|
Back to Blog
Reflecting back on my 201821/12/2018 As it is now gaining near to the end of 2018, I figured I would write one of these posts again. It is not often that I write a full post about my achievements or about myself in general, but this blog is also a method for me to track my progress. Olympic Weightlifting- This years achievementsI started 2018 with very low personal bests (due to ending up on crutches in 2017), these were my 22.5kg Snatch lift and my 30kg Clean and jerk. In February, I manged to boost these up to 24kg Snatch and 34kg Clean and Jerk. Slowly but surely, my ankle was getting better. By March, my Snatch lift had gone up to 28kg and my Clean and Jerk shot up to 40kg! I had my first competition of the year (and since my injury in June 2017) and reached new personal bests of a 29kg Snatch and a 43kg Clean and jerk. I then made myself take a 4 month break due to my gcse exams coming up, that break ended in September. My current personal bests are 31kg Snatch and 44kg Clean and Jerk. Olympic Weightlifting- My 2019 goalsAlthough I still haven't beaten my goal of Clean and Jerking my body-weight yet (46kg - 48kg), I will still be aiming towards this in 2019. I would also like to be Snatching at least 35kg, as this would make up approximately 75% of my body-weight. Accessory exercises/ Powerlifting- This years achievementsAt the beginning of 2018, I hadn't attempted a deadlift personal best for atleast a solid year. This personal best was 60kg with sumo. Throughout this year, I have used sumo deadlifts as an accessory lift and boosted my personal best up to 70kg. In August, I managed to increase this to 80kg and more recently have found that my technique is better when using conventional to lift the 80kg (no wide stance and with my arms inside of my legs). One of my 2018 goals was to hit my 80kg deadlift! Again, due to my ankle injury I hadn't attempted a back squat personal best for a solid year. However, this was 40kg and was boosted to 54kg in April. My back squat personal best has recently increased upto 63kg. My front squat personal best was 43kg up until November, when this increased to 47kg. I am still yet to try for another bench press personal best. Accessory exercises/ Powerlifting- My 2019 goalsI will be aiming next year to gain a deadlift personal best of 95kg, a back squat personal best of 70kg, a front squat personal best of 55kg and a benchpress personal best of 40kg. I aim to do more powerlifting and perhaps even enter some competitions whilst I am still in the sub-junior category. I've got to continue to focus upon my deadlift technique with heavier weights (as this drops as the weight on the bar increases). Health and fitness- This years achievementsAt the beginning of this year, I weighed approximately 46kg. By March, I was weighing 48.2kg, which at the time was out of my bodyweight catergory. During my 4 month break, my bodyweight dropped down to 45kg, my Weightlifting plateaued slightly here. Between summer and now, my bodyweight has fluctuated between 44.5kg and 48kg. This meaning I am still towards the middle or bottom of the 49kg catergory. I have still managed to gain personal bests even with lower bodyweight than my previous lift. For example, gained a personal best of 43kg whilst weighing 48kg, but gained a 31kg snatch whilst weighing 45kg. Overall, my Olympic lifting has really taken over my personal fitness workouts at home (as I've been training three to four times a week). However, my year has been good and I have never felt more myself this year. I went to many concerts this year, some on my own, which I wouldn't have been able to do a few years ago because of my anxiety. This year I have became a healthier and happier version of myself through self-reflection and closure. Health and fitness- My 2019 goalsNext year, I would like to remain in the 49kg category, but possibly be closer to the 55kg category, making me stronger and able to lift heavier weights. I will try to avoid plateauing by lifting over the summer and continuing to progress through different programs. I have just started to look into the interesting factor of enneagram and Myers-Briggs, something which I'd love to further analyse for myself next year. I wrote poetry more often in 2018, which I hope I continue to do next year as a way of self-expression and stress-relief. I guess I could say that my blog is a more structured version of my self-expression habits. Irish dance- This years achievementsThis year I have developed more on my hard shoes in Irish dance. I have learnt three full dances this year and I am now better at clicking my heels together, better at remembering steps and more able at balancing on my toes. Irish dance- My 2019 goalsWho knows how long i'll be dancing for, but certainly I want to make the most of it. I'd love to be able to choreograph dances better for myself and learn steps quicker. Other than that, there isn't much more that I'd like to aim towards, it is a hobby of course. Thisgirlcanlift- This years achievementsThis year I have posted 8 blog posts (taking into account of my 4 month break). I finally made my own blog logo and have fiddled around with my theme enough to find an ideal theme for my site on desktop and mobile. I am writing in more detail and expressing my views more, particularly I wrote my first book review this year (with more planned to come). I have also additionally gained a good 300 followers on my Instagram page through fluctuation this year. My views on my website are as followed: Last year- 9,152 page views This year- 11,417 page views Last year- 3,461 unique visitors This year- 4,824 unique visitors That makes up 2,265 and 1,363 more than last year! Thank you so much to anyone who has viewed my site and read these blog posts. It is insane that I have had this website for two whole years now. Thisgirlcanlift- My 2019 goalsMy goals for next year with my website would be to tackle my audience from different areas such as from a Facebook page. It would be nice to update my logo if I fancy it, or to create a sign off for this site. I may consider to have weekly sections for my website. Anyways, thank you very much if you read this post. I know it is not the most entertaining as it has no images (apologies). See you next year!
