Programming

Challenge of The Pull : Hip action during the pull

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Credit Lifter’s life

Small details matter in weightlifting, especially from a coaching stand point. When discussing small details of technique, some may say that it is just geeking out or over analysis. Small details are what explain success or lack of success in our sport. I firmly believe in coaching and teaching precise technique and this requires that I pay attention to tiny details and that the athlete work on making those details second nature (ie ; become technically efficient). For instance, many people have trouble being fast under the bar or have to pull really high and ride it down. More often than not, this is due to improper hip action at the end of the second pull which messes with the flow of the lift.

On the topic of training methodologies and principles

Credit Rob Macklem

Training methodologies have evolved since the sport was developed. We could probably say that without any doub training methodologies were first refined as a result of different decisions made by sport authorities in regard to competition. For instance, weightlifting used to have single arm events and abolishing those events must have had an impact on how people trained after it was removed from competition. Hence, dumbbell and one handed snatches have pretty much disappeared from most programs around the world.

Olympic weightlifting for children and Teens : Safety and Growth

Olympian and 2014 Gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games, Beauchemin Nadeau is 1.66m tall.

Most weightlifting coaches and most participants (athletes, official, or club directors) have to debunk myths or beliefs about the great sport of weightlifting. While there are many beliefs that can find roots in the history, most negative – but popular- beliefs often rely on hear say, a misunderstanding of the sport of weightlifting, or anecdotal evidences. One such belief is that weightlifting is not good for children and teens as in it can stunt their growth, injure their body because it is ”not mature enough”, or that the sport is not a positive one for athletes their age. I would like to change this perception of our sport, as not only do I not believe that this sport is bad for children – but empirical evidences actually support the participation of children and teens in weightlifting.

ESSAY ON TALENT RECRUITMENT, IDENTIFICATION AND RETENTION (PART 2: Talent identification)

by Jean-Patrick Millette

Credit Hookgrip

In Part 1 of this essay, I covered various strategies and ideas for recruiting young individuals in the sport of weightlifting. I went over the role of the coach or club manager in the recruiting process and on how to sell the sport to young athletes. In part 2, I will go over talent identification and talent screening. I will go over key abilities that I think are good indicators of talent for weightlifting as well as discuss the general concept of talent and personality.

Weightlifting for the Master athlete

Credit to Lifters life

As weightlifting is getting more popular and gets more people interested about competitions and competing, we are seeing a lot of new athletes – and some not so new- in the master division. We are seeing incredible performance by master lifters at the international level and they should get the recognition they deserve for their accomplishment. In the last few weeks, I received a few emails about this topic which I answered but I figured, that judging by the interest, a post about it would be interesting to others as well. Here are a few thoughts about things to consider when starting this sport at an older age.

Advice of the day 8-14 : Facebook Edition 2

by Jean-Patrick Millette

From Bruce Klemens’ Flickr account

This is the second edition of the advice I post on regular basis on First Pull’s Facebook. The first edition covered the seven first tips I have posted and keeping up with the tradition, I am posting seven other tips. These tips cover pretty much everything weightlifting-related : programming, coaching, injuries, sleep, psychology and technique. I am making them available on here so that these can be easily searchable.

7 Advice of the day : Facebook edition 1

by Jean-Patrick Millette

For a little while, I have been posting advice of the day on First Pull’s Facebook. The tips touch pretty much all aspect of weightlifting : coaching, injury, programming, psychology and technique. The thing about Facebook is that it is not easy to search or browse for something specific. The following tips have been posted within the last two months on Facebook and I have decided to list them on here so that they can be accessed or refereed to easily. So far, I am up to 23 advice, and these were the first 7. I will be compiling these tips on here on a weekly basis.

Programming 101 : Basic short term programming for weightlifting (beginner template)

by Jean-Patrick Millette

When it comes to programming, a coach’s job is all about the dosage of intensity and volume so that the athlete reaches the goal both of you have selected. The coach has to predict how the athlete will respond to a given stimulus and take into account various aspect of the athlete’s life and background. Aspects that should be considered are current or previous injuries, school/work, training experience, technical weaknesses, strength weaknesses, the amount of training time you have before an upcoming competition, and recovery. Programming is best defined as a mix of science and art. Indeed, predicting the adaptation of a biological system to a given stress is not an easy task. Nevertheless, the following is a 3 months long very basic programming guide. All the key elements are considered.

The 3 type of athletes and differences in the coaching approach

The process of training humans has to be based on some kind of facts and beliefs, individualized and very well calculated. That is, every trainee is different biological wise, personality wise and background wise. The fact that the human body is not a machine complicate the job of a coach. For instance, there is probably nothing harder than coaching somebody that is, at least on paper, ready for big lifts but won’t believe he/she can. Variation across trainees is not all bad though. As a coach, you need to work with different athletes in the gym to stay sharp and discover new things. That will allow you to really test your method. Anyhow, in my experience, there are three types of athletes that will walk in your gym and all of the them

On choosing the right coach

by Jean-Patrick Millette

In my opinion, great Coaching in weightlifting is the second most important variable for long term success and overall development of the athlete. The most important variable being the will to succeed (which really is the will to work hard to achieve greatness). However, there are so many coaching styles, programming styles, methods and beliefs, one could legitimately ask the following question : What makes a coach a great coach? In this article, we will go over what make a great coach and how to select a coach that will get you to where you want to be.