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.  

2013 Nationals

USAW Nationals recap media all in one place!  Full list of results from USAWeightlifting.

Whats Going On

Just a few things about whats going on.

This is the latest Weightlifting Scoop Podcast! It features Travis Cooper and myself along with the New MDUSA member Matt Bergeron.




 The SISU Strength and Conditioning Center (aka Crossfit Smithfield)  is starting to take shape!  We are expecting to get more equipment from MDUSA shipped in the next few days.  I will post more pics of it once we get it all set up!  If your ever driving down (or up) I-95 in Smithfield NC, we are right off the highway, so feel free to stop by for a visit.  Deacon and I are very excited about the Grand Opening on May 18th (I'll post more on that soon too)

We also got a new Videographer at MDUSA, he does a really good job.  Welcome to the team Justin!

 


This is just one of the pics of the new MDUSA gym, this is only half...

 


Last of all the Collegiate Nationals Weightlifting Championships are this weekend.  I am going to be competing in a separate Pan American Championships Qualifier session in hopes to qualify for the 2013 Pan Am Championships.  Travis Cooper and Chris Gute will also be there!

Technique

Working on your technique can be one of the most irritating things about Olympic Weightlifting.  It takes more than hard work to fix it, you need the eye of a good coach.  But that is not available to everyone, so you make do with what you got. Let's say you start out by going to a seminar taught by Glenn Pendlay, Don McCauley, or even myself. That is a great starting point.  But don't stop there,  things like these videos are the bread and butter to lifters who are working on their own and coaching themselves.  I can speak first hand about this because I coached myself for over a year before joining the MDUSA team.

When I first started weightlifting, I took a short 4 week class (2 days a week). I got the basics down and most importantly I got hooked to weightlifting.  My technique was always a little "rough" to say the least.  I knew I could do more and be better with the right direction, so I set a goal to find a coach.  I took a seminar with Don McCauley before I tried out for the Muscle Driver Team.  During the seminar, everything made sense and I was moving really well (I even Power Cleaned 140kg which was a PR at that time). Don had introduced me to sweeping the bar, and it made a HUGE difference.



After the seminar I kept trying to train myself the way Don had taught me.  It was terrible, I couldn't move right and the bar would never get into the same spot.  I was not lifting like I was when Don was giving me the right cues.  I was very frustrated.  I realize now that the reason I couldn't lift right was that I was fighting against my well rehearsed bad technique.  I should have reinforced what he taught me by looking at videos of lifters who he had coached or mentioned at the seminar.  Once I actually started doing that, my technique started to make a "permanent" change for the better.  Videos like these would have made it even better. In the end, when you are frustrated and mad because of weightlifting, watch these videos again and again. This will  help your body and brain make the connection about what you're supposed to be doing when you lift. And most importantly, keep at it!

Recovery

Shoulder pain tends to be an issue among Olympic Weightlifters.  I have had issues with my shoulders as well.  Massage and Chiropractic are great but getting a massage multiple times a week is not always realistic. A good addition to your recovery process is a self massage trigger point tool.  Body Back Buddy is a sturdy tool to help get hard to reach trigger points.  This tool is sturdy enough to push through thick muscles like your upper traps so you can get to trigger points on the supraspinatus and rhomboids.  It is also versatile enough to comfortably get trigger points on your neck, lower back, and glutes.  In the end having more tools in your recovery arsenal will help keep your body healthy and the Body Back Buddy  is a good one to have.  I have them on sale at TatumTrained.com if you are interested!

Week 4 Day 5

AM
Snatch
3 sets of 1 at 70%

Clean and Jerk
3 sets of 1 at 70%

PM
Snatch Max

Clean and Jerk Max

Week 4 Day 4

No Hook Grip No foot movement snatch
3 sets of 2 reps with good form (light)

Jerks off the blocks
3 sets of 3 reps with good form (light)

Front Squat
1 set of 4 reps with 87-89%