0 Comments
Back to Blog
Since I wrote my last post back in September, our Weightlifting club hosted our first inter club competition. This was a small competition that simply showcased our lifters talents to family, friends and members of the local area. Since this competition was hosted by our own club and was not affiliated with any other body, I was able to have roles that I wouldn't have been allowed to be in without some form of qualification. I helped out by essentially officiating as a side referee for the first group and center referee for the last group, I also was the MC (microphone controller) for the whole event. Whilst having the role of side referee for the younger lifters, I was also judging the lifters by using the technique point system. Within this blog post I am going to explain the point system that we used to judge the young lifter's technique. A short summary: What is the technique point system? and when is it used?The technique point system is predominantly used during youth and schools competition and is a method of judging the technique of younger lifters below the age of thirteen. This would then discourage youth lifters from lifting maximal heavy weights at such a young age and would act as a basis before they would begin to train to lift heavy than training to learn the technique. Since there are two lifts involved in an Olympic Weightlifting competition, the Snatch lift will be based out of four points per each of the three lifts (making a total out of 12) and the Clean and Jerk lift will be based out of eight points per each of the three lifts (making a total out 24). The maximum amount of points a lifter can gain is 36, this is then doubled to be out of 72. The lifter closest to reaching 72, is given the place of first within their age and body weight category. Snatch lift point system Within our inter club competition, we used the point system revised by ourselves as we believed the previous rules contained a rule that we considered to be unfair to youngsters with a bone structure which was not of average This rule was that lifters were only to be given one point if they do not fully squat, instead of only deducting one point. Within the Snatch lift performance, the lifter will begin with full points and as mistakes are made, points will begin to be deducted. Either way, this will work by adding points on when spotting parts of the lift that are completed without fail. Here is as followed, the point system for the Snatch lift: 1st point The first point a lifter can gain in the snatch is from being in the get set position (Key one). This is when the lifter is at the beginning of the lift before the barbell has even left the platform. This point can be deducted if the lifter places their hands incorrectly upon the barbell (For example, one hand is closer to the middle of the barbell and the other hand is further away). In the Snatch, the lifter will usually have a wide grip. 2nd point The second point a lifter can gain is by lifting the barbell to knee height. This is otherwise known as the key two or the power position. This point can be deducted if the lifter's bottom is rising before their head and the rest of their body. 3rd point The third point a lifter can gain is by performing the triple extension. The triple extension can be defined by the barbell moving upwards from knee height, past the thighs and towards the top of the lifters torso. The lifter should attempt to fully extend (straighten) their arms and elevate onto their toes when completing this movement. A point is NOT deducted if the lifter bounces the barbell of their hips in attempt to catch the barbell at the top of the lift. 4th point The fourth point can be gained by the lifter fully squatting with the barbell above their head. A full squat is classified by the lifter squatting past at least a 90 degree angle at the knee. This point is only deducted if the lifter doesn't fully squat, a snatch lift without a full squat is known as a power snatch. Clean and Jerk point system (The clean) I figured from the clean and jerk lift, it would be easier if I split up the eight points. In this first section I will be discussing the first four points that can be gained from the clean. In the section half, I will discuss the remaining four points that can be gained from the jerk. This is very similar to the Snatch lift, but I figured I would explain it better with the same layout. 1st point The first point a lifter can gain in the clean part of the lift is from being in the get set position (Key one). This is when the lifter is at the beginning of the lift before the barbell has even left the platform. This point can be deducted if the lifter places their hands incorrectly upon the barbell (For example, one hand is closer to the middle of the barbell and the other hand is further away). In the Clean and Jerk, the lifter will usually have a fairly narrow grip. 2nd point The second point a lifter can gain is by lifting the barbell to knee height. This is otherwise known as the key two or the power position. This point can be deducted if the lifter's bottom is rising before their head and the rest of their body. 3rd point The third point a lifter can gain is by performing the triple extension. The triple extension can be defined by the barbell moving upwards from knee height, past the thighs and towards the top of the lifters torso. The lifter should attempt to fully extend (straighten) their arms and elevate onto their toes when completing this movement. A point is NOT deducted if the lifter bounces the barbell of their hips in attempt to catch the barbell at the shoulders. 4th point The fourth point can be gained by the lifter fully squatting with the barbell held at the shoulders. A full squat is classified by the lifter squatting past at least a 90 degree angle at the knee. This point is only deducted if the lifter doesn't fully squat, a clean without a full squat is known as a power clean. Clean and Jerk point system (The jerk) 5th point The fifth point can be gained by the lifter being in the get set position, with the barbell positioned at the shoulders. During this, the elbows should be up. This point can be deducted if the lifter originally has their elbows down and then moves them upwards before jerking. Additionally, this point can be deducted if the lifter performs a double dip of the elbows before jerking the barbell upwards. 6th point The sixth point can be gained by the lifter performing the dip and drive. The dip in the jerk can be defined as the lifters elbows dipping and the bending of the lifters knees before the explosive jerk. The drive (punch) is essentially the involvement of the arms in the jerk. A point can be deducted if the lifter drives the barbell above their head with a press out, this is also classed as a fail (No lift). 7th point The seventh point can be gained by the lifter performing the split. The split in the jerk is essentially the involvement of the legs in the jerk. The split is the movement of the Weightlifters legs splitting vertically. It doesn't matter which leg is the front foot and which leg is the back foot. There are a few reasons why this point could be deducted, depending upon how well the referee is able to spot the fault and how strict they may be. This point may be deducted if:
8th point The eighth point can be gained by the lifter recovering from the split. The front foot should move backwards to half way between both feet and the back foot should move forwards to place both feet together. This point can be deducted if the lifter only moves one foot backwards or only one foot forwards. Additionally, this point can be lost if the recovery is wobbly and the lifter is struggling to recover without walking all over the platform or is struggling to stand still to wait for the down signal. If a lifter was to perform a power jerk, the lifter is still able to gain full points with the provision that the squat in the jerk is below a 90 degree angle. Otherwise, one point may be deducted from the lack of the split. Failing a lift and passing a liftIn a Weightlifting competition, your lift can be failed or passed. If you pass a lift, that really means that you did nothing to fail the lift. As a youth lifter, whether you pass or fail a lift, you will still gain points. When failing a lift, the maximum points you can gain is three points (you wouldn't gain the fourth, as one point is deducted from the error that caused you to fail the lift). It is sometimes a common misconception that when failing a lift, there are no points gained, but this isn't the case. Therefore, making the point system a fair way of evaluating a lift, rather than a young persons lifts being based upon whether they pass the lift with a heavy weight or fail the lift with a heavy weight. Although this blog post is about the technique point system, I am going to mention ways in which all lifters (including youth lifters) can be failed when lifting. These are:
Thank you for reading this post, I hope that this may bring some clarity to the point system as so far I have not seen an officially approved version online. This is a basic introduction in which our small club are judged by, I understand that other online technique systems will be different and I in no way state that this version is the only correct method.
Back to Blog
Gender inequality within sport17/9/2018 Within this blog post, I will be discussing a mix of my opinions, some stereotypes and factual information based around the topic of gender inequality within sport. I thought this topic would be relevant since Serena Williams was treated wrongly during a recent Tennis game of hers. I have touched upon this topic before, but only a small section of the topics surrounding gender inequality. Please continue reading to find out more about these individual topics. The history of Women in sport Going back to the past, Women first were allowed to compete in the Olympic games in 1900 but towards the end of the 19th century began to partake in sports that were identified as ‘feminine’ such as Tennis, Golf, Archery and Figure Skating. As a Women who currently competes in Olympic-style Weightlifting competitions, it is interesting to know that the first feature of Weightlifting within the Olympic games was in 1896, it was only until the year 2000 that Women were allowed to compete in the Olympics as Weightlifters. Although in 1986 there were some championships which featured Women. Women were kept out of the sport for so long because it was viewed that the sport was made for Men and that Women shouldn’t be perceived as strong and muscular. Even dating back to war times, Women were seen as the stay at home Mother who would cook, clean and be the perfect housewife. Young girls during this period would learn how to make clothes and look after children, whereas young boys would be introduced to sports and more fun activities. If we're also looking back at the attitudes of Women, it is known that some Women became 'Flappers' and rebelled against the modesty projected onto them by Men. One Woman dance crazes (The Charleston) and more individuality revolving around Women's fashion was soon developed from there. Attitudes towards Women in sport Nowadays there are many attitudes towards Women participating in sport or certain types of sports. It mainly depends upon what sport it is and who you’re asking. I have noticed myself that some of the elderly part of society can perceive that Women should only partake in certain sports that are deemed more feminine and ‘suitable for the gender’, probably because Women had less rights back in their younger days so that is all that they have been brought up to think of. It is still relevant that nowadays Women are subsequently less than Men whether that involves sports or not. Some examples of sports that aren’t as socially acceptable for Women to partake in than Men are: Football, Rugby, Olympic Weightlifting, Boxing, Wrestling, Darts, Shooting, Formula one driving, Cricket etc. Whether this is because Men are deemed to be stronger than Women and therefore are bigger and are more able to excel within the sport (because of higher levels testosterone), or it is just because the general public dislike the Female gender being able to participate and compete in these sports. Thankfully, Women can still partake in these sports but sometimes it isn’t as recognized nor as popular as Men who participate in the same activity. It has always been encouraged that Boys were tougher than Girls and therefore were more encouraged to partake in sports than Girls were. Women seem to team up and stick up for each other when it can come