Training the CHinese system

So for two semesters down in Waterloo Iowa I lived in Jianping Ma's basement. Another lifter Dan Moeller lived down there to. We trained at United Sport and Athlete and I got a glimpse into the Chinese system of training.

    First things first, in my opinion the classic lifts were not done enough. There were some weeks were it seemed like all we did was assistance stuff and then on friday we were expected to max out on the classic lifts. I remember being scared to death of the classic lifts on fridays, scared like I was going to hurt myself.

    About those assistance exercises, too many were used. It seems like the Chinese do variety for the sake of doing variety. Many exercises I felt didn't help me at all. Maybe they would help some people but not me. That's were I think the Russians got it right, instead of doing variety just for the sake of variety, it seems the Russian program in exercise like medicine to compensate for deficiencies and weaknesses.

    Some of the exercises under the Chinese system I liked, I was smart enough to get a gut sense when an exercise was helping me out. Exercises such as jerk recoveries, good mornings, and stiff legged deadlifts. We never did much behind the neck stuff but I find that those exercises help my crappy shoulders and overhead position.

    Squats were done three times per week usually but not always, sometimes it seemed like we did more deadlifting than anything. Many of us suffered from old man walking syndrome as a result. This is where you walk like an old man because of the heavy deadlifting. It made me feel like tight, stiff, unathletic. People would go way too heavy, to the point where backs would round and form would break down.

    We did a lot of high pulls and I never minded them, I'd rather do pulls over deadlifts anyday. I always felt I had pretty good form on my pulls too. So as much as I trash pulls, I really don't hate them as much as you would think, it just feels wrong not to go under.

   What other exercises did we do? You name it we did it. Muscle snatches, power jerks, power snatches, power cleans, half squats in the power rack, french presses, rows, press, push press, lifts/pulls/deadlifts from the blocks, hang lifts, hyper extensions, bench presses, treadmill running, pauses in the half squat for time with 50-60 kilos, rack jerks, snatch balances, pull ups, toes to bar, leg extentions. I"m sure I'm forgetting others. None of it was based on your weakness and everybody had the same program. Like I said, variety for the sake of variety.

    My theory is that it's a cultural thing. I think Asians like variety, I think it stimulates them. I could be wrong though.

    One of the best things was that Jianping Ma wasn't just a coach, he was the team masseuse as well. Sometimes he'd give me a quick massage after practice or else he would walk on my back, "Simon, let me walk your back", he'd say. He also brought in an inversion table to be used post workout. He liked us to hang from the pull up bar for the same reason, I think it was to decompress the spine. All of that stuff was a good element to the training. One time I let him do the suction cups to my back. I remember coming home one weekend and showing my family the red marks, I think I messed with them and told them something was wrong, they freaked out before I explained what they really were.

    I could see how the system would be good for the extremely talented individual. You wouldn't have to max out much, most of the time you do assistance and bodybuilding, lot's of variety keeping the mood light. And that's all fine and dandy as long as you were born to snatch and clean and jerk. That's what I thought anyway.

    We lifting on Zhangkong (ZK) bars which I didn't particularly like. There was one competition bar that we kept in the corner that was really nice, the spin was crazy. I'd much rather lift on Uesaka or Eleiko.

  I don't know what else to write about. Maybe I'll do a part two sometime.

     

Weightlifting is like sex

Weightlifting is like sex. There, I've wrote it. I'm not the only one to ever think this. Why is it like sex? Because it's a release, because you have to pour yourself into the lift, because it's a burst, because you will make noises that sound sexual as you grunt and aggressively exhale, because it's intimate, it's you and the bar, and yes to do this in competition is like having sex in front of people. There is a rhythm to it and if you can't find that rhythm then you aren't doing it right and you'll never get to the finish line. Gwen Sisto says weightlifting is parasympathetic, I would guess that sex is parasympathetic as well. That usually means it would get clumped in the "Rest and digest" category but that ain't right. Sure, there is a relaxed aspect to it, just like sex, but as we know there is something very not relaxed about it as well. It takes focus, it take concentration, you have to be into it fully, submersed, in a world within a world, same as you can't be watching the football game while you are having sex, it's possible but obviously it isn't as meaningful. That's why weightlifters might get confused as being "fussy", it's fine if music is on in the gym but not too loud, people shifting around the gym can be distracting. We are trying to reach a climax but we have to rest and calm down between each set in order to do that. That's the way it is, rest, climax, rest, climax, again and again. It's hard to rest when music is blasting or the room is full of loud discussion. I admit, that is "fussy" but it's the way it is, because weightlifting is like sex. It can be difficult for new weightlifters to perform in front of people watching because weightlifting is like sex. They have to show what they look like, what they sound like, the faces they make that occur when they bear down and lift the bar. I actually get mocked in my gym for the noises I make or the faces I make. It's no different than getting made fun of for the faces or noises you make during sex. Everyone is gonna have there own individual faces and noises when they completely bear down on a lift. If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch a video of the best weightlifter to ever lift, Naim Suleymanolgu, watch the way he opens his mouth wide open before he pulls on the bar, it's like the "Oh face" as described in Office space. Good lifters pour themselves into the lift, it's a sacrifice of emotion, tension, stress, past, future, everything. That's all mainly because it's a one rep max sport, you are betting the farm on each lift, it's totally different than the efficiency needed to save your energy when doing reps. There it is, I've finally wrote it down, Weightlifting is like sex.