Oly Competition: Epilogue

My Badge

I had a great time at the competition, hard to believe it's over.  I've competed in three or four crossfit competitions, and I have to say this one was a lot different, and all was pretty much in a good way.  First, I knew exactly what to train for.  This allowed a focus and a specialization that was pretty awesome.  Crossfit competitions, being what Crossfit is, is all about testing your weaknesses on an off day.  You don't know what's coming so you have to train for everything, but even if you train for everything you can think of, the competition may come up with something you've never seen before.  This is exciting, but it tends to make it all about pure athleticism rather than skill.  At least, that is my own take on it.  Now there's nothing wrong with that, it's just that I'm a person that likes a test of skill.

...That's probably why I prefer Oly lifting to Power lifting, because the Olympic Lifts are about coordination and technique in addition to strength, where power lifting is more about sheer strength.  I liked the fact that I knew exactly what to expect, and that this competition would catch me when I'm peaking.  It's testing me when I'm at my best, rather then testing me on an average day.  Two different goals, but I prefer the former, but that's just my humble opinion.

Guys warming up

Secondly, these competitions are different than crossfit competitions in that all eyes are on you.  Instead of working out side by side other competitions, it's just you, on the platform, with three judges and that light box behind you.  It's a pretty awesome feeling.  I love performing in front of people, whether is singing or dancing solo in front of thousands of people at SMU's sing song contest or playing the upright bass in Orchestra, I enjoy the rush of all the attention.  You don't have to worry about what others are doing around you. You just approach the bar, lift, and then turn around and see if the judges decided whether it was a good lift or not.
 

A guy in his 40s who is way strong

And third, the sport just places so much more emphasis on technique than just gutting it out and letting slop happen.  I've always been big on perfect technique, quite the opposite of the stopwatch whore who will do anything for a faster time.  And lo and behold here in the Oly world technique is something you want to have all the time, since in the competition you only lift six times, with at least 2 minutes in between lifts.

Oh, and one more thing, Oly competitions have weight classes.  To me, that's huge.  Although, Olympic Lifting, like crossfit, favor the shorter competitor, at least the guy that weighs 60 kilos isn't competing with the guy who weighs 120 kilos.  At least not directly (the lifter that lifts the most weight with respect to body weight wins an award. This also favors the smaller, lighter guy).

The Platform, made of Japanese hardwood

...There were 12 lifters in my weight class (94 kg), by far the most popular weigh class.  I manages to lift more than one guy, the only guy who was taller than me.  So I got second to last, but I didn't do this competition to beat other people, I did this all for myself.  And I am pretty damn happy with myself.