down to being faced with inequality. In this generation there are sites such as thisgirlcan.co.uk which do help to promote to change the attitude that Women face in the sports industry. Examples of inequality towards Women in sport Although people are more open to accepting that sports aren’t just for one gender, there are examples of situations which suggest that sexism within the sports industry hasn’t quite fizzled out yet (the $33 million pay gap between Men and Women in football is a good example). Lets start with the smallest issue which involves Women in sport. In a Tennis game, Men play to the best of 5 sets whereas Women will only play to the best of 3 sets. Although this is seen as ‘traditional’, myself and others would view this as discouraging Women from being able to play as proficiently as Men. Therefore this would suggest that they are only expected to play 3 sets and may not be aerobically able to play to the higher standard that Men can apparently play at. Upon the topic of Tennis, more recently Serena Williams was treated unfairly by the umpire to which if a Male Tennis player was to do the same thing that Serena did, he would not be given the same consequence. Yes, Serena got upset and angry during the game, but if a Male Tennis player did the same, I guarantee nobody would have made a racist and sexist comic about the incident aimed at the person. In comparison to this, there are worse cases such as another recent issue involving a Female Olympic 800m champion. In several articles it is said that the IAAF have set new rules regarding the testosterone levels of Female athletes which means that it restricts Women with higher levels of the hormone from competing without having to take substances to reduce this factor. Although the amount that she has is over the ‘limit for Women’ and ‘makes her at advantage compared to the other athletes’. This should not be an issue, as if it were for Males the IAAF may have less of a concern to alter the rules. Examples of inequality towards Men within sport.It has more than once popped into my head that inequality revolving around Men in sport isn’t brought up enough. Although it is more common for Men to participate in sports than Women without a sense of inequality, there are still some areas of sports and activities that are deemed to be ‘too feminine’ or ‘make Men look weak’. Take ballet dance, gymnastics and netball for example. Sports that you may associate with female teams or athletes and not often with the male gender. Not only can inequality with certain sports be an issue for Men, but expectations that society as a whole can pressure upon Male athletes or sportsmen. Since it is common for Men to take part in sports, there can be higher expectations of them to perform well, to look a certain way or have a certain level of ability and expertise. For instance, if you are an Olympic Weightlifter and Male, you may be expected to be tall and muscular, whereas sometimes it is the short or skinny lifters that are stronger. The same with Rugby players, it may be a common stereotype that Rugby players are massively muscular but in fact skinny or leaner Men can be great Rugby players as wingers who will do most of the running to score tries. Male fitness magazines or online articles set high expectations for Men in sport, which isn’t always a trait that all Men will have. How can we tell young girls to strive to take part in any sport they want to but not say the exact same thing to young boys? Transgender and Non binary* genders within sport. In an article on Mashable.com it states ‘An athlete's sexual orientation doesn't challenge the gender binary in sports - gay men and lesbian women can still compete in their separate, sex-segregated divisions.’ Therefore, it makes me wonder how come people who are transgender or non binary are sometimes either made to compete in the category which fits their gender assigned at birth or not to compete at all. It is a shame that this could restrict very talented and hardworking people purely because in some competitions the categories are sex-segregated with only a Male or Female category choice. Some people have argued that it would be unfair for transgender people to compete within the category that they identify as because of higher or lower testosterone levels (meaning an advantage or disadvantage). There are ways to go around this by creating more than two gender categories or even measuring testosterone levels for some sports and categorizing the athletes in that way. It is just unfair for someone to be unable to compete in their sport merely because of how they identify. Why should they have to compete as the gender that they do not feel comfortable being. *Someone who identifies as neither Female or Male. Thank you for reading this blog post, I will cover more topics similar to these in the near future.
Back to Blog
In this blog post I will be reviewing a book entitled 'Weightlifting for beginners' written by Dan Kent and Mihai Ivan. Very kindly, Dan asked me to review this book some weeks ago and I am very appreciative of that. Since I am not a beginner at Weightlifting, I have read and reviewed this book from my own perspective and from a beginners point of view. First look Available to purchase from Amazon for £14.99 From looking at the front cover of the book, the design isn't in your face and clearly demonstrates what the book is about. The blurb is also nice and short, as long blurbs can often stop me from wanting to read a book. The price of this book isn't too expensive for what you are receiving, retailed at £14.99 this book offers advice upon many subjects including technique, strength building, a hint at competing and some programs. By just looking at the organised contents, the book discusses a variety of subjects regarding Weightlifting and would most likely answer any questions that beginners to the sport would have. From reading the first few pages of the Foreword, it is nice to hear both of the Authors opinions and experiences behind Olympic Weightlifting. Specifically Mihai Ivan encourages that the competition isn't always between other lifters and you, but more just competition within the lifter as an individual. Click on the image to be directed to the Amazon page to purchase. "It's just you and your bar, all your resources focused towards it" - Mihai Ivan From a beginners perspectiveI believe that the addition about the history of Weightlifting is good for a beginner to grasp some knowledge upon the sports background, often books about sport don't focus on the past but more about the future and really the background of Weightlifting is significant and interesting. From my point of view, I thought it was great that the book mentioned about Weightlifting coaches as often books about sports forget to mention that different coaches will have different ways of doing things. This would help any beginner to battle any misconceptions of right and wrong within Weightlifting if they have had different advice from different coaches. The illustrations are clear and easy to follow regarding the technical movements of the lifts, this being important for a beginner. The explanation upon the Weightlifting technique was very precise and excellently worded. I enjoyed that the book didn't just feature Olympic Weightlifting techniques but rather other related exercises that help to improve Olympic Weightlifting technique and strength standards. There was also a great feature about power, which is very important to those beginning the sport who will require large amounts of power if they wish to develop within the sport. The book mentions ways in which a Weightlifters dietary intake will differ if they are wanting to improve in strength, this is great for a beginner and also anyone who already lifts as it isn't common to find specific advice about diets for Olympic Weightlifters unless guided by a coach or professional. So for anyone getting into the sport without a coach or a Weightlifting club, it gives some great guidance to begin on your own! From my perspectiveWhen reading this book, I felt intrigued to carry on reading as although not much of the information in the book was new to me, the way the book was worded isn't exhausting or complicated to read. I found this book to be honest and relatable, from when it mentions purchasing Weightlifting shoes to the uncomfortability of the Hook grip. I found that by the book mentioning ways in which a lift can go wrong or can prevent you from getting a personal record being so useful! Not only for individual lifters (like myself) who wish to look back at their lifts or ask someone to check for technique mistakes, but for checking other lifters techniques too. I will definitely think back to this book if one of the younger lifters at my club asks me to check their technique. Towards the end of the book, the dietary help and alcohol intake information is very interesting and would benefit beginners and those who have been lifting for a while. Sometimes it is in fact what you're eating which stops you from improving strength wise. There was some information in the book that I have taken on board and will use within the future. Particularly the alcohol intake details was completely unknown to me and hasn't been something I had heard of up until I had read this book. A hands on experience: trying programs, technique exercises and moreI decided after reading the book I would have a try at the training program for the beginners, some of the plyometric exercises, technique exercises and mobility tests. These are my results: Beginners training program The beginners strength training programs contains a good range of exercises (not just the Olympic lifts) and would allow a beginner to understand an average training program. This 4 week program is designed to improve a beginners strength and power, helping them to reach a new personal record every 4 weeks. I would say that this program may not be built for young children or lifters who have previous injuries and are only looking to improve their technique. Although I didn't complete the full 4 weeks, the program left me feeling stronger and happier after each session. The strength program being based around Olympic lifts and some other exercises would mean that it could still be partially completed by athletes who have no knowledge upon Olympic Weightlifting, but I believe the book would advise any beginners to complete the excellent technique sessions mentioned a few pages beforehand. Plyometric exercises The exercises mentioned would help almost any athlete to improve upon their power. They're basic, easy to understand and could probably be completed by most abilities. There are some mentioned in the book which I hadn't heard of such as the "Depth jump", which is great as the book isn't repeating ideas which are already known of. After completing some of these exercises, I did notice that my Olympic lifts improved as I was jumping more when lifting the barbell. These exercises don't require equipment which is also a huge plus! Technique sessions From briefly reading the technique training sessions written in the book, I can tell that this would be very beneficial for beginners and anyone wishing to improve their technique. The sessions don't require large amounts of weight and focus upon relatively low numbers of repetitions, which is better for technique than strength building. There is a great variation within the technique based exercises which would remove the aspect of boredom if coaching a young child say. In Fact it isn't far from the normal warmup I complete before any training session or competition! Mobility tests I completed all of the mobility tests mentioned in the book and I absolutely love them! It has helped me before and after training sessions to loosen up and be able to see which muscles and areas are tight without the use of my foam roller. These excellent and interesting tests are found within chapter 3 and those that I have not heard of I will definitely be completing more often. Again, this can be completed without any complex equipment. Thanks for reading my first book review upon my website! I hope to review some more Weightlifting books within the future. Once again thank you to Dan Kent for asking me to review this excellent book, I would rate it 4.5 out of 5! Just because I would've liked to have seen some more information upon foam rolling. I recommend that if you are a beginner to Weightlifting or wanting to get started, to purchase the book from Amazon as even though I have been lifting for almost 8 years I have received insight from the book that I didn't know about.
