TWO MINUTE CLOCK

Hi Friends,

I was swiping through my camera roll recently, looking back on my initial couple years as a full-time weightlifter. I would say a valid description when it came to my day to day training was 'manic'... I posted a meme the other day relating to one specific max out session that changed the way I conducted myself in the training room.

STORY BEHIND THE MEME

For context, let me set the scene...

It was 2017, 8 months out from potentially qualifying for my first major international event. At this point in time, I was all in with weightlifting. I had graduated from university 6 months prior, and instead of chasing a professional career, I obtained a job as a weekday morning pub janitor, and a weekend late night bottle-o retail attendant (liquor store, if you're not up to date with Aussie lingo 🦘).

This was so I could focus at the gym from 10am-7pm most days of the week. This created a very intense training environment (in my own mind at least). As 2017 progressed, and I was improving significantly in a short amount of time as you could imagine, but it wasn't matching the trajectory that I had envisioned for the year. As this delusional trajectory was getting tougher to align with as the year progressed, I started drawing lines in the sand in days I was lifting heavy...

"I'm not leaving the gym until I snatch 'x' today"

"I need to hit 'y' today, otherwise I'll be falling behind"

So that's what I started doing, with success to start... Hitting personal bests after 3, 5, 9... 12 missed attempts in a row. This all changed one day when I was struggling with the 120kg mental barrier in the snatch (Two big, scary red 25kg plates on each side 😵‍💫)... So, I told myself before leaving to my first session for the day, "you will not be leaving the gym today without snatching 120kg".

What happened? Well after eventually building to a 120kg attempt. First attempt... I missed. Second attempt? Miss... Fifth attempt? Miss... 15th attempt? Miss... After missing my 23rd attempt in a row at 120kg, this snatch session had proceeded to pass the three hour mark. I was laughing off missing my 5th, 6th, and even 10th miss. But then my mood started to take a drastic turn. After 15 misses, I was no longer comfortable with people watching and encouraging me. After 20, I was started to feel sick and really feel the physical effects of the session. After 23 misses, I called it.

I then emotionally broke down on the way home, had a shower, and laid face down on my bed... All for about 20mins, until I realised the elongated first session significantly shortened my rest between double day sessions. The following training session when I returned was terrible. So was the rest of the week, and the one following that, simply due to fatigue both physically and mentally. This was a turning point in my approach to training, and a much needed dose of maturity.

CATCHING THE DRAGON

This kind of training is what I like to call 'catching the dragon'... I have a rule when it comes to attempting maximal attempts for technical exercises.

1 miss - As long as I am confident I can make the attempt, I will proceed to try again.

2 misses - As long as this attempt was closer, I will proceed again.

3 misses - This is where I would now call it a session and move on.

Beyond 3 misses - This is what I call, trying to 'catch the dragon'... You can try to catch the dragon for as long as you want. 5, 10 misses and beyond. But keep in mind by doing this, you could be taking away from the rest of session, and sessions to follow.

Until next week.

Happy Lifting 😎,

Brandon

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