To all my fellow grasshoppers

Hokay so, (I don’t know why I always have the urge to start my posts out like that)

First, I have to say that we started an Olympic lifting club at Invictus and its pretty much the coolest thing ever existing. I tell all my clients, especially my girls, that I get super emotional every time I watch them lift because of how much they’ve improved. Nevermind that I am extremely emotionally unstable, I am just so impressed with their new abilities to move like Olympic weightlifters. What I mean by that is, there are those who are new to the sport of weightlifting and are not comfortable with throwing a weight around, so the movement tends to be a little slower, a little more hesitant and a little more muscled. When someone starts moving like an Olympic weightlifter, they really start to understand what “speed” means. They’re unafraid to move fast under a bar because they’ve started to trust in their technique. THAT, my children, is a beautiful beautiful thing.

However, we all know that getting to that place of trust and comfort takes a while. I see so many people getting frustrated with their olympic lifts. Listen (no,seriously, listen up), I know that this is the greatest sport ever and I know that we all have this undying passion for the sport and the desire to be amazing at it, but by NOT mastering the sport right away, it only makes us respect the sport that much more. Think about it this way: say you're craving chocolate ice cream with peanut butter SOOO bad that you could kill a baby kitten just to get it. You live right next to Cold Stone so you could just walk over and get it. In other words, immediate gratification. BUUTTT what if you lived 7 miles away from Cold Stone and your only means of transportation was a trash can on three wheels cause the 4th wheel was flat. That would make your journey much longer and much harder, but by the time you got to your destination, that ice cream, my friends, would taste DAMN good... sinfully good.

So, next time you're down about your oly lifts, just remember that nothing is quite as amazing if you don't have to wait for it and if you don't have to put tons of sweat and tears into it. Respect the sport of Olympic Weightlifting. Respect that its H-A-R-D. Respect that you have to be up in the gym just workin on your fitness..much like how Fergie explains it (she was talking about oly lifting). Respect that it makes you "junk yard dog tough" (as my dad says). Respect it..and it will respect you, young grasshoppers.