Back to Blog
It's hard to believe we are more than half way through this year already! I have subsequently posted less blog posts than I did this time last year, but I guess I'm spreading out my ideas for the future more. I was initially going to write a blog post entitled 'How I balanced my fitness during my GCSE's', however I would be lying if I said I managed to completely balance my fitness. Between the 15th of May and the 21st of June, I continued to Irish Dance, eat moderately healthy and go for long walks. However, I stopped my Olympic Weightlifting, my cheat days and my daily workouts. My GCSE's were a mixture of hard and easy and I'll just have to wait until results day to see how i've done. However, even if you've not done your GCSE's but you have completed some form of exams, this post may be appropriate for you. The difference between this post and all my others is that literally today I went for a run again and felt motivated after a long break to begin working out again, therefore I'm writing this as it happens not from my past experience. Then, if after reading this post you are trying to become more healthy after your exams, I am too trying to follow my own advice and get back into things. A few of you have asked about some of the subjects in this post so carry on reading to hear my advice upon the current situation many teenagers may be in right now. Overcoming any remaining stress During exams, I'm sure most people have felt some form of stress whether it was a few months before the exams began or the night before. However, although everyone says you can relax after your exams are over, many people may still feel stressed not knowing what their results could be. If you're anything like me, you may feel stressed if you've been lacking a workout session and haven't been eating particularly healthy. Your mental health may have became worse during the exam season, but perhaps focusing upon yourself during the summer may help you to feel improved. I feel that acceptance is important in this section of this post. Whether you're trying to improve your mental health or overall health and fitness, you'll have to accept that sadly although those things may have worsened or lowered, that now there is time for you to focus upon yourself. It really is upsetting that I'm having to write about improving your mental health after your GCSEs, in all honsety the education system needs adjusting. I went on holiday a few weeks ago to Ibiza (not San Antonio bay, don't worry) and I finally got a chance to begin reading a book I've been wanting to read for a long while now. I heard about the book through instagram when I was indeed struggling with motivating myself and I wanted to fully grasp who I really was. I picked it up and no doubt about it, I felt better. 'Who says you can't? you do' By Daniel Chidiac is such a great book, I'm only a few pages in but I have already noticed I feel in a much happier and less stressed mood. The book involves simple writing tasks and questions which help you to delve right into your personal thoughts and feelings. The book is for sale on amazon and ebay. Refraining myself from overeating and beginning to workout moreMy current route will just involve me resulting back to how I used to be before my exams began. I've set myself some tasks and some goals that I can stick to inorder to get back into the swing of things. These tasks are:
Exercising againWhether you have taken a break from working out or you are beginning to again, I have decided to provide some motivation that may help you.
Since I read somewhere that every three months you should alter your exercise program, I am currently rethinking and rewriting my plan. However, that means I can share with you my previous workouts that I have used and that have worked for me. Please note that your fitness ability may or may not reflect number of repetitions completed. By this, I never mean that the completion of an excessive amount of repetitions truly shows how strong you are. Although I have set a limit of 8-12 reps per exercise, there is no worry if you cannot complete 8-12 but perhaps a lower amount. Tip: If you wish to alter the number of repetitions you complete. Here attached are some of my previous workout pdfs, created and used by yours truly. Feel free to use these: 
Also, feel free to check out this old post of mine with some more workouts on: Eating healthy againAgain, with eating healthy or healthier than usual I have decided to provide some advice involving how to begin to change your diet.
