Friday night, we had Essex Weightlifting Club’s Olympic Lifting Max Out take over the whole gym. A heavy complex followed by a sweaty metcon during the day, and then the evening sessions were extended to allow for full-on oly lifting.
Not only did we have a packed-out gym floor all through the day, we had members turn up to spectate from the coffee shop too. The atmosphere was amazing!
Coach Harry, as well as EWC’s Coach JJ, delivered sessions to suit the ability of all the members taking part – each class was a real mix of experienced and brand-new lifters.
After the tried-and-trusted PVC Pipe warm up, the barbells were out, and so were the bumper plates! From training bars with light weight to oly bars with multi-coloured load, everyone lifted together and celebrated each other’s wins, near-misses, and valiant attempts.
For some, the max out was exactly that: lifting as much as possible in the snatch session followed by lifting as much as possible in the clean & jerk session. For others it was about taking advantage of the coaches’ knowledge to work on their form and barbell movements. And there were a group of people who used the session to just get over their fear of lifting in front of other people.
To celebrate the wins (in every respect), the evening closed with beers and pizza – there’s no better way to unwind and debrief after a tough session than with tasty food, and great company.
Members now know how to work off their percentages in classes, and we had fun finding out. We can’t wait for our next big event!
Speaking of lift off…
Coach JJ at the British Championships
Coach JJ blew us all away with his performance at the British Championships over the weekend, too.
An absolute power-house on the platform, and came away not just with Personal Bests in his own lifting, but records in the snatch and the clean & jerk.