Olympic Weightlifting Meet Recap
You may know I participated in my first Olympic Weightlifting meet this past weekend. While I have been dabbling in the lifts, called the snatch and the clean and jerk since I was in high school, I never actually competed before.
In November 2023 I saw the Seacoast Open Weightlifting Meet was happening in April. I decided it would be the perfect chance to train for 6 months and really commit to giving the sport a go. It would also be a chance for me to hire a coach, and hopefully become more technically proficient in the lifts so I could hit some big lifetime PRs at 35.
I was eager for the meet to happen. This happens with races too. A few weeks out I feel ready and just want to get it over with. In this case I hit a big PR for the snatch, 225 pounds, 8 days before the meet on singlet Saturday (you lift heavy and try out your singlet for the meet). Everything was clicking and I was able to continue making small technique adjustments that transformed my lift.
The next week training was dialed back and I focused on making sure my quads weren’t too stiff. I got my diet in check, since I would have to weigh in 2 hours before I lifted too. I spent most of these months trying to gain weight (to lift more weight) but right before the meet I was anxious I wouldn’t make it. It wouldn’t have really mattered, I would have just been bumped into the next category, but I wanted to do it right, and making weight is part of the sport. I ate light three days before and avoided electrolytes (they help you hold on to water). I made my weight class without problem, but was very happen to munch down two peanut butter and jellies and chug some salty water afterwards.
About an hour after weight in it was time to start warming up. This is where the sport aspect comes into play, and it’s all about timing and pacing. When your session starts, everyone in the session gets 3 attempts at a snatch. Once the bar is loaded, it never gets lighter, so the weight that you will lift determines the order of the lifters. You can change your lift up to 3 times. So you need to be warmed and ready to lift max weights, but you can’t do them too far from your first attempt to too close. This was another situation I was so happy to have a coach telling me when to take my warm up lifts, and changing the plates on the bar was nice too.
When I was my turn, I came from the warm up room out back and couldn’t believe how many people were there! The platform is basically a stage, and it was a little nerve wracking. I opened up at 95 kilos, about 90% of my best lift. I stuck it and being up on stage made the weight feel like nothing. Someone else had a crack at 95 then it was my turn again. I went to 98 kilos. I forgot how to lift on this attempt. I tried to over muscle it and didn’t let my technique do its thing. The meet is a balancing act of being cool and calm and totally amped to crush weights. That time I got too amped. Since I missed, it would be my turn again.
I went up to 100 kilos, 220 pounds. I was much more patient on this lift, but I still missed it. If it were training and I could have tried again, I would have gotten it. I was bummed, I really wanted to snatch 100 kilos in the meet and came up short. My coach said it’s over, now time to clean and jerk. I ate some food, drank some water and started warming up the clean and jerk after a 10 minute break.
The weights felt light on the clean and jerk. When I took my last warm up lift, it felt awesome. I also thought it was 112 kilos, but it ended up being 115, which was supposed to be my opening weight. I opened at 118 kilos instead and stuck it well. The next guy was opening at 125, so it would be my turn again. I went to 123 kilos, or 271 pounds. I missed it in the same was I did my second snatch. Just kind of flubbed it. That meant it was my turn again. To me, this was the most exciting part of the meet. I had a ton of pressure to hit this lift. I needed to be amped up to lift this heavy bar over my head, but stay calm enough to be patient and remember my technique. It was hard to do with so many people watching right in front of you, I’m used to lifting by myself! I just sat there, and tried controlling my breath and keeping my heart rate down. I tried to take my time and be chill.
I hit the 123 smoothly and was pumped. I would have loved to get a 4th attempt on both the snatch and the clean and jerk, but that’s competition and that’s what happens sometimes. I ended up going 95kg snatch, 123kg clean and jerk for a 218kg total. The goal was 100/125/225. So I came up short on my goal but had an amazing experience nonetheless.
I’ve learned a ton and really appreciate this awesome and weird sport even more than I already did. Thanks to everyone who came out to support me and asked how it went this week. I’ll be back on the platform for sure, but first, time to train for some running this summer.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