The app helps you to track how much protein, fats and carbohydrates you intake by scanning, typing in your food and typing in the measurements and portions you are going to consume. You will begin the app by setting yourself a goal of how much of these food types you wish to consume daily. Then this amount in grams will also be counted into calories. You will be given a total daily calorie number which the app wishes for you to hit. Not always will you hit it and may be under or surpass it, but it is a great way to really see what's in the food you're putting in your body. There are other things you can track like your water amounts, exercise and other food types (if you pay extra for the additional food types). The app helps you to set a goal weight, but you don't have to follow it if your only interest is to track your food. The macronutrient side of things (Ratio of carbs, fats, proteins) If you're looking for the best amounts of fats, proteins and carbohydrates to enter into the app, it will depend on whether you're trying to gain weight (muscle), or lose weight. Ofcourse your age and metabolism should come into account when changing your diet. To be on the safe side, I did a lot of research to find out which would suit me best for muscle building. I google searched for a while and then eventually adjusted through an average amount of the food ratios from all the plans I had written down and liked. All I can advise, that if you are a young and slight female girl looking to tone up and gain muscle. You could use the same ratio that I use. This is: Carbohydrate daily intake: 285 grams (1140 kcal) Additionally, here are my measurements so you can know whether to use the same plan or not. In no way at all am I saying that my body is ideal or not, this is just a rough guide as to what works best for me. Bodyweight: ranges from roughly 46 kilograms to 48 kilograms (101 - 106 lbs) An ending (finally)That's pretty much all the information I can give you. If you've just finished your exams, then I hope you're satisfied with how hard you've worked. Don't worry, you can retake almost everything! It's just easier for you and your school if you don't. Life doesn't just give up and not give you multiple chances. Now that I've finally finished my GCSE's, I'm excited to post new content more often! Except, I has taken me days to write this as I went on my Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition in between writing (oops). There will be an exciting new post soon as I was presented with a fabulous opportunity to review a little something for my blog. Copyright © 2018 Thisgirlcanlift (Niyah Callister)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication and linked documents may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at the following address: thisgirlcanliftblog@gmail.com
Back to Blog
My views on the 'This Girl Can' campaign21/3/2018 Hello to anybody who is still reading my posts. It's been two months since I last posted on here and I am having to revise a lot more for my GCSE's coming up in May. However, it's still important I post because my Duke of Edinburgh Silver award requires me to. Even before I began this website in 2016, I was very familiar with the motivating campaign called 'This Girl Can'. Yes, the name of my website is very similar to the campaign name and yes I'm not really sure about any legal issues regarding names, however I really connect with the campaign as it has been one of my many inspirations during my fitness journey. Since I've not been posting for a while upon social media, I thought I'd also type a short update at the end of this post (I rarely do that!). Please carry on reading for more. When I first heard of the campaign I remember that the 2015 advert was all over the tv and it really intrigued me to find out what This Girl Can was about. I searched it up and found out what it was about and I was very happy that there was finally a very motivating campaign ran by SportEngland for a gender that isn't often encouraged to participate in sports. Even better, for all ages too! This was around the time I had my first fitness instagram account entitled 'life of a lifter' and often I'd feel less lonely as a young, insecure 13 year old on the internet would do. By seeing all the posts by ThisGirlCan, it really helped me to tackle negative opinions and personal thoughts during my fitness journey. What does This Girl Can promote?I have heard that the campaign have set up various activities for free that women can try around the UK and I believe that these are excellent. By this, there is very little stopping someone from achieving the fitness goals they want to reach. There is practically no cost, so this isn't a limitation for those who can't afford a healthier lifestyle. One of many things that limits people when working out can be their physical appearance. According to Campaignlive.co.uk "36% of the least-active schoolgirls agree that they feel like their body is on show in PE lessons and that makes them like PE less". This is something that as a current secondary school pupil, I do recognise is an issue within my generation. This Girl Can sadly received undeserved hatred regarding the way they were first promoting the campaign, as apparently it didn't truly show the imperfect reality of a woman's body. Personally, This Girl Can has helped me to recognise that I would love to touch upon the topic of body shaming and more positivity surrounding the human body. From snooping around on Thisgirlcan.co.uk, it is noticeable that since I last looked a few years ago that their website has certainly altered for the better. I could now throw a bunch of meaningless statistics in your face like many newspaper articles have done (something that I noticed during my ever so brief search). But instead I thought I'd show my true appreciation for a specific part of the campaigns website. The activities page on the website shows many lists of sports that anyone could become invested in and within one click you can find out costs, what to wear, what it is and where you can try the sport. How brilliant is that! I'm going to make a lot of use of it in future if I ever feel like trying a new sport. I absolutely love that when clicking upon the 'Weightlifting' section that it discusses the benefits and the ever-so common 'bulky' stereotype. One thing I've goto to say is that the image is a lady at the gym using the leg press machine and the topic is upon Olympic Weightlifting, however if they need an updated image they can come to me anytime! Just a little bit more of my opinion.... Some websites have mentioned that the campaign shouldn't refer to all ages of women as 'girls'. Whilst some people may agree with this statement, I do not. By referring to all of the women as girls it helps to promote that everyone is the same and that the gender should be united as one. No matter how old you are, you can still achieve your goals in fitness. Also by referring to everyone as girls, it helps to disregard age as a limiting factor revolving around fitness and helps older women to gain their youth back. No matter what you prefer, Woman, Girl, Female, Lady, Madame; the campaign name is still only applicable to those who participate within it. But to end things on a lighter note, This Girl Can has changed lives for the better and is slowly helping to conquer the ongoing issue with females and sport. An update on my lifeIn this moment of time, I haven't been working out as much as I used to at home. However, I'm still managing to train three times a week (Olympic Weightlifting) and Irish Dance at least once or twice a week. On top of this, I've been revising for most of the time. I've recently chosen my A level and BTEC options for sixth form, these are Physical Education (obviously), Health and Social care and Psychology. These may change in August, but for now that is what I've chosen to progress further into. I made the choice at the beginning of 2018 to no longer continue with my self-made hobby of running once a week. Although, it is a helpful way for me to ease my mind off my problems, I have noticed that long and middle distance running can reverse my Weightlifting training and I care so much more about the hard work I put in when training rather than how long it takes for my legs to tire out. If you are a runner, then I have great respect for you, it is an excellent sport and is great for your body; just not always for a Weightlifter who already finds it tricky to gain muscle mass. I may continue to use acceleration sprints when I feel the need to run or i'll find a way to start plyometric training (as I've heard it is great for Weightlifters). More recently, I have received my first pair of hard shoes in Irish Dance and I am just easing myself onto them, except my toes and feet are beginning to bruise and cut. Other than that, I'll hopefully write another post soon again (but thats what I always say...) I'd like to address that my website domain and blog name should not be confused with thisgirlcan.co.uk which is a campaign ran by SportEngland. In no way at all should my name reflect their fabulous work as This Girl Can is trademarked. Any potential legal issues regarding my domain name should remain inside your mind until I'm old enough to understand my rights. No copyright infringement is intended.
Back to Blog
Olympic Weightlifting warmup24/1/2018 I had this idea a while back and even had the photos prepared except I didn't plan out the time I was going to write a post in between training three times a week (oops). Anyways, this post is about how I warm up the OASIS Weightlifting Squad before competitions and training. I also use this warm up before I train and I usually coach this to any new beginners with wooden poles. This is known as the reverse chain method created by Brian Hamill, however it isn't very popular around this time. The aim of the warm up is to promote the way the lifters should be lifting technique wise when training or competing. Please carry on reading to hear more. These movements should be used for both the Snatch and Clean and jerk warm up 1. Pole held as high up the chest as possible (Scarecrow position) 2. Pole held at tummy button height 3. Pole held with straight and relaxed arms 4. Pole placed at kneecap height Each of these steps I will describe fully through the following paragraphs. Snatch warm up First movement What I mean by move around, to help with flexibility and mobility Where the barbell/pole should be held: As high up the chest as possible with the lifters hands in the snatch grip (wide grip). Foot placement: The lifter should be on their toes before squatting down. With heels flat on the ground, the lifter should move their body around at the bottom of the squat (towards the left and right). Head placement: The lifter should be looking straight ahead at all times. Repetition number: This should be repeated three to four times. Mistakes to look out for: The lifter should try to squat as low as possible. The bar shouldn't move in front of or behind the head, it should remain above the head. Second movement Where the barbell/ pole should be held: Tummy button height Foot placement: The lifter should be on their toes before squatting down. With heels flat on the ground, the lifter should squat and hold the position for roughly 10 seconds. Head placement: