“I hit a 2.5kg PB today, but it wasn’t perfect.”
“I hit a Snatch PB, but it’s still only at 50kg.”
Progress is progress!!! Sure the weight you lift might not be as much as someone else you follow on Instagram, but you can only control YOU! Don’t downplay your progress, we can ONLY focus on our ability to be the best that we can be. Be proud of your effort and progress.
At some point in Weightlifting technique breaks down, even the best! If we add 5-10kg to the bar of an Olympic Champion when they are maxing out, what would happen? They would miss. It could be that they are not strong enough or their technique breaks down.
The goal of a Weightlifting Program is to increase the weight at which our form breaks down over time. If you increased your Clean & Jerk from 85kg – 90kg today but you just made it up out of the Clean and it looked ‘ugly’. Take that as a win as it is the first time you have Clean & Jerked 90kg, a 5kg PB. If you went back and tried to Clean & Jerk 85kg we could guess that it would look a lot better than it used too. That is PROGRESS! If you were able to Clean & jerk 95kg…. imagine how easy and consistent that 85kg would now be.
We are not saying to make a lift at all costs OR to lift ugly if it allows you to lift more weight. We are saying if you try and be ‘perfect’ every single attempt we might just miss an opportunity to progress. Focus on the small victories and making your next rep the best it can be.
What happens if your technique breaks down at say 85-90%? Then take more attempts at that weight and focus on making small adjustments to make it the sharpest, technically best lift you can… THAT IS PROGESS!
We can see progress is different areas, technique changes, flexibility improvements, strength, consistency in your lifts are all examples when lifting.
So next time you are lifting, focus on your own progress and you will start to enjoy Weightlifting for what it is!
Happy lifting!