We are just under four short weeks away from competing at the 2017 American Open Finals. Because our team only competes a handful of times every year, having success at this competition is really important. As we get closer to game time, I like to really hone in on a couple extra things to ensure that I won’t have too many excuses as to why I didn’t perform well (jk, I’m going to do great!).
Read MoreTaking a look back at the American Open Series and Pan American Championships last month in Miami, Florida there were a number of notable performances across the board. One thing is ABUNDANTLY clear, weightlifting in the United States continues to improve across every weight class and gender.
American Donovan Ford, a veteran in the sport, put together a dominating performance winning the Snatch, Clean & Jerk and Total on his way to gold in the 105kg weight class.
We had a chance to catch up with Donovan to discuss his American Open performance and his training that led up to the meet.
Read MoreEvery so often in a coaches life an athlete comes along that changes you. That athlete is transformative in the sense that they make you a better. They challenge you to become something more, not through explicit demands but through sheer appreciation for their raging fire to master their athletic discipline. Wes Kitts is one of those athletes...
Read MoreThink your weightlifting program is perfect? You've accounted for volume, intensity, exercise selection and have lined up your periodization to peak at the perfect time; but wait. Have you added mental reps into the equation? All your blood, sweat and tears could easily be for not if the mental side of training is forgotten. Don't worry, we have you covered!
Read MoreSuccess at the team level comes down to organizing attempts correctly, based not off of lifetime PR's or Ego, but from knowing what your athletes are capable of producing at that given moment in time.
Team and Individual Results inside!
Read MoreI had recently spoke with a couple of new Olympic weightlifters and I had come to realize that after competing in one or two meets, they had no idea what their goals should have been prior to going into the competition! Goal setting is a critical part of competing and should never ever be overlooked.
Here are 5 examples of important milestone 'goals' to help you in setting goals before your next weightlifting competition.
Read MoreWe can all agree that routine stretching of the muscles is important to the overall health of any athlete. With the constant grind of heavy weights, Olympic lifting takes a serious toll of your body and as a result it's important to keep your joints mobile and muscles flexible. Through the California Strength Blog, we have built a library of stretches to help with and maintain the overall health of our Olympic weightlifting athletes and have put together the TOP THREE stretches that every weightlifter should implement on a daily basis.
Videos Included!
Read MoreIt happens to all of us at one time or another, sometimes more than we would care to admit. Still, stepping on to the platform is hard enough on the body and with no warm up at all, you are more susceptible to injury. This quick flowing series is easy to remember and can serve as a warm up for those days when you just don’t have time to complete your full warm up.
Demo Video Inside!
Read MoreA few motivational words by Theodore Roosevelt.
Read MoreManaging your training weight should be complementary to your weightlifting program and long term goals. Like all things weightlifting, cutting weight is a skill in itself and is very individualized. At California Strength, we practice individualized but simple weight cutting techniques that have been fool proof for our athletes time and time again.
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