So, when I was doing crossfit I knew I was a strong one – mostly bc everyone told me I was… I wanted to RX everything and was even convinced to do RX+ when Coach Morgan would tell me that my friend Teri was doing RX+ so I should too. A little friendly competition never hurt anyone right? I was going RX on weights my first week after graduating elements. I could not RX all the gymnasty (judge me, I just used that non-word) movements like TTB or pullups, but you better believe I was going to be RX on barbell movements. I loved the barbell. I loved throwing it around and felt stronger each time I picked it up and slammed it down. I was doing movements I never thought I would ever do…why would I ever squat with a barbell over my head?????
But then as I started making the transition into weightlifting there was no RX weight to do. I had to push myself to get to a PR starting point, and then I had to start working off percentages of those weights. I was asked what my max back squat was…well, I had done 1¾ squat at 195….because my booty didn’t touch the med ball on my first rep, so I counted it as 1¾. My snatch was a power snatch at 75lbs and I had cleaned 125lbs, but it hurt my wrist and it was ugly, and my jerk was more of a press. I needed a lot of coaching, but I was willing to put in the time and reps.
When I started lifting more and crossfitting less I learned so much about the way my coach programs and why he does it. Like I have said before, I wasn’t on a program until after my first meet. I saw the volume of work that it took and was instantly nervous. I was going to have to be lifting 4 days a week, crossfitting 0 days a week, and there were two days where I’d be lifting with no coach’s eye on me. I had to make sure that I was getting quality lifting sessions and not just go through the motions.
Now speaking of quality over quantity…a lot of people have A LOT of opinions. I honestly don’t really care about most opinions and certainly don’t listen to them. Everyone wants to help the lady lifters for some stupid reason…I don’t really need your help, unless your name is Coach Mark or unless I ask for help. But it’s funny how many opinions there are. People are always asking me why I don’t go heavy all the time, or why we don’t train the “Bulgarian one rep” way or why I don’t go for pr’s more often. Well, the reason is that I do what my coach programs. We get the opportunity to go for max a couple of times in a cycle but there needs to be de-load weeks too. He lifted for many years and won many awards and competitions. He’s a national level lifter, and if he tells me to do something that HE ACTUALLY DID then it’s in my best interest to do that.
Another part of the quality of my lifting is the good quality lifts when I’m lifting alone. Let me be the first to say that I never thought I’d be able to lift on my own nor lift well on my own. I went through a lot of times where if my friends weren’t going to lift I’d either not go, or I would just go through the lifts, and realize I wasn’t trying as hard as I did when my coach was watching. But then I talked to Heather she basically said it is really sucky to have to lift alone, but you need to get the work in. Heather is a real no-nonsense kind of girl, and she is a real inspiration to just HTFU and do your work. You need to do the lifts and do them well. After that I told myself it didn’t matter who was watching ever, I had better give it my all no matter what.
Remember, it’s not the quantity on the bar that matters (unless it’s a meet, then all bets are off, you rip it and go for max) but rather the quality of the lifts I do in practice. As my coach says, “no one gives a shit how much you can miss.” And the only way I don’t miss lifts is I do quality lifting each time I touch that bar. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a snatch, clean, pull or squat and doesn’t matter whether it’s 20 kilo or 100 kilo, you need to approach each with the same intensity – it is what makes the lift good quality.