Structural Balance for Weightlifters

By James Tatum

I became competitive in weightlifting very quickly.  I started in 2011 and won my first American Open in 2012 and made my first international team in 2013.  There are a few reasons I progressed so quickly.  First I had been doing powerlifting for 8 years before I started weightlifing.  I wasn't very good at it, but it gave me a good relative strength base.  Secondly I surrounded myself with coaches and training partners that greatly attributed to my performance and development.  But last of all I feel like I was able to stay injury free and adapt to movement quickly because of all the general preparation and structural balance work I had done in my off season (if you can call it that) of powerlifting. As weightlifters we tend to get stuck on just doing snatch, clean, jerk, squats, pulls, and variations of these movements. And rightly so because they really are the most fun!  But it is all too easy to neglect the things that will really keep you in the sport for a longer period of time.  I have made a general program that I published on TrainHeroic that address some of the areas I have found most weightlifters need help with.  You might not find that these movements make your lifts go up directly, but they should allow your body to stay healthy and injury free.  This in turn will really be what makes you a better weightlifter in the long run.  Below is a sample of the program, it is only 2 days a week and is designed to be done in conjunction with your current weightlifting training.  You can do it on an off day or after your weightlifting session. It is not very demanding so it should not take away from your other training. Purchase the full program here:  TrainHeroic

Day 1 Lower Body                      Setsxreps   Tempo  Rest

A Alternating Step to Split                 3x5@70% of clean and jerk

B1 Front Foot raised Split Squat        3x8   3010     60s

B2 RDL                                              3x8   3010     60s

C1 Hanging Abdominal Raise            3x20 2020     90s

Day 1 Upper Body                                                                Setsxreps   Tempo  Rest

A1 Standing DB Front Raise at 45 degrees with thumbs up          3x8    3010   60s

A2 Standing DB Overhead Press                                                    3x6    3020   60s

A3 Bent Over Trap 3 Raise                                                             3x6   3010   90s

First Attempt by James Tatum

This is probably my favorite blog I have ever written.  The emotion and excitement I feel when reading this reminds me of why I love weightlifting!  I originally wrote this on MDUSA's blog on 6-4-2015.  If you are interested in my coaching send me an email at tatumtrained@gmail.com or check us out on TrainHeroic for a more affordable program!

Nationals 2015.

I am in the warm up room I just completed my last warm up snatch of 140kg.  I am sitting in the chair waiting for my weight to be loaded and my name to be called.  My coach put a jacket over my legs to keep them warm.  A bar drops on the competition platform and I hear cheering.  I check my thumb tape.  Take a sip of my pre-workout and swish it around my mouth.  It is sweet and just taking a sip is energizing. “Load the bar to 145kg for James Tatum’s first attempt.”  My hands are dry and covered in chalk.  A light sweat is covering my forehead and shoulders. I feel slightly cool from a draft.  I am so focused that my gaze can’t be broken.  “Bar is loaded, James Tatum is the lifter.”  I throw my jacket to the ground, stand up make sure my belt is loosely around my waist, knee sleeves pulled up.  I am ready.  I walk out from behind the curtain, up the stairs, and onto the competition stage. 

I check the weight on the scoreboard as it comes into view, 145kg.  I have 56 seconds on the clock.  I check the bar, 2 reds, a green, and the competition collar on one side.  I walk to the other side, 2 reds, a green, and the competition collar.  I walk back to the middle, I acknowledge the judge to my right, middle, and left.  The room is empty to me now.  I let out a fierce growl, tighten my belt, and step onto the platform.  It has begun.  

37 seconds left on the clock.  I approach the bar, putting the end of my shoe laces directly under it.  I find my focal point on the other side of the room, straight forward and slightly up.  I bend over and spin the bar with my right hand.  It spins smoothly, and the knurling is sharp.  It digs into my fingertips as I complete the spin.  I grab the bar about 1 inch outside of the knurling ring with my right hand.  I rap my thumb into the hookgrip and loosen the tension in my hand.  I grab the bar with my left hand now, at the same distance out from the knurling ring.  The 30 second timer beeps.  I lock in the hookgrip.  I now lower my hips to my starting position, glance at the clock, 27 seconds.  My heart rate is increasing.  “COME ON!!! Easy weight, Lets go”  I remind myself out loud.  I rotate my elbows and loosen my arms.  No hesitation.  21 seconds left.  I raise my hips and loosen my whole body.

I quickly lower my hips down to my start position, while tensing up my back, then PUSH with the legs! The bar comes off the floor easily as the sharp knurling digs into my hands without slipping. The tension in my back holds true as I raise my chest and my knees move back out of the way of the bar.  I see nothing.  My knees move forward and I lift my chest as I am demanding the bar to move into my hips.  The finish happens so fast I have no memory of it, just a feeling of practiced control, precision, and speed….then back to reality.  I am under the bar elbows locked out, chest up, head through, and balanced.  I waste no time. I stand up. 

I am staring at the middle judge waiting to hear the down signal.  I hear the unpleasant buzzing that tells me to put the bar down.  I allow the bar to come forward and down as I move behind. THUD.  The bar hits the platform. The tension in my body is released. I know it was a good lift.  I hear the people in the room again as well as my coach, clapping for the performance.  I waive at the crowd in appreciation for their support.  I turn and see 19 seconds on the clock, frozen after I started to lift the bar, my name, and the weight 145kg. I feel my heart rate again.  .   . . . . … Three white lights pop up a few long seconds later.  And the announcer says “GOOD LIFT, for James Tatum at 145 kilograms”. I let out a sigh of relief and now I am determined to do more.  I calm myself down as much as possible to save energy for the next 2 attempts. 

Local Meets by James Tatum

This is a blog I wrote while I was at MDUSA and posted it on there website.  Now I am transferring it back over here to my own blog.  This was originally posted on 6-29-15.  If you are interested in my coaching feel free to email me at tatumtrained@gmail.com.  Also check out Tatum Trained on Trainheroic for more affordable programming! 

Local meets are great!  At some point in time every great weightlifter had his or her first meet at the local level.  Their are a few different goals you can have in regards to a local meet, but I am going to talk about how you can use a local meet to discover what kind of lifter you are or what your zone of optimal performance is.  First off most people get nervous when going out to compete, the goal is to find out what to do with that nervous energy to help you perform the best.  For example an athlete who gets nervous and it affects him/her in a way that decreases performance you will want to work on getting that nervous energy under control. That athlete should try some relaxing techniques, such as slow deep breathing, to help calm them down before they take each attempt on the competition stage as well as during there warm up.  A coach can also be valuable in this situation by being calm and not giving cues that tend to hype the lifter up.  On the other end of the spectrum you may have a lifter who performs well with a lot of stress and excitement.  In that case doing things that will get the lifter excited will help, such as taking a pre-workout or getting the crowd hyped up before they take there attempt.  A coach can help this situation by giving the hype up type of cues or slaps on the legs before going out on the platform. 

Most people will fall anywhere in-between these two types of lifter.  My favorite things about competing at local meets is how I can learn new things about myself by putting myself in different amounts of stress and then refining it to achieve the best possible outcome.  Below is a video of a PR lift I made last year at MuscleDriver USA's Open.