The lifter should be looking straight ahead at all times. Repetition number: This should be repeated four to five times. Mistakes to look out for: The lifter should try to squat as low as possible. The bar shouldn't move in front of or behind the head, it should remain above the head. The wrists shouldn't flick out and should remain in the same position as the beginning. Third movement Where the barbell/ pole should be held: With straight and relaxed arms (just below the waist). The elbows should be out. Foot placement: The lifter should be on their toes before squatting down. With heels flat on the ground, the lifter should squat and hold the position for roughly 10 seconds. Head placement: The lifter should be looking straight ahead at all times. Repetition number: This should be repeated three to four times. Mistakes to look out for: The lifter should try to squat as low as possible. The bar shouldn't move in front of or behind the head, it should remain above the head. The lifter should keep the bar close to the body and not let it swing out away from the body. Fourth movement Where the barbell/ pole should be held: On the top of the knee caps Foot placement: The lifter should have their feet flat on the ground, then move up onto their toes before dropping back into the squat. With heels flat on the ground, the lifter should squat. Head placement: The lifter should be looking a few metres away towards the ground and should not begin the lift with their head looking upwards. However, when the bar is in movement, they may look straight ahead. Repetition number: This should be repeated two to three times. Mistakes to look out for: The lifter should try to squat as low as possible. The bar shouldn't move in front of or behind the head, it should remain above the head. The lifter should keep the bar close to the body and not let it swing out away from the body. The bar mustn't scrape up the thighs or bounce off the hips, it must move vertically.  Why the head shouldn't be looking upwards: The body follows the head during most sports such as High jump. Whilst sprinting when leading up to the pole, I have often aimed my head high to get the rest of my body over the pole. With Weightlifting, having your head looking upwards can cause the bar to travel further backwards. Therefore, the momentum of the heavily weighted bar cannot always be stopped by the mere resistance of arm strength during the Snatch, causing the barbell to fall backwards behind the lifter. Clean and jerk warm up First movement Where the barbell/pole should be held: As high up the chest as possible with the lifters hands in the clean and jerk grip, roughly shoulder width apart (narrow grip). Foot placement: The lifter should be on their toes before squatting down. Head placement: The lifter should be looking straight ahead at all times. Repetition number: This should be repeated three to four times. Mistakes to look out for: The lifter should try to squat as low as possible. The elbows mustn't touch the knees (keep the elbows high). Second movement Where the barbell/pole should be held: Tummy button height Foot placement: The lifter should be on their toes before squatting down. With heels flat on the ground, the lifter should squat. Head placement: The lifter should be looking straight ahead at all times. Repetition number: This should be repeated four to five times. Mistakes to look out for: The lifter should try to squat as low as possible. The elbows mustn't touch the knees. Third movement Where the barbell/ pole should be held: With straight and relaxed arms (just below the waist). The elbows should be out. Foot placement: The lifter should be on their toes before squatting down. With heels flat on the ground, the lifter should squat and hold the position for roughly 10 seconds. Head placement: The lifter should be looking straight ahead at all times. Repetition number: This should be repeated three to four times. Mistakes to look out for: The lifter should try to squat as low as possible. The elbows shouldn't touch the knees. The lifter should keep the bar close to the body and not let it swing out away from the body. Fourth movement Where the barbell/ pole should be held: On the top of the knee caps Foot placement: The lifter should have their feet flat on the ground, then move up onto their toes before dropping back into the squat. With heels flat on the ground, the lifter should squat. Head placement: The lifter should be looking a few metres away towards the ground and should not begin the lift with their head looking upwards. However, when the bar is in movement, they may look straight ahead. Repetition number: This should be repeated two to three times. Mistakes to look out for: The lifter should try to squat as low as possible. The elbows mustn't touch the knees. The lifter should keep the bar close to the body and not let it swing out away from the body. The bar mustn't scrape up the thighs or bounce off the hips, it must move vertically. Jerk warm up (Dip and punch) Where the barbell/ pole should be held: On the shoulders and then punched up above the head. Foot placement: The lifter should have their feet flat on the ground before jerking the bar, then the split should contain their front foot flat on the ground and their back foot on their toes. Head placement: The lifter should look straight ahead of them.. Repetition number: This should be repeated four to five times. Mistakes to look out for: The lifter must lock their elbows at the top of the lift and mustn't hesitate when punching the bar up. The feet should be evenly spaced out and not in a straight line. Second movement (Foot positioning) This is a more specific alternative when moving the feet back together after the clean and jerk. Instead of moving simply your front foot back and your back foot forward I do this: 1. Lowering the back foot heel down whilst moving the front foot backwards to the beginning position. 2. Moving the back foot forward Often I'll do this to help the kids to warm up and become more stable on their feet. It is useful to place a pole on the ground or to use a straight line when jerking, this can help to identify whether the lifters feet are too close together or what is making them unstable when lifting. After each of these warm ups, I tend to run through the full lifts to spot any mistakes in the lifters technique. Thanks for reading this post, I'm very proud of it. Note that this is purely technique to be delivered to an average level and that many clubs have different preferred techniques. I've linked the downloadable videos of the lifts below. 
Back to Blog
Interviewing my Weightlifting coach5/1/2018 It's been three whole months since I last posted a blog post and I'm afraid you may hear from me less and less the closer I get towards my GCSE's in May. However, although my posts may not be consistent, I've still been training and eat healthily when possible! This post is an interview featuring my Weightlifting coach/ 86 year old grandad, Gwilym Parry. His answers to my questions are very interesting and I love that he always has some sort of backstory to say about most topics we discussed (even in this 2 hour interview I learnt some new things about him!). Please carry on reading to hear more about his experiences. How did you get into physical training/ Weightlifting? Gwilym through the years I had asthma as a child which lasted for quite a long time, meaning that I couldn't go to school very often and I didn't have much time outside of the hospital. When I was around 15 years old, it seemed to get better so I started to ride my bike to the local swimming baths and would do a couple of lengths. As I'd swim, I felt that all my worries would just float away in the water. Eventually, I bought a springy bar (shaped like a horse-shoe) from a man who ran exercise courses and began to do some isometric exercises with it, I still use this now. This introduced me to 'physical culture' which is commonly known as bodybuilding nowadays. I was introduced to Olympic Weightlifting through a friend of mines boss (Mr Johnstone) who was a Weightlifter and moved to my town from London due to London being bombed during the war. Mr Johnstone asked my friend and I if we wanted to try Olympic Weightlifting at his home , so we did. But some time after we had to leave as his wife didn't like it. After that, we went to a farm in Chester and used an old chickenhouse to lift in. After this, I joined the airforce and asked my Mother to buy me some weights, I then trained in my conservatory. It wasn't until after I left the airforce that I continued lifting frequently again. What awards do you have? Gwilym and I at the 2015 European championships in Bangor I currently have a bronze medal in the 2001 Kefalonia World Masters championships, a bronze medal in the 2002 Melbourne World Masters games, a silver medal in the 2006 World Masters championships (France) and a bronze medal in the 2015 European Masters. Along with those awards, I have also participated in some British Masters championships (In 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2015) which I have placed second in 1999, 2001 and 2003. In the 2015 British Masters championships I placed first. Although, I have not competed since 2015, I still continue to dabble and coach my granddaughter and some children from a local youth club (The OASIS Weightlifting Squad). What other hobbies do you have?I used to play the clarinet and the flute, but then I took up Judo for a few years. I soon quit this and focused on other sports and hobbies. I began to learn Tai Chi at my local gym and took up Golf. I became captain of the Octel Golf Society, but I still continued to mix with other sports too. Nowadays, I occasionally play golf but I regularly teach a Tai Chi class and Olympic Weightlifting. How long have you been coaching for and when did you start Weightlifting?I began coaching when I was around 20 years old, so I have been coaching for 66 years. I began Olympic Weightlifting when I was 16 or 17 years old, so I have been Olympic Weightlifting for 70 years. How do you think our club could improve?I think we should get more young people lifting, however now they cannot officially compete until they're 13 years old. Since our club was created to provide an activity for the local youth club children, it would be good to gain more lifters so that the youth club also benefits by more members joining. What is your biggest accomplishment within the sport?I would say that my biggest accomplishment in Olympic Weightlifting would be winning a silver medal in the World Masters Championships in France and my bronze medal in the Melbourne World games. In your opinion, who are the most inspirational Weightlifters?I believe the most inspirational Weightlifters were Julian Creus and Jim Halliday. Jim Halliday actually came to the gym I coached at to present prizes at a competition! They were the best British Weightlifters at the time and nobody has impacted and inspired me as much since. What is the best and worst part about being a coach?The best part about being a coach is driving home after a competition with a car full of kids who are all pleased with their medals. Then seeing their parents being happy with what their child has achieved and the children beaming when showing their parents. The worst part about being a