a mistake when they put me on junior varsity instead of varsity. They made a mistake when they didn’t realize that I was a hard-working & talented athlete. Well they could sure use me now.

I will show the coach that always asked, “Are you working hard, or hardly working?” that I definitely was working hard. The same coach that called me a cheater; I’m proving to him that I know there are no shortcuts in life, and I love the daily grind. It’s what keeps me going.

I want to prove to the coach that believed in me that his time was worth it. The coach who helped me behind-the-scenes, while my assigned coach was busy yelling at me for my mistakes. The same coach that taught me that it isn’t all about winning. It is about having a strong team that has fun together, yet still trains their butts off.

I train hard to prove to all the people that think I am crazy that they are right. I am crazy. I lift weights in the morning, lift weights in the afternoon, and lift weights in the evening. Then I wake up and do it all again the next day. I do it Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday I dream of lifting weights. Mentally I am one with the bar. You could call me obsessed, and I would agree.

Li Xueying with her gold medal (some day that will be me)

The biggest reason I train hard is to show myself that I really can do anything I put my mind to. If I decide one day that I want to start a business or hike to the top of Everest (I want to do both) then I know that I can. I have faith in myself that I can do anything. I will prove to myself that I am not a quitter, I am a champion.

Leaving Gymnastics

Something I wanted but never got was that I wanted to do gymnastics for four hours everyday after school. First problem: my coach was only there for a couple hours, and I was the only one on my team who was interested in staying, so she wouldn’t get paid for coaching just me. Also the gym I went to charged around $400 to train that much. I was so angry at the time. It was my dream to go to the Olympics, even though the odds were completely against me. I started gymnastics when I was 10, and I was short but definitely not built like an Olympic gymnast. I loved training hard and pushing my body beyond its limits everyday. All I looked at was gymnastics photos, read gymnastics books, and wore gymnastics clothes. My hair was precisely styled like a gymnast every day before practice, and my nail polish always matched my leotard. My parents just couldn’t afford this particular gym and I didn’t have the right support system to get me where I wanted to go.

Now I realize that yes, dreams should be extremely hard to reach, otherwise it would not be a dream, but sometimes you need to adjust your dreams (adjust, not lower your standards). People often say never give up on your dreams and I agree, but I would say never give up on the things you love. I thought I loved gymnastics, but after awhile I stopped progressing, got injured, grew taller, and gained weight. I made one of the hardest decisions of my life to leave my gymnastics family. I quit the sport that just wasn’t meant for me and tried something new. I joined a crossfit box, which was hands down the best decision of my life. This community of people with firm handshakes and chiseled abs welcomed me, they told me I belonged there. The coaches truly cared about each and every person that showed up. They modified an exercise if you were injured and they talked to you like a friend, yet pushed you as hard as a drill sergeant. I quickly became addicted and knew that I had made the right choice to quit gymnastics. I now have a huge group of athletes that I am proud to call my family. Each day we push each other, encourage each other, and set new personal records. I am truly grateful for finding Crossfit Progression and the Rochester Barbell Club.

Aly Raisman doing a back layout step out on beam at the 2012 Olympics

Facing a Challenge

A time when I faced a challenge was last year, when I decided to commit my life to weightlifting and chase my ultimate dream of becoming an Olympic champion.

This was a is a memorable challenge because it would mean giving up most of the experiences that normal kids have; such as going to movies, parties, and eating fast food. I would have no time to go to dances and football games, no time for yearbook and other clubs. I could do all these things, but then I wouldn’t be giving 100% to weightlifting, which would have to be my focus if I was going to make it to the Olympics. When I asked my coach is this goal was attainable he said,
“I’m never going to tell you that something is impossible, but it usually takes about ten years to become an Olympian. Liz, you have the ideal situation; you are starting at 14 with a background of gymnastics and other sports."

By making the choice to commit to weightlifting I have made a lot of “sacrifices”. I guess I wouldn’t really consider them sacrifices, maybe more like choices. I do part time school and take only four classes at my small-town high school. This means I don’t get to see the friends I grew up with very often, which sometimes makes me feel lonely. I don’t go to football games and dances because after I workout my body is tired and sore; instead I spend that time icing and recovering so I can train harder and stronger the next day. I don’t eat fast-food or processed food, which is a struggle with everyone around me enjoying it on a daily basis. I only put all natural whole foods into my body to fuel my muscles so that I can lift weights twice my body weight above my head.

