First taste of really high level Olympic lifting.

[tex]

Little back story: I've known this guy for 7-8 years, that looks like a little fireplug, short but stout. I knew he played college football in Alabama, but never really knew anything else about him. Fast forward to last weekend, we end up out to dinner with a group of friends, and a mutual friend of ours mentions we should talk training.

Dude drops this bomb on me: I'm training for the Olympic trials. I say nice, that's awesome, but completely think he's off his rocker. Come to find out, he was a national level lifter as a youngster, stopped lifting competitively during his football career, and has a serious shot at making the trials.

Luckily he's invited me to start training with him, and today was the first time. It's freaky impressive to watch a 175 lb guy cleaning 300+lbs for doubles and triples. On my end, he and his coach made a few adjustments in my technique, and I already hit a hang snatch PR. I'm gonna get everything I can out of the chance to train with these guys, so some of my other goals are going on the back burner, but it should be worth it.

[FunFordCobra]

You gonna look like a white Ronnie Coleman!

[Denny]

ALWAYS go for a snatch PR. LOL

Anyway, that sounds like a badass opportunity. I'm stuck working out by myself and have been for the last 6 months or so. I seem to be hitting plateaus in just about everything. Depressing AND annoying.

[Shorty]

I bet you'll see good initial gains just from improving your technique. From your other posts I know you have a good (excellent) strength base. Other than ugly power cleans, hang cleans, and the occasional push press I don't really do any olympic lifting but like you said that's an awesome opportunity and I'd take advantage of it.

[tex]

Man, all this overhead work has shed light on some GLARING weaknesses in my shoulders/stabilizers. All these years of squatting and pulling more often because its fun have caught up to me, gotta do some major work on my pressing.

Either way, the experience and energy these guys bring is awesome, I haven't been this excited about learning and improving in quite a while.

[stangin4lyfe]

Man, all this overhead work has shed light on some GLARING weaknesses in my shoulders/stabilizers. All these years of squatting and pulling more often because its fun have caught up to me, gotta do some major work on my pressing.

Either way, the experience and energy these guys bring is awesome, I haven't been this excited about learning and improving in quite a while.

Good luck and keep us updated!
Sounds like a great oppurtunity for you to gain a lot of knowledge from the best of the best!
Let us know how your back and joints feel afterwards too.

[tex]

ALWAYS go for a snatch PR. LOL

Anyway, that sounds like a badass opportunity. I'm stuck working out by myself and have been for the last 6 months or so. I seem to be hitting plateaus in just about everything. Depressing AND annoying.

Take a week/10 days to deload, and adjust your set/rep/exercise scheme. I can't imagine how hard it is to stay motivated in your situation.

Good luck and keep us updated!
Sounds like a great oppurtunity for you to gain a lot of knowledge from the best of the best!
Let us know how your back and joints feel afterwards too.

With these guys you can't even step onto the lifting platform without foam/pvc rolling and seriously warming up. My upper back and hips were cramping REALLY bad the other day, and after a few minutes on the pvc, it was all gone.