2021 - Goal setting and realism
Happy New Year!
I’m a realist - 2021 isn’t some magic cure-all to the pandemic or indeed what’s holding your lifts back. But, it does serve as a clean slate and a time for some introspection.
Did you hit your targets for 2020?
You did?! Fantastic, I salute you in amazement (because I certainly didn’t lift what I’d set out to in January last year!). Like you, many of the lifters I coached throughout 2020 made amazing progress and increased their totals which has given us a new set of priorities to target for 2021.
If you got stuck last year, like myself, it’s likely the first half of this year will need some real planning as I think it unlikely to be vastly different to the majority of the last few months. Lockdowns and home training / garden training - whatever you can muster - will be challenging but not the reason you haven’t made progress. With the right plan and programme you should still be able to target weak areas and build on strengths.
Patience will be key
Knowing that your 1RM snatch, clean & jerk and even squat is likely to take a temporary nose dive if you can’t train them should give you some comfort. I know that sounds counterintuitive. Just remember that your 100% ALWAYS fluctuates anyway.
Your aim for sub-optimal training situations should be to move up your baseline as opposed to trying to push the 1 rep maximums.
Time for some GPP
Like most sports, weightlifting can be considered to have distinct seasons. While not possible to define them distinctly for everyone all the time, there are always periods of varying lengths between competitions (and now more than ever). If you consider this current lockdown your ‘off-season’ and ‘pre-season’ periods you can better focus your effort towards General Preparation.
Although there may be competitions online not everyone will be in a position to enter so it can be helpful to define this period as a time to do much more general training. Focusing on conditioning, rehabilitation, trunk strength and/or plyometrics will allow you to go through a planned programme with real goals and stay on track for when the ‘season’ begins anew.
Rather than thinking about all the things you can’t currently do, make a list of everything you can. Weightlifting is the sport of lifting a snatch and a clean & jerk yes, but it is also much more than that. It is about being athletic, fast, resilient and strong. There are many ways to improve these qualities without a barbell.
Fix your broken parts
Take this opportunity to work on niggles; improve the strength of those smaller muscle groups that don’t require huge loading; improve your conditioning and recovery ability and use the time you would have spent training (or even travelling to and from training) to cook healthier food, drink more water and rest.
Don’t throw out the bath water
Just because you can’t lift (or maybe can but with restrictions etc) it doesn't mean that any old alternative exercise will do. Running may be the easiest form of exercise to take right now but jogging long distances isn’t going to help your lifting in any great way long term. If you want to get fitter there are much more sport specific methods.
What you chose to do should still remain part of your weightlifting plan. If you don’t know how to do that yourself you can get in touch. Alternatively there are dozens of free resources for lifting drills and body weight programmes all over the net so go googling for a bit.
A year of two parts
I’m predicting this year begins much the way last year ended. All of us training in less than perfect settings. My personal goals therefore in part one of the year are to reduce body fat, improve strength in my abs/back by actually doing my rehab work daily, regain the range of motion in the ankle I sprained (then ignored) and to increase my upper back strength using bands, body weight and the two kettlebells I have to hand.
All of those goals will eventually improve my weightlifting in some way. I just won’t see that progress until maybe June… and frankly that is ok.
Now you’ve considered all the above, what will your aims for lockdown 2021 be?