coach is being made to feel like a babysitter for naughty children. Sometimes I've had naughty children who don't want to lift and it has been difficult to get them to train due to other activities that the kids want to spend their time doing during the Youth Club. Nowadays the kids arent as bad, but in the past I found myself chasing up kids to try and get them to lift. Are there any Weightlifting memories that make you smile or laugh? Gwilym refereeing (not when the funny incident happened) I remember one time when I was refereeing that a man's testicle popped out of his leotard during his squat in the Snatch lift! When he fixed it after the first and second lift, there was a round of applause from the entire audience. He only noticed it because a child started pointing and laughing at him! Another time when I was hosting a friendly Powerlifting competition in a young offenders prison, a man was waiting for the referee to tell him when he could squat. However, he was waiting for a while as the referee had gone and fallen asleep! What are some mistakes Olympic Weightlifters are making nowadays?The majority of lifters are actually Weight swingers rather than Weightlifters. To become a Weightlifter you need to be coached as it isn't natural to know how to correctly lift the bar. A common misconception is that it is correct to swing the barbell out and away from the body whilst lifting. The majority of lifters and coaches are even unaware of the difference between Weight swingers and Weightlifters as most coaches are only able to teach Weight swinging. To become a Weightlifter, the OASIS club and I believe that the barbell must be lifted from the floor to the second key position (the bottom part of the shallow S), this meaning that the barbell is kept close to the body. If you could pass down one piece of advice to me involving sport or Weightlifting, what would it be? I would say that you should try various sports that come along, you never know what you could excel in! You never know, Weightlifting may not be the one for you, it can be riddled with drugs and it is nowadays not easy to aspire to be a good Weightlifter if there are drug takers. You'll find this in other sports obviously, but I mean that you should put yourself out there and try other things instead of devoting yourself to one sport. Pressure can also cause damage to the body which can impact you from doing other things in life. However, Olympic Weightlifting movements are excellent to help other sports and to keep fit. Don't be too discouraged if you cannot achieve greatness or be the best, as if you're injured there's not much to do afterwards and your career would be over. I advise you to dabble in as many things as you can, do this and I'm sure your enthusiasm will help you to do well in anything! Thank you Gwilym for taking part in my interview, you're certainly an inspiration to me and I am thoroughly thankful for all that you do involving Weightlifting. Thanks for reading this different type of blog post, I may continue to conduct more interviews in the future.
Back to Blog
I have been neglecting my blog recently, but I realised the importance of keeping on track as I need to express myself more often than I thought. I have tons of ideas I want to write about on my website, but more research has to be done before I can correctly write about such detailed subjects. Hence why this blog post is basically just me complaining about a topic I'd love to change. So if you've stumbled upon this post, don't take my words to heart as I'm simply stating what's on my mind. Please continue reading if you either a: aren't easily offended or b: are intrigued by the controversial title of this post and my overall experiences. My personal experiencesMany times when I was younger I was put down by other people because of my Weightlifting hobby. I came close to giving up completely and never lifting again, I even took many breaks because I didn't enjoy the negative attention provided by people who thought my passion was something they could make a joke out of. When I first began Weightlifting I was keen to tell people my poundages as with most children they're excited to tell people about their achievements. Sadly, I soon quietened down about it due to people not believing me or continuing to go on and on about it with the intention to make me look like a fool. I still find now that I hate telling people how much I can lift since this happened. I usually try to keep conversations about my poundages sweet and short as I fear that people will think I'm something that I'm not. Recently, someone from a sports apprenticeship company asked me about my poundages and I replied for once with the totals. I received a much different response from one I'd recieved many times from when I was a lot younger, however it wasn't a response I easily knew how to handle. This is coming from a girl who once had an anxiety disorder, but I felt as if I was being treated like a young child. The response I received was trying to perceive me to be stronger than the fully grown male adults who queried me (which is obviously not true). I know that the response may have been like this as they were trying to make conversation and was said with no intention to try and make me rethink my hobby, but I felt rather uncomfortable thinking that this may have had something to do with them trying to encourage me to join their company due to me seeming as if I had little knowledge on the sport. I don't think this was in any relation to my gender, but I wouldn't of been surprised if it was. I left things on a friendly note and left my fitness instagram and blog reference, meaning that the company may read this. If they do, please note that I overthink things but I'm probably smarter than you perceived me to be. I just didn't appreciate the blatant lie I was told in order to try and boost my confidence. In relation to this, I don't like when I'm lifting how people will try to make a joke out of saying how 'huge and butch' I look, when obviously although I am muscular, I'm no where near as big in height and fat as the majority of Weightlifters. I'm not trying to be miserable as I can take a joke, but not when one focuses on the size and body shape of someone who works as hard as I do. Not only does Weightlifting make you tough because you're lifting weights, but the amount of sexism I've dealt with is too much to put into words. I've experienced issues with people ignoring me and my correct point of view, only then to listen to some big, strong man repeating the same words I just used. I've had weights that have belonged to my club snatched out of my hands because I've not been trusted and I've 'not known any better than to grab anything'. I've let people walk all over me when I've been interrupted during my workout just to load and unload the bar for someone (a parent of a child) who shouldn't of been lifting weights (no insurance) and couldn't (no training), all because they wanted to try a personal best. Why this shouldn't happenI believe that this is something that shouldn't happen as it sets a bad example for younger children of the same gender. I have proof of this already and it hurts me to think that sexism in the sports industry is very much still a thing. In fact, Women only began competing in the Olympic games when Weightlifting in the year 2000. Not too long ago, a girl who I coach in my Weightlifting squad was telling me about how she told her class she was a Weightlifter. She then went on to tell me about how they all laughed at her and said she was a liar and didn't lift weights at all. I asked her why and her response was 'Well... because I'm a girl and girls aren't supposed to lift weights'. Even just typing this gives me so much anger, that such a young child feels ashamed and different just because their gender is enjoying a sport. After she told me this I gave her the advice I wished I'd received when this happened to me. I said ' So what if they laughed at you, you're an excellent Weightlifter and I'm sure none of them would be as good as you are. Just as long as you keep going and remember why you do it, you're bound to shine'. Today, when I went training this same lifter was upset because the boys made her the centre of attention and were teasing her whilst I wasn't in the room. This wouldn't of happened if I'd been the main coach in this situation, but thats not a matter to discuss on here. Anyways, she suddenly lost all her confidence lifting in front of people but I decided that I'd train her myself to keep her happy again. When I'm encouraging her to lift, I say things like 'You wanna be the best girl Weightlifter at the competition don't you!' or 'You wanna beat the boys don't you?'. But really, I shouldn't have to say things like that in order to stop someone feeling disheartened because they weren't born a certain way. None of the young male lifters who I coach have ever had issues with their classmates laughing at them due to them being a Weightlifter. People don't teach their children that any gender can do specific sports, jobs or tasks but then expect young children to be happy and a healthy weight for their age. It really isn't fair on those people who really want to try something new but feel restricted only because of a stupid stigma set by people who probably barely even know the hobby. Since girls aren't supposed to do Weightlifting according to many very incorrect people, this can provide boys with more confidence to do better than the girls, hence why I gave my young female lifter the motivation which is lacked in the sport industry for her gender. What I'd love to change about thisIf you know me well, you'd know that I cannot stand injustice and that I'm very compassionate and empathetic. I'd absolutely love to change sexism in the sports industry and boost the confidence of other young children who want to do certain sports and have been told they can't or shouldn't because of their gender. Its not just girls and Weightlifting, but Boys with other sports like dancing or gymnastics. This is one of the reasons I made my blog, as I felt I wanted a platform to deliver my ways of motivating others (just what I wish I had when I was younger). Somehow, I'd love to have a career encouraging children to enjoy sports. Whether this is PE teaching, continuing to volunteer as a Weightlifting coach or something completely different. I have much respect for companies like Thisgirlcan who promote sporting hobbies for girls. It is sad that I can write a blog post complaining about such a serious topic that even a child as young as 8 can notice but not understand that it's wrong. However, I continue to be determined and encourage the young female lifters to keep trying no matter how hard situations are. Many many times I've seen girls attempt Weightlifting at the local youth club where my coach and I volunteer, they've soon backed down and not wanted to continue with the sport. Since this year, I'd been the only female Weightlifter at my club since 2013. I hope that this won't be an issue in future when I begin coaching more. Thank you for reading this blog post. I felt the need to rant in this and simply have no care in the world for any opposing opinions against this post. Whoever you are, whatever your hobby is; keep trying and you can only bring out the best in yourself.
