Zen and Weightlifting

“On this trip I think we should notice it, explore it a little, to see if in that strange separation of what man is from what man does we may have some clues as to what the hell has gone wrong in this twentieth century. I don’t want to hurry it. That itself is a poisonous twentieth century attitude. When you want to hurry something, that means you no longer care about it and to get on to other things” – Robert Pirsig

This quote, taken from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is how I would like to address my “career” in weightlifting. I know that I am not a world class athlete and if I am in something it isn’t in weightlifting. But it is something that I enjoy, very much. I want to get into it, study the sport and learn for myself what it takes to be great (everything is relative). Weightlifting for me is a journey, a trip. Not a destination to London in 2012 or Rio in 2016. It is rather something that I enjoy and because of this want to do as well as my body will allow me. I want to focus my energy in the gym of maximizing what I can do with what I have been given. I will not be fickle in choosing programs but will invest the requisite time and energy in deciding what is successful and what isn’t.

For the moment I am following a linear progression model of Olympic weightlifting. Has it been successful? I’m not sure. It has been with the “power” movements. Will it be successful? Not the faintest clue. It is a well outlined plan but that means little in the face of actual, in the trenches, work. But, because success in weightlifting is purely objective (most weight wins) I can take the time to analyze my time spent.

To “get my hands dirty” and to get to know my sport in the fullest since is my ultimate weightlifting goal. Obviously, there are objective goals to keep me on track, Snatch 120, C&J 160 and after that, possibly nationals, but these are goals in the process. I will not hurry this goal or speed it up beyond its intended speed. When (if) it happens, it happens. But the journey to weightlifting greatness (again, relative) involves a lot of introspection and focus on understanding to the best of my abilities.

These are my goals.