Its Official: We are USA Weightlifting Club #7041:

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Crossfit Hoboken Barbell Club is now an Official USA Weightlifting Registered club. We are Club number 7041 in New Jersey.

  

We are now the only official USA Weightlifting club in Hoboken that offers full time coaching and support to our athletes. Congratulations to the following club representatives:

Club President: Ryan Erasmus

Club Coach: Dallas Quano

Club Secretary: Britta Winans

  

Under the auspices of USA Weightlifting we can now register and Compete as team CF Hoboken Barbell Club. We can now run and host both coaching and referee clinics as well as our very own USAW Competitions. As a registered Club we are now also covered under USAW General Liability insurance.

  

When I started coaching at Crossfit Hoboken I dreamed of a time when we would have a full Official lifting team; that time is now. We will now train together, and compete together as a team. There will be many medals, championships and Team Trophies to come for CF Hoboken Barbell Club in the future.

Congratulations and thank you to all those who have worked so hard to make this a reality. I am so very proud of everything we have, and will achieve as a team.

Well Done All. 

Coach Ryan

Three Years to a World Title: Keep Setting Goals

3 years ago I decided to start competing again in Olympic weightlifting. It had been almost a decade since I last represented my country internationally. Straight from the onset I set myself the goal of winning a World Championship Title. Last week I did just that by taking the Gold medal at the 2015 World Masters Cup. 3 years might seem like a long time but that is a normal training cycle for many athletes. Most top athletes will train in 4 year cycles along with the Olympic Games.

I believed when I started training again that I was capable of winning the World Masters. I trained and set my goals accordingly to reach that goal. It started out with a few local meets. Then moved on to the U.S. Open Masters Championships, and finally the World Championships.

Set your own goals well in advance, 3, 4 years down the line. Pick a tournament or competition you want to take part in, the US Open, World Champs, or Crossfit Games and set your sights on achieving it. I see too many athletes in the gym looking for that quick fix that is going to put 50 lbs on each of their lifts. The only thing that puts 50 lbs on your lifts is years of practice and dedication.

Start by making a list of the next 5 years of your life. After four years write in the goal you want to achieve. Now work your way back. Start with the National meets you want to attend each year. Then look at local meets roughly three months apart leading up to those events. That's it; there you have your plan. Now you can focus on your periodization between each.

Now that I have a World Gold medal, I have my sights set on the 2017 World Masters Games in New Zealand. I don’t just want to win the Gold; I want the Gold and the World Record. That is my goal, that is what I am training for, and that is what I intend on achieving.

I Can, I will, Watch me.

Cutting Weight: The perils of cutting weight for competition.

Over the past weekend 5 members of the Crossfit Hoboken Barbell Club Competed in the Larry Mintz Memorial Weightlifting Tournament in Garden City Long Island. Of those 5, 4 athletes including myself had to cut weight in order to make our weight categories. We all made weight on the day, but had very different performances.

Like any sport that has bodyweight categories, Weightlifters try and cut weight in order to lift in a lifter bodyweight category. We do this to achieve a podium position, a lighter qualifying total, or to maximize our power to weight ratio. In lifting its simple, the lighter you are, and the heavier you lift, the better you are. Athletes employ a number of ways to lose the weight. Dieting, cutting carbs, sugars and sodium from your diet. Hot baths, Running with Plastic Bags over your body, chewing gum and spitting, and of course the tried and tested sauna. However, losing weight before competition comes with its own perils and complications. One’s which I am all too familiar with.

Unlike Boxing or UFC, Weightlifters have to weigh in two hours before they compete. This gives them very little time to try and eat and rehydrate after the weight cutting. Take boxers for example, they weigh a full 24 hours before they fight. Take the recent Mayweather Pacquiao fight. The debacle they called the fight of the century.  Both lifters weighed in at around 145lbs (66kg) the day before the fight. If you think they still weighed in the 140’s when they got in the ring you are gravely mistaken. I am thinking more like 155/160 lbs when they actually fought.  How you say, let me explain.

On Sunday morning I competed at a weight of 135.7 lbs (61.7kg). 24 hours later, after plenty of food and re hydration, I weighed 147.2 (66.9kg) that’s an increase of 12 lbs by the next day. The reason for this was that for the entire week before the competition I had been dieting and using the sauna in order to lose the weight. So in the space of 7 days I had lost, and gained 12 lbs (6kg). That’s a lot of weight for a little guy to cut. Too much in fact.

