“YOU GOT TO
FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO LIFT” has to be my favourite quote from Arctic
Midsummer Strength Week held in Rovaniemi Aug 13.-18. Although I am pretty sure
that Mr Abadjiev did not mean to reference to the Beastie Boys.
The most
valuable thing that I learned during that week was not new secrets about the Bulgarian system, but something quite obvious; the importance of getting the lifters to
a right kind of mind-set and attitude. “Concentration” was the second most common word in Mr
Abadjiev´s lectures, right after “maksimal”. According to him, in the same way
one does not have enough training time to waste it on a long warm-up on small
weights (instead one should get up to heavy weights as soon as possible and
then focus on moving those)one should not waste a moment of training time by
not being concentrated properly. To me, that reflects the right kind of
attitude towards training – and coaching. Just concentrating on LIFTING,
wanting to make every lift count. Every single lift makes you a little bit
better – or does not, it is up to you and what you are looking for from the
platform.
I have
spent a lot of time trying to explain to people that this is (in my opinion, at
least) a zen-sport, not an aggression sport. Don´t get me wrong, a weightlifter
needs to be aggressive in a way, in order to be explosive, but being aggressive
all the time (yelling, coursing, throwing stuff, trying to be fast instead of
being in rhythm, not focusing when working with smaller loads, not showing
respect for fellow lifters or coaches) speaks of broken concentration to me. I
am not impressed by who makes the most noise, but by who lifts the most with
the most beautiful technique. I am not impressed by who seems to be the most
explosive but by who has the most successful lifts. There is a huge difference
in having that fire within and with trying to show on the outside that you are
on fire.
Being
concentrated doesn´t just mean focusing on each lift and on each session but
also taking responsibility of one´s own development, being committed. It is
also about being realistic (and I don´t mean realistic in the negative way) of
your potential. If you are not progressing to meet your full potential in the
time frame you know you could be, what are you going to do about it? Are you
satisfied with people patting you on the back and giving you praise when you
know you could and should have done better?
Mr Abadjiev
is referred to as “the Butcher” as the Bulgarian method he has developed is
quite brutal and unforgiving. He is a demanding coach because he sees the full
potential and knows how to reach it. He also expects his athletes to be
demanding of themselves, in every lift and every session. He calls that
concentration - of the coach and the lifter. For him, the only goal is Olympic
gold, so there is no room for poor training. Period. Even if your personal goal
would not be that high, that is the attitude you need to fulfil your full
potential. Concentrated is the word that I would choose to describe Mr
Abadjiev, always calm, direct and assertive, not wasting energy or time on
things that don´t matter. And he tells things exactly how they are, brutally
honestly, never tries to please anyone.
At the
seminar, there were also many lifters from team New Zealand having a
preparatory camp for the Commonwealth Games. I was very happy to see their
training culture. They seemed concentrated, training sessions were
professionally organized and lifters were focusing on LIFTING, they were
satisfied when there was a good reason to be. That´s what a training session
should look and sound like, and the results will follow. So thank you guys, it was a pleasure to see!
So what are
you looking for from the platform? Approval, praise, likes, a sense of
belonging, having fun with your friends, or good lifts, matching your full
potential, enjoying getting better, knowing you are doing the right things? Are
YOU being true to that goal? No matter what others say? Are you concentrated?
Are you a weightlifter or is weightlifting a hobby of yours?
When it
comes to confidence in lifting I don´t believe in “fake it ´till you make it”.
I believe in “work ´till you make it”.
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| Between us is señor Victor Galvan from Centro Regional de Halterofilia, the other main lecturer of the camp. We learned many valuable things from his methods. |
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| The brand new strength training center of Santasport was perfect. |
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| Little Laura trained hard, twice a day, with great attitude and collected the fruits of her labour in competitions in August. |
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| On the left Mr Abadjiev and on our right Ari Moilanen and Saija Määttä from the organizing club OAK. Thank you for a great and very useful camp! |