I spend about five to six hours at the gym, three-and-a-half at school, two commuting back and forth, nine sleeping, and two cooking/eating. That leaves me with almost no free time. Any of the extra time I do have I spend reading articles, blogs, and studies on health and fitness related topics. I watch videos of lifting technique when I should be studying, and listen to podcasts when I should be sleeping. At times it is hard to use my time wisely because my schedule is jam-packed; I get extremely overwhelmed when I think about it too much.

I love keeping busy all the time, but sometimes I just want to stop.Those are the days when I have to take a step back and appreciate life. Everything is constantly changing, so it’s important to slow it down sometimes and savor the flavors of life.

My favorite days are when my hands are throbbing, my shins are purple with bruises, my back is sore, my legs are numb, and all I want to do is sleep. I love those days because it’s proof to me that I am working hard and pushing myself beyond my limits. Champions are made on the tough days; that is what separates a quitter and a gold medalist.

Zubova Olga setting up to snatch 120kg

So far I love the consequences of my decision. I have sought comfort in the blogs and articles of fellow weightlifters. I learn that being lonely is what all successful people sacrifice to get to where they are. No one ever said anything worth having would be easy to get. I know that in the end I have a family at the gym that supports me, and will be there for me. I am sure they face similar struggles in their fight for success. This journey is going to be tough and there will be many roadblocks in the way, however I know that in the end it will all be worth it.

Is it Worth it?

I’ve struggled with my weight through out my teenage years. When I was a gymnast we were required to wear a skin-hugging leotard to practice everyday. If that doesn’t motivate you to be skinny I don’t know what does. Now I’m a weightlifter. There is still a little pressure to be skinny because you have to wear a singlet in competition. I think that the weightlifting community puts much more emphasis on the need to be strong. This is the same with crossfit. People look up to you because you are strong, not because you are anorexic. Being in this type of community has completely changed my life.
         Lately I’ve been trying to decide which weight class I am going to compete in for the Minnesota Open. I can change my weight pretty easily, but the overall goal would be to stay in the same weight class over a long period of time. Recently I was discussing this with my friend and training partner. She is very strong and I know for a fact that she eats pretty clean. We can relate because we have similar goals (the American Open) and a similar situation. We both live with people who have no consideration to what we eat. They say eww and gross to everything, but they find it completely normal to shove potato chips and McDonalds down their throat. We were talking about how hard it is sometimes to resist the temptation to eat the terrible foods that our families eat (I have to admit that brownies taste good). I told Tina that it didn’t matter which weight class I was in for this meet, because I can always qualify for Junior Nationals in the 63 kilo class at a high school meet. I have the fear that if I become okay with being a 69 kilo lifter that I will soon be okay with being a 75 kilo lifter and so on. I don’t want to think that gaining weight is ok, as long as I am strong. It’s not. The way I gain weight is that I try to lose weight by starving myself, then binge the next day because my body is so nutrient-depleted and dehydrated. That is not okay and I know that. I need to change my habits.
I tell myself (and others) that I eat pretty well, especially for my age. Then I say that I don’t understand why I’m not leaner because I workout 4 hours a day. Tina asked me how clean my diet really was, which made me actually reflect on what my diet is like. When I take a look at it there is a lot of things that I don’t really need that aren’t benefiting me, like a granola bar once in a while or some chocolate as a reward for eating clean all day. She said one cheat meal a week is all that you need to stay satisfied. Then she said that I have to decide whether I want to be a 63 kilo lifter who eats 90% clean, or a 69 kilo lifter with a crappy diet. I asked how she ate so clean with all the junk food and stuff in the house. She told me you just have to ask yourself if it is worth it. This reminded me of what my coach said earlier. You have to just do it. If you think there is something that you could change or make better then there probably is, so just do it. Change it.
         Of course I want to be a 63 kilo lifter. I am 5 foot 2, so I really don’t need to be a 69 kilo lifter unless I grow like 6 inches. So I decided to listen to them and put their advice into effect. Now I ask myself “Is it worth it?” before eating my meals. I ask myself “Will this help me reach my goals?” “Would a world champion eat this?”
So far it is going good. I am not going to check my weight every 5 minutes because I know that to compete in the 63 kilo class I need to lose 6 pounds in 6 days. That is unattainable with a healthy sustainable diet. I probably won’t get down to 62.9 kilos before the MN Open, but it doesn’t matter. I need to change my diet right now. I’ve decided that I will be a lean 63 kilo lifter throughout most of my weightlifting career. After the Minnesota Open there is going to be high school meets that I can go to if I need to qualify for Junior Nationals in a different weight class (which I most likely will).
My goal for right now is to eat 90% clean so I can be the best athlete possible. Thanks to my coaches and training partners for all the advice and pep talks!