KEN'S FIRST WEIGHTLIFTING COMPETITION

Ken had his first weightlifting competition this past weekend!!

I am so proud of him for putting in the work to train and get ready for this competition. It is hard to try something new, it is even harder to put in all the hours to make it happen.  Ken has been doing crossfit for a few years now, but over the past couple of years he really fell in love with the barbell and working towards good form and lifting heavier. This past March he decided to take a break from crossfit and train for weightlifting full time in order to participate in some competitions, and maybe even qualify for Nationals under the Masters standards (35 and older) next year.

Even though this means time away from us (which yes, means I have to pull a little more weight around here. Get it? My own kind of weight!) I have really admired the way Ken has been diligent and steadfast about working towards his goal. It is inspiring for me in my creative endeavors!

To be clear, since most people don't really get what weightlifting is in general (I didn't either!), I'm going to clarify here. What Ken is doing right now is Olympic Weightlifting, where the athlete attempts a maximum weight lift for two different types: 1) the snatch, and 2) the clean and jerk. Each athlete gets three attempts for each. This is what you will see happen at the Olympics.  This is different than Powerlifting, where the three lifts are a squat, bench press, and a deadlift, and the techniques a different as well.  Olympic Weightlifting is also VERY different than body building, which is when a person uses progressive resistant exercise to control and develop musculature, and the competitions consist of posing to show their shape (think Arnold Schwarzenegger).

The really cool thing about all this is the I know exactly what it takes to work on your snatch and clean and jerk because I do them in crossfit. I know how much work it takes to get good form and lift heavier, I know how good it feels to hit your goals, I know how good it feels when that barbell flies up because you practiced so much, I know how bad it feels on a hard day, and I know how mental it can be.   Ken was really nervous on competition day, and so was I! It was a wild rid just being a spectator, knowing how intense those moments can be.  The competition was down in Virginia Beach, so we all went down for the weekend. The girls and I, along with Ken's mom and sister all got to cheer him on.

Here are some photos of the two lifts (I can't remember which attempts they were) -  up first, the snatch!

The clean and jerk!

You can see footage of one of his lifts here with details of how much he lifted.  He got this past week off from training, which was so nice, and he's back training again next week for his next competition in June!