Earlier this July I received an email from USA Weightlifting that I was selected to help coach at the 2016 Youth/Junior Summer Elite. A few days prior one of my athletes (Shannon) received her invitation to attend. This was huge honor to be asked to help out! Honestly I was just happy one of my athletes got the chance to attend, I did not expect to be asked to come along as a camp coach! Making this opportunity more special is the fact that this will be one of the last camps held at the Colorado Springs OTC because Weightlifting is being moved out of the Olympic Training Center.https://www.instagram.com/p/BHs9_EWhpcA/?taken-by=wcliftingMajor Highlights of Camp:
- Seeing the amazing youth and junior talent coming up - the future of USA Weightlifting is bright!
- Watching and learning from Olympic Champion and Team USA Coach Zygmunt Smalcerz. It is absolutely amazing how much energy and enthusiasm he has at 75 years old!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIKtTQwBnF0/?taken-by=wcliftingLessons Learned from Camp:
- In younger lifters developing solid positions during the lifts is so important! Below is Coach Zygmunt reinforcing perfect posture during the snatch.
- Coach Zygmunt assigned some sort of overhead mobility work before every workout. I really like this idea and will incorporate it into my athletes programming. Some examples of first exercises were: Snatch Press in the Bottom Position, Duck Walking with Bar Overhead, Snatch Balance, Jerk Grip OH Squats, Press in Split Position, and Snatch Push Presses.
- A point that Zygmunt made that helped Shannon was that weight distribution in the split should be just about equal between front and back feet.
- Environment has a huge impact on performance. Bringing together these top youth and junior weightlifting athletes in an elite training center community created an amazing atmosphere that was contagious. Lots of PRs were made along with many friendships being built.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIIc8NKDAJ8/?taken-by=wclifting