After feeling good with my Snatches, and posting a New Competition record of 95kg (210lbs), I bombed on all three of my attempts in the Clean and Jerk. (Bombed is a weightlifting term for missed all attempts @NSA) I felt pretty good before I snatched, and was elated at my Snatch record, but when it came time to Clean I had nothing left in the tank. I was physically drained and dehydrated. I had no strength left in me. The weight I was attempting 109kg (240lbs) is a warm up weight for me in the gym, but on Sunday it felt like a 305lbs (140kg) front Squat. Others on the team suffered a similar fate, having difficulty with weights that they easily make in the gym.

So what’s the moral of the story you ask. Cutting too much weight, to quickly will drastically affect your performance. You would think I have learned my lesson from passed experiences. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia I had to cut similar weight to get into the 62kg division. I bombed on all my clean and Jerks, when I was hoping for a medal. At last year’s World Masters Championships in Denmark I cut weight to 62kg and lifted significantly under my Personal records. Thankfully I at least got one Clean and Jerk for a Silver Medal.  How I miss the days when I first started competing in Weightlifting when there was the 64kg division. That is my ideal weight. But alas, no more (Thanks to the introduction of female lifters, and the lowering of the number of men’s bodyweight divisions)

From here on out I have one of two choices to make. Gain weight and be a fully fledged 69kg lifter. That would entail a few months or Creatine and Protein in order to get myself in the 70’s kg (152lbs). Or stay where I am 66kg (147lbs), and drop weight over a longer period of time than just a week. For now I am just going to let my bodyweight do what it wants for a month and then decide.

Congratulations again to the team from Crossfit Hoboken on your performance on Sunday.

Ryan Erasmus “Coach” – DNF (still got a PR 95kg Snatch)

Chad Michael – 4^th place men’s 85kg division 214kg Total

Dallas Quano – 2^nd Place Trophy men’s 85 kg division 245kg Total

Madalyn Rodriquez – 2^nd place trophy woman’s 53kg division 132kg Total

Britta Winans – 2^nd place trophy woman’s 63kg division 131kg Total

Competition Fallout: A necessary Evil

By now those of you whom recently competed in the Lost Battalion Hall Classic Weightlifting Tournament have come to realize something. There is a downside to Competition. That is the Post competition fallout.  Do not despair; this is a normal part of periodization and a necessary evil.

For most athletes the two weeks after a major Competition or meet are hell. Their bodies are tired, and their minds are like that of a Walker on the Walking Dead. Every training session feels like the hardest yet, and technique seems to be something long forgotten. Weights that were a warm up two weeks ago are suddenly challenging.  This is called competition Fallout, and we all go through it. It’s kind of like the fallout after studying for weeks before a final exam. Your body and mind are shot.

Fear not, this will not last forever, usually about two weeks. It is a natural consequence of your body and mind preparing itself for competition. Once that competition is complete, things start to shut down.  This is an extremely challenging time for any athlete, and a very important one. It is important to not lose focus, and drop off on your training. I have seen many athletes take to much time off after competition and return worse for wears. Yes, you are not going to be at your best. Yes, you are going to go through a slump for a week or two. But it is the training and dedication you show during these times, which will benefit you the most in the long run.

During this time technique training should be kept at a minimal while focusing more on the heaver lifting, Squats, Overhead Squats, Max Jerks etc. Take your mind out of training and simply lift. In a few weeks everything will fall back into place and you will be stronger for it. It’s fighting through the tough sessions like these that show an athlete’s true character.

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For two weeks after Competition keep it simple: 

Eat, Sleep, Lift, and Repeat. Don’t think. Just lift!

Consistency is King

I often get asked " how do you become a successful weightlifter?" While there are many different variables that come into play there is one in my mind that takes precedent over the others, and that is consistency.

So what is consistency. Consistency is defined as " conformity in the application of something, typically that which is necessary for the sake of logic, accuracy, or fairness". In a weightlifters case this is obviously directed at accuracy of movement and application of technique. A lifter who trains more regularly will generally speaking always out-lift a lifter who does not. If it takes 10000 repetitions of skill in order  for an athlete to master that skill, the more regular athlete will reach that level well before the former.

I see it all to often in the gym. Athletes start training, stick with it for 6 months, then fall of the bandwagon. Only to begin again months later and be back where they started. In order to make steady gains and increases one needs to consistently be in the gym, day in and day out over the course of several years. There are no short cuts, there are no easy programs, there is only hard work. Those that are willing to work hard, and remain consistent will succeed. Those that don't can still succeed, it is just going to take them longer to achieve their goals than someone who is in the gym on a regular basis without fail.