Back to Blog
Its been a month since I published my last blog post and I hate to say it but this will probably happen a lot from now up until July. As i'll be sitting my GCSE's during the summer of 2018, I'll be spending more time revising and working out than I will be on social media. Thats not to say that I'm not looking forward to this, sometimes breaks from social media is the best thing you can do in order to feel totally relaxed. In the meantime whilst I haven't been writing I've been getting ahead with my PE coursework, started Weightlifting and dancing again, finished my physiotherapy appointments, coached the junior Weightlifting squad more and began to Kon Mari some more of my belongings. Now that I've briefly updated about myself, I'll now explain my 5 ways I've found help to encourage children to enjoy exercising. Please carry on reading to find out more about this topic. 1. Showing positivity, not competitionOne of the best ways of encouraging anyone to do anything is by staying positive. Sports usually revolve around competition, even in the fitness industry. One of the main reasons why some people want to get fit is to be better than someone else, I've been there and sometimes I am there. Children can be competitive when it comes to sports, however if there are children of mixed abilities it is best not to encourage competition. When I've been coaching some of the children in the junior Olympic Weightlifting squad, if they've gotten something incorrect I'll make sure to say something good about their lifts as well as some tips. When competing in sports, confidence can be knocked by viewing those with better skills, unless of course you're the best of the best. When the team have gone into competitions, I will often motivate them in order to stop them feeling negative due to the self-inflicted pressure of competing. Many people don't always understand that you obviously might not be as good at something as other people who train for longer or have been involved in the sport for much longer, unless of course it comes naturally to you. 2. Keeping to yourself Workouts written in rough handwriting This one may not seem as obvious and may only work depending on your surroundings, however I've noticed that it works for me. If I'm working out individually or begin to bring equipment out, the children will usually become quite invested in what I'm doing. This often results in them trying and continuing to do the exercises along with my guidance. The amount of times my workouts have been interrupted by some shy but incredibly ambitious kids who only want to know more, is rather a lot. But in the end if they're learning something new then I'm all for it! Sometimes kids have spotted my workouts written on the board and have asked for demonstrations. This shows that not always do you have to put exercise right in front of a child, but you can keep to yourself and the curiosity will cause them to feel like joining in. 3. Pacing how much exercise is completedWhen encouraging children to exercise, I've learnt to remember that not everyone has the same abilities. Often children are encouraged by more amounts of exercise due to the nature of competition, but sometimes children can be motivated by less amounts of exercise if they lack the ability to do a lot but still want to participate. For instance, many of the children in the Weightlifting squad are very enthusiastic about fitness, but someone has to set limits as to how much exercise is too much. At the young ages they're are (ranging from 7 years old to 12), often the children will want to show off or keep trying until they're physically fatigued and tired. This has often been the case many times when I've been coaching and one time I had to show the group how to do modified pushups as they all could only complete different but low numbers of normal pushups. To stop those who are less able feeling down about watching the others complete more amounts of push ups in order to 'look the best', I made them all complete the same exercise but within their own time. However, if I hadn't of shown them the modified push ups, they would've lacked the proper form to complete a good amount of normal pushups. Sometimes its not common sense for a child to stop or know their limit when exercising, I've been there and have caused myself to work to complete exhaustion resulting in me vomiting. Many times, the children have loaded the Weightlifting bar to their absolute maximum before warming up towards the weight, so guidance is key when children want to exercise. I currently volunteer at a youth club and many of the children there have conditions which stop them from partaking in as much sport compared to some of the other children. This is why that in order to make exercise enjoyable, not pushing children, not expecting too much of them and respecting how hard they're trying is important. 4. Circuit training (An example exercise)A couple of times I've motivated the children to exercise by organising different activities before we begin Weightlifting. Circuit training is an excellent example of this. You can replicate Weightlifting movements, include strength building exercises and pulse raisers. I would suggest only completing one or two circuits (depending on how much training you expect afterwards and how hard each exercise is). However, the kids enjoyed it because it was something new and interesting to give them a surge of energy before they began lifting. I added in a range of exercises which were usually different at each station (burpees, push ups, sit ups, star jumps, squats etc.) 5. Fitness testing (An example exercise) An example of my fitness test More recently, I tried some basic fitness testing with the kids. I used very basic exercises and didn't set any limits for them, however they seemed to motivate each other and show sportsmanship. If any of the children couldn't or didn't want to complete an exercise, I let them sit out or showed them something else they could try. I also joined in with them so they knew what they were doing. Fitness testing is a good way of showing the children their progress after a period of time and is also a great opportunity for them to identify their weaknesses and strengths. The majority of the Olympic Weightlifting squad have only been training between 3- to 9 months, meaning that as they start to train for longer with more precision they can compare their ability from the first test compared to many more. Overall, they enjoyed it and it got them thinking positively about how successful they were. When testing the kids, I used a really good way of checking their Olympic Weightlifting techniques. The bottom two parts of the sheet involved each lifter attempting both the Snatch and the Clean and jerk until I said it was acceptable or perfect. As they're fairly new to the sport, they often have guidance involving what they need to adjust or correct, whereas with this they had to work out for themselves what was wrong with their lifts. Overtime, the number of attempts will decrease as their lifting technique improves. Thank you for reading this post, I'm sorry that its only short. Please note that all of these ideas and methods are only posted on my site as a way to inspire. In no way at all am I attempting to copy other ideas and reclaim them as my own. As I'm not a licensed Olympic Weightlifting coach yet and do not currently own a coach number one or two qualification, please note that all activities involving Weightlifting had an official licensed coach present at all times. For heath and safety reasons, children wouldn't be left to their own accord during these activities.
|
|||||||||||||||
