Choosing a Goal for 2008

A client asked me about what her goal(s) should be for the year. Hmmm.

She doesn't need to lose weight so that's not a good one, she already trains with me 2 to 3 times per week & does yoga 2 to 3 times week.

My advice to her was to pick one thing she isn't good at and work it. Or improve in something she already does.

For example, learn to deadlift with a barbell with a goal of lifting bodyweight within 6 months and 1.5 times bodyweight by the end of 2008. If practiced 2 or 3 times per week and depending on her current strength levels this should be doable. She learns a new skill and gets a lot stronger - deadlifts with a bar are a great total body lift.  This could work with a barbell back squat as well.

Or take a lift you are already good at - the snatch. If you can do 5 minutes with 8k with 1 hand switch, start working with the 10k or 12k on the 3 minute sets and start incorporating the 12k into the 5 minute sets. Work on getting 2:30 with each hand then start picking up the pace.

Then there's the jerk. We work with it some and we practice it more often, but the same ideas for improving time & numbers in the snatch apply to jerks. However, jerks are a more technical lift so the first thing is to use an appropriate weight and work on the technique. Most people seem to have problems coordinating the drop under the bell and wind up doing a push press.

As your technique improves you can speed up doing more reps per minute and work towards 10 minutes with 1 hand switch ( this is for 1 arm clean & jerk or 1 arm jerks). Once you have reached the 10 minute mark ( a worthy goal in itself) you can increase the weight, reduce the tempo and duration of the set and build back them back up (increase work capacity).

As you can see deciding on a training goal gets to be, and should be, quite specific. Pick something, define it, write it down and start working on reaching it.

If you have a goal in mind but aren't sure how to achieve contact me and I will be glad to provide some guidance

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