The lifter who is going to succeed in the long run is not always going to be the strongest or have the best technique, but almost always will be the one who is the most consistent. I am talking about the athlete that comes in early to warm up. Or stays after training to work on supplemental exercises. The athlete that is in the gym Christmas morning doing squats. Or the first one in on New Years day. When I first started coaching I was lifting alone on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Now there is a core group of dedicated and committed athletes who come in every weekend. To those athletes, I salute you. Your dedication and commitment will pay off.

" The reward for hard work, medals for the whole team"

Consistency is King. 

Consistency wins medals. 

Consistency builds champions.

First weightlifting meet: Medals for all.

So over the last weekend (3\21\15) I took my team from Crossfit Hoboken over to New York for the Lost Battalion Hall Classic Weightlifting tournament. I am very proud to announce that every member of the team came home with a medal. Here is the proof that hard work pays off. Dedication and commitment will always be followed with success. Well done Guys I am extremely proud of all of you.

Britta Winans, Silver Medal Woman's 63 kg Division: @filtaa

Chad Michael, Silver Medal Men's 85 kg Division: @cmflanic

Jarrett Fisher, Gold Medal Men's 85 kg Division: @jarrf1989

Dallas Quano, Gold Medal Men's 94 kg Division: @douano20

Ryan Erasmus "Coach Ryan" , Gold Medal Men's 69 kg Division, and Silver Medal in Overall Masters Men. @erasmusryan69

"WELL DONE TEAM"

A coaches role in competition:

Coaching in competition and coaching in training are two very different things. In the training hall a coach needs to be focused on an athletes technique, and making fine adjustments to maximize an athletes potential. The focus is on programming, periodization and progression. In competition a coaches role and responsibilities are on preparing the athlete for the platform. 

First and foremost a coaches job is to keep the athlete calm and prepared before the competition. If an athlete is getting nervous and pacing around it is the coaches job to bring them back down. Staying focused and being mentally prepared before a competition is very important.

During the warm up procedure the coaches responsibility is on getting the athlete prepared to make their first attempt on the stage. This means the coach needs to be acutely aware of the time before the competition starts, and how long it will take an athlete to warm up and reach their last lifts before reaching the platform. It is during this warming up that the coach will decide what would be the best starting weight for the athlete. Your coach knows you as a lifter better than you do. He knows when you are looking good, and when you are not. It is the coaches responsibly to make the adjustments to starting weight according to how he see's your warm up going. In general the coach will always pick the starting weight. Then after talking with the athlete they will decide together what the second attempt will be. The third attempt is up to the lifter. Unless a gold medal is at stake. If a coach believes that an athlete has the ability to attempt a weight that will give the athlete the gold medal it is the only time that the coach may veto the athlete. Other than that the last lift will always be decided by the athlete.

During competition is is the responsibility of your coach to count the number of attempts before your first. That way he will know how many warm up attempts you should take before your first lift. It is also at this time that the coach needs to be focused on any changes in weight or starting attempts by other athletes that might increase or reduce the amount of time an athlete has before their first attempt.

Coaches also need to understand what the best form of motivation is for an athlete. Every athlete is different, and every athlete needs different styles of motivation and encouragement. I am a very intrinsic, calm athlete. I am often found having a nap an hour before I am competing. That's is my thing. I need to be calm and focused in order to lift my best. I recall on one occasion a coach whom I wasn't familiar with started slapping me in the face before I walked on stage. He thought he was doing what was needed to psych me up for the lift. Unfortunately all he did was piss me of. Which he very quickly came to realize. Some athletes need to be shouted at, some need to be quietly spoken to and motivated. It is the coaches job to know which athletes respond best to each different type of motivation and encouragement, and treat them accordingly.

Once an athlete has taken their first attempt it is the coaches role to decide, along with the athlete what their next attempt will be. Coaches can increase the amount of rest an athlete has by increasing the weight three times, the allowed number of increases. This will give the athlete more time to recover,or possibly even give another athlete a turn to lift. The weightlifting leader board backstage is a chaotic place. All the coaches are staring at it looking for potential changes, assessing their own strategies, and increasing their own lifters weights to get them in the best possible position to win, or get a medal.

