Monday is for Snatching

Tonight was great!

I trained with Hank, as expected, sans young child. He employs a pretty traditional, weightlifting specific program: we worked full squat snatches for triples, doubles, and singles, followed by double sets of heavy low-hang snatch pulls, and finished with heavy sets of back squats. He didn't go too heavy on the snatches, instead working mostly his technique, but encouraged me to keep going up. I didn't get 100 kg tonight, but, watching the video clip, I pulled it plenty high enough to make the lift. And Hank thinks my pull is good enough for 110 right now if I improve my focus during the dive and improve my catch positioning. I included clips of each of our last few sets. By comparison, I appear really loose and a little all over the place, but it gives me a good visual of where I can improve.

Snatch

4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1,

Snatch Pull

2, 2, 2, 2

Back Squat

4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 2

Interestingly, he told me tonight that it's the mental side of it that he really enjoys. Like, how losing concentration for just a split second could mean he pushes the bar 2 centimeters out during the second pull and thus results in a missed catch at the top. Honestly, his attitude toward training is inspiring. He truly does it because he loves it. He's intense when he's on the platform or under the bar, giving it an honest 100% every lift, but in between he was light hearted and intent on helping me improve. As I've expounded on before, finding your purpose for training is perhaps the most important way to ensure you will continue to do it. Whether it's competition, sense of fulfillment, doctors orders, even vanity... Finding that one purpose that will drive you makes all the difference. Hank's is sport. He loves the sport of weightlifting. Even though he doesn't compete anymore, he continues to "play," thus continuing to stay fit and to live strong.

Amen to that.