I stumbled upon olympic weightlifting through Crossfit. The reason I started crossfitting was to have structured cross-training for rowing that I would be motivated to do, and I also knew that I was lacking in strength and needed help learning to use weights. Shortly after I started Crossfit multiple factors made me think long and hard about whether I should continue with the sport and I decided last December that I was going to take a break. In the mean time I was just strength training on my own and practicing olympic weightlifting so I could get more efficient in the crossfit workouts.
Now learning olympic weightlifting on your own is pretty hard. The lifts are very technical, and if you do them incorrectly you can seriously injure yourself. I realized I needed an expert to help teach me the proper technique so in February I started trekking out to Mississauga once or twice a week to work with coach Richard. My commute there and back totaled 3.5 hours but it was worth it and I got some good reading done on the bus. I was definitely improving, lifting more weight by changing my technique and not necessarily getting stronger.
In April, I got to experience my first competition. At this point, I didn’t know where I was going with the sport and what level of commitment I wanted to make since I just go out of rowing (I know, it sounds like I just broke up with rowing and then wasn’t sure about my new crush on weightlifting). But one thing I did know, was that I missed the camaraderie of being in an organized sport and knowing that you have friends that are training for the same purpose and understand and accept what you’re doing with your spare time.
Anyways, I had a lot of fun at the competition, and looking back at it now makes me laugh because I had no idea what I was doing. What I love most right now is the team that we have training together. We all work really hard and have an amazing coach guiding us and pushing us to our maximum potential everyday.
Since I started training specifically for weightlifting in February 2012, I’ve gone from a 43kg snatch and 57 clean&jerk to a 62kg snatch and 72kg clean&jerk and still making PRs in lifts every week.
Here my first list of 10 reasons why I like weightlifting:
1. The satisfaction of lifting heavy weights above your head, it’s bad ass.
2. You aren’t drenched in sweat for an hour (like when you row/spin/crossfit/run).
3. Feeling STRONG, HEALTHY, & ENERGIZED.
4. No more 4:30am alarm clocks for practice (…however I do still coach rowing so now I’m just not exercising at that insane hour).
5. You can train anywhere you can find a gym.
6. Wind, snow, rain, cold, and heat no longer affect my training.
7. I get to do it with my best friend/boyfriend Zev!
8. You can always get better – stronger, faster, improve technique. Always aiming for the perfect lift, just like in rowing, the perfect stroke.
9. You get to put all of your effort into 40 seconds, then take a break. I like breaks.
10. Great teammates and coach!
Team UTM at the Winter Lift Feb 2012 – missing Chris and Coach Steve.