That is essentially the role of a coach at competition. To take the thinking away from the athlete and let them focus on what they are there to do, lift. An athlete should not be looking at the leader board, that is the coaches job. All the athlete should be focused on is lifting. A coach cannot change an athletes technique on the day of competition. this will only serve to confuse the athlete and hinder their performance. The best advice I was given in competition was " Don't think, Just Lift" A coaches is there to motivate, calm, and if necessary push an athlete to reach a Personal record in order to win. There are good training hall coaches, and there are good competition hall coaches. I have met very few who are good at both.

Weightlifting Tournaments - format and procedures

So seeing as though several of the Crossfit Hoboken team (myself included) are competing in the Lost Battalion Hall Classic Weightlifting Tournament next weekend (3/21/2015) I thought I would write about the format of a weightlifting tournament today.

Weightlifting tournaments are a very formal, structured affair. There is a certain hierarchical class system at play. At the top of the list are the Judges. They are the ones that are going to decide whether or not to give you three little white lights, or three little red lights. So naturally they are the top of the heap. They can go anywhere, and pretty much do anything .Next are the lifters. The entertainment for the day. The competitors battling it out for the precious few medals. Last, and certainly not least we have the spectators. The friends, the family, and the team of those who will be competing.

So first things first. Two hours before the event you will weigh in. You will head into the change room when your name is called and be faced with one of said Judges. They will ask you to provide your USA weightlifting Membership card, and a form of ID. After which you are free to weigh. You can weigh in tights, underwear, or butt ass naked. considering the fact that a lighter lifter than yourself merely has to equal your lift in order to beat you, I always go "Ah Natural" I have both lost and won medals based on the point zero, zero, zero that is added by weighing with clothing on. But each unto their own. 

Once you have weighed in, you will change and gather in the warm up hall. The only people allowed in the warm up hall are the lifters and their coaches. This is not a social gathering, friends and family are not permitted in the warm up area. You generally have 2 hours after your weigh in before your competition starts. Every lifter has their own way with spending this time. Some sleep (me) some listen to music on their earphones, and some pace around outside. Everyone has their own way of preparing themselves.

The first hour after weigh in is for the lifters to do as they please. The last hour is the coaches responsibility. getting those lifters who need extra time to stretch and warm up ready. Around 15 minutes before the scheduled start time the announcers will ask all of the lifters scheduled for the upcoming session to make there way to the stage. Once all of the lifters are assembled, they will announce each lifter by name. Giving the spectators an opportunity to see the full line up before the event. Once the line up has happened the lifters have 10 minutes before the first attempt is called on the platform.

Competitions are run on a rising bar format. Meaning the lifters starting with the lightest weights will lift first, and those starting with the heaviest weights will finish last. At this point a lifter and his coach should have a very good indication of where and when the athlete will be lifting in the session. It is the coaches responsibility to count the number of attempts before their lifters attempts, and to communicate any changes with the judges back stage. An athlete should not be running over to the judges table and making changes (unless said athlete has no coach) The coaches job is to prepare the athlete and communicate changes with the judges, so that the athletes can focus on what they came to do, lift the best they can.

Most athletes have a tendency to want to start to high for their opening weight. Your first (of three) attempts needs to be a sure thing, a weight you do not miss. First and foremost you need to get yourself on the leader-board. In general a coach and an athlete will discuss what their opening weight will be well before the tournament. Take it from someone who has Bombed out of several international tournaments, don't start to high.

Once your name has been called you have exactly 1 minute to get to the platform and make your lift. When walking up to the platform it is considered etiquette to walk on to the platform from the rear. If you like you can acknowledge the judges with a simple bow. This can go a long way when it comes to controversial decisions. Showing them respect before you lift is a sign of a mature and confident lifter. While the crowd might like the show-boater, I can guarantee you when he gets backstage he will be sitting on his own. When you are on the platform, try your best to block out the audience. Pick a spot on the wall, a light, anything and focus on that throughout your lift. Also remember a lifting platform is substantially bigger than a training platform. You have plenty of space, just don't walk off the platform. Most important of all, make sure you wait for the Judges signal "down" before you drop the weight, or you will be given red lights. 

Once the competition is done make sure to shake hands with all of your fellow competitors and congratulate them on their day, no matter where they placed. This is another integral part of the culture. We all come to compete, no matter how well we did, or didn't do, acknowledge your peers and fellow  competitors. Sportsmanship, and camaraderie means more than medals and trophies. 

I wish everyone that is competing the best of luck. I will be there as a fellow competitor, coach, and spectator. 

