Those of us who are involved in the sport of weightlifting are actually seeking an answer to one of two questions depending on your role in the sport. Some of you are actually assuming both roles.
If you are an athlete you want to know the answer to “How much can I lift?”
If you are a coach you want to know the answer to “How well can I coach?” Furthermore as a coach you are probably concerned with how well you are serving the needs of the athlete who has placed trust in you.
In both cases we are up against the clock for a few important reasons. For the athlete they are largely biological/molecular and less so due to competitive schedule. For the coach they are the biological/molecular considerations of the athletes being coached but more largely the competitive calendar.
Let’s Talk About “We”
Athletes—All athletes are at different points in the aging process. The process is ongoing and relentless. If you are young (a junior) and you miss the LWC championships, you’ll probably be in just as good, if not better, condition the next year. You can afford to miss an opportunity here and there. The older you get, however, the chances of getting a reprieve become less and less.
Coaches—This group is under a different type of pressure with respect to the passage of time. While as a coach you are expected to get better, more experienced and wiser as the clock ticks on, there is some pressure to be as good as you can be in time for the next competition or next training cycle. While it takes time to acquire the knowledge and experience to be a better coach, there are some strategies that can be implemented to assist in condensing the time.
A Short Discussion on Aging
We, as Americans, are culturally regimented to overvalue youthfulness and to disdain the advent of aging. This is a form of denial that can be especially damaging if it inhibits people from understanding the processes of aging and thus puts them at a disadvantage in dealing with it. This is not to say that an individual should not strive to be the best 55-year-old that he or she could be, but that it is folly to believe that a 55-year-old can be comparable to the best 25-year-old they could have been.
Let’s talk about skin as it is easy to view. Skin is composed of several layers. The part that is visible is actually dead cells, and these dead cells are constantly being sloughed off as new live cells move up from the deeper layers to replace them. As one ages the process of synthesizing new cells slows down. When the rate of sloughing off exceeds the rate of new cell synthesis, the skin becomes thinner. At this point the skin does not fit as well and forms folds or wrinkles. One of the primary factors influencing the new cell synthesis is the availability of new raw materials (amino acids). While it is easy to consume more protein the availability is largely regulated by the transport rate of the amino acids to the deeper skin layers. In order for new cells to be synthesized (anabolism), the molecules involved must collide at a high rate. With fewer molecules available the collision rate declines. The same process takes place with muscles, bones, blood, connective tissues and enzymes among others. This slowing down of molecular collision rate is the engine of aging.
For athletes, the anabolic processes are on the upswing until around the mid-twenties. They can be maintained at varying rates depending on the bodily system and the individual. After around the mid-30’s, they begin to decline.
The aging clock is then forever ticking.
Now I know that some 45 year olds will claim that they are in better shape than they were at 30, but that just means that they didn’t get into the best shape they could when they were 30.
Some Weightlifting Perspectives
Youth: A youth lifter planning on becoming the best weightlifter he or she can become needs to work on developing optimal technique, improving general athleticism, increasing training capacity, developing an athletic lifestyle, and learning to perform. A youth who has made significant progress in the aforementioned areas is ready to ascend to the next level as a competitive junior.
Junior: A junior lifter should have refined technique, made great gains in muscular bodyweight and strength, significantly increased training capacity and recovery ability and developed competition skills as well as developed the athletic lifestyle.
Senior: A Senior lifter at age 20 is on the threshold of the greatest window of progress. All of the aforementioned attributes should be fully developed or in the process of greater development. More attention will have to be dedicated to nutrition and sports medicine issues and psychological aspects if necessary. All of these skills and attributes must be fully mastered during the senior’s career and there is little time to play catch-up.
Master: Master lifters are facing the aging issue square in the face. While it may be possible for a master athlete to have a rigorous training session, the chance of repeating it on the next day are highly unlikely. Recovery is just not as effective because the molecular collisions are not as frequent. Injury avoidance becomes a more critical aspect that must be managed effectively. As it stands now, many master lifters are coming into the sport after the optimal window period has passed and are constantly involved in a game of catch-up.
And so…..
Each group is on a time clock and cannot afford to waste time playing catch-up. This means that each training session is important and vital and must be treated as such. Otherwise it is a squandered opportunity. Each session is an opportunity to make wise decisions and to put forth a diligent effort. I, like many coaches, have some 20 somethings that are less than serious about their approach to training and are wasting this wonderful window of opportunity that they are not going to ever recapture. Almost everyone that trains at weightlifting for any length of time is not putting forth the effort to become mediocre. They should be working to become the best that they can be. This means valuing every session.
What to do…
I am encouraging all the athletes that are training regularly to be aware that each session is a jewel, something to be valued and cherished. It’s a matter of prioritizing. You schedule your session and don’t miss. You don’t waste time with the 30 minute warm-up that no good weightlifter ever does. You put forth the effort on each set whether it be using the best technique, the best speed, the most strength or the most power.
You might also reflect on your time management. Great athletes eventually live a very regimented existence so that training and competing is prioritized. There are biological clocks ticking that determine the best time to feed yourself, the best time to train, and the best time to sleep and yes, the best time to relax.
For the coaches
Coaches need to grow as well. Each meet is a new opportunity to elicit a great performance out of your athletes. In some cases a great performance might be managing a lifter with a terrible psyche to a 3 for 6, when that athlete’s previous best was 1 for 6. There is so much information that a coach can assimilate. Coaches don’t get to congregate and exchange information with each other. Most of the newer coaches are not reading enough of the right books, although there are plenty available. It will take some work to figure out which authors really are authorities, but it can be done and it is being done by the future great coaches. And don’t believe that all of the good stuff is going to be about weightlifting. I frequently recommend that my interns read the book Influence by Robert Cialdini as it deals with the strategies involved in evoking buy-in, a valuable skill for every coach.
Whether you are a lifter or a coach, you do not have time to fritter away. The sooner you can master a skill or make yourself better, the more satisfaction you can derive from your efforts. The clock is always ticking!