With any sport there are injuries, Olympic weightlifting is no different. While statistically, Olympic weightlifting is a sport with very few injuries, over time you’re bound to have some minor aches and pains, especially at the higher level.
My weightlifting career was cut short due to my own stupidity. Earlier on, I couldn’t care any less about position, the focus was to lift the bar as high as possible and get under fast. I was pretty fearless and straight stupid…Thanks to this I front squatted with a nasty hip kick out and sometimes lost my upper back tightness. Stupid training and a weak foundation = lower back herniation (L4,L5, S1).
I remember it very clearly, my interns were cheering me on for my final set of front squats. I got caught in the bottom, so of course I’m going to fight for it…bad move. Instead of dumping it I fought through a real UGLY squat, half way up I heard a pop then a burning sensation…but hell I did make the lift…to then collapse on the ground. I was done, no more competing over my careless training.
Fast forward 6 years of going back and forth between injuries and I’m left to figure out if I should go through a competition cycle despite recently tweaking my back. I’ve been in this type of situation before where I was actually getting coached from a “fitness guru” and instead of listening to my body I listened to that idiot and tweaked my back again, setting me back another YEAR.
This was supposed to be the year that I get to be back on the platform, something that was taken away from me too early on. Unfortunately shit happens and you have to adapt. Today, I’m making the right coaching decision to hold off on this competition until my back is stronger and I’m able to handle a competition block. It f’n kills me to bust my ass training to come up short again! With that said I know with each block I’m getting closer and closer and I know that I’ll soon enough be healthy enough to walk back on the platform, despite my age :p.
The Take Home
This rant was really to let lifters that don’t have a coach understand that sometimes you have to take a step back and look at the long term plan. While I maybe able to lift at this upcoming competition, is it worth placing myself at risk of injuries, especially since I have a shitty back history. It’s best to keep building up and moving forward to compete another day. It’s not a fun reality to face and it’s damn strong punch to the nads but that’s the smart decision.
On a brighter note, here’s a young up and coming weightlifter that just keeps blasting up weights:
D’Angelo Osorio (94kg) follow him on Instagram HERE
Train smart,
Team Fusion Weightlifting