Weightlifting in the USA: Professional Amateurs

Weightlifting is the forgotten cousin of the professional era. Forever doomed to the basement of industrial complexes, the back halls of crossfit boxes, and home garages of the die hard lifter. The once mighty sport of Olympic Lifting has been left in the amateur era by the advent of Powerlifting, Bodybuilding, Strongman, and Crossfit.

Back in the early 50's and 60's teenage athletes would go to their school gym and be taught the Olympic lifts. It was a part of the curriculum. Then Powerlifting came along and very soon became the go to sport for those wishing to make it big in Football. Powerlifting gave you size, bulk and strength. Very soon the Olympic lifts were all but forgotten in place of the Bench, Squat and dead-lift. A decade or so later the Sport of Bodybuilding became popularized by the advent of the Mr Universe Competition. Bodybuilders had taken advantage of these machines that were developed by rehab specialists to isolate individual joints and muscle groups. What they found was that by isolating the muscles around a single joint they could make greater gains in Mass. It wasn't long before the general populous caught on to this trend, and what developed is what most of us now know as the commercial gymnasium. The New York Sports, Equinox or Crunch. All of these aspects combined left Olympic lifting as the forgotten art of strength training. Only to be practiced and coached by those special few whom humbly stumbled  upon the sport by accident. I was only recruited into the sport by an observant teacher in High school after he identified I had the necessary attributes to succeed in the sport. 

Of all the sports I mentioned earlier I have to give Crossfit a shout out here. Crossfit has done more for the resurgence of Olympic Weightlifting in the last Decade than any other sport has done in the last 50 years. US weightlifting's membership has almost doubled since the advent of crossfit. Crossfit in essence acts as the pipeline and talent identification system for US weightlifting. More People are doing the Olympic lifts than ever before thanks to Crossfit. It is for this reason that I embraced the culture and am a proponent and firm believer of Crossfit.

Lastly, until Sponsors and broadcast corporations get on board with Weightlifting in the US we have no chance of competing internationally, let alone attaining an Olympic Gold. Most of the US's top Olympic weightlifters have full time jobs and train before and after work in order to achieve what they have. Imagine if we could have a full team of Olympic lifters training 24/7 over the course of several years while being fully supported financially, getting the best possible coaching we have to offer. I am not just talking about having their accommodation and Supplements paid for. I am talking about a team of Professional Weightlifters making salaries comparable to other professional sports. That is my dream, that is my goal. Only then will USA weightlifting be able regain its place as a Weightlifting Superpower.

Why Athletes love pain - Athletic Induced Analgesia

Athletes are well accustomed to pain. It is a part of the training process. It is the necessary evil that comes along with success. I can count on one hand how many days I have not woken up in pain. Athletes associate pain with effort. The greater the effort, the greater the pain. If I don’t wake up in some sort of pain the next day I feel like I didn't work hard enough the day before. Needless to say I wake up in pain every day of my life. Here is the difference. Athletes respond to pain differently to most people. We actually enjoy it. No seriously, we do. We thrive upon it, we live for it. It motivates us; it doesn't demotivate us like it does for most people.

You see, most people go to the gym, train go home. Then they woke up the next day in copious amount of pain and say, never again. Athletes are different.

I will never forget when I first got to University. I would squat at the end of every lifting session. At this particular point I could barely walk, but I was high on endorphin's, so I crawled. The sight of the secretary at the front desk as I came crawling out on my hands and knees was priceless. She even called the security guard. He was like,” are you OK Sir" and I was like" Yeah I am good bro, just a heavy squat session. At that particular point I was physically done, spent, finished. I would crawl outside and lie on the grass for about 20-30 minutes before I was actually capable of waking again. This tradition went on for many years, and it became quite normal for people to see me crawling out of the building. Lol – Good Times. It was largely due to this that I was given the nickname "Mighty Mouse" by the Sports Department. I would like to think it is because I am strong, not because I am small. (You can stop laughing now)

 

The study I read found that athletes respond to pain differently to other people. The sensory receptors usually associated with pleasure or happiness light up in the brain of athletes after a heavy training session. They Called this Athletic Induced Analgesia. A perfect example of this is Polish skier Justyna Kowalczyk. She won gold in a 10 km Cross country ski race all while having 2 broken bones on her foot. Only an athlete can endure such pain. We literally do love pain. We are very adept at being able to tell the difference between muscular pain and an injury. We know when we are merely sore from training or have an actual injury. Athletes truly do process the stimulus of pain differently than most people, and we love it.

"The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret"