5 Kilo Jumps

A Rhythm Song 

This red two and half kilo plate feels light in my hands.  But why does this small piece of metal feel so heavy once on the bar? You would think you could eventually break all the world records by adding 5 kilo's to each set.  If the bar was long enough I would just slide as many of these little plates across this bar forever for as long as the eye could see.  Endless miles of little red plates that stretch out the gym loading dock, past the highway, and to a place where world records resign.  Up and down, fast and crisp, sweat drips from our face with every sip of coffee we taste.   This is why I like working up to max by taking 5 kilo jumps.....rhythm, timing, an understanding of why and how your body is moving with the bar.  Rep after rep you turn the pages to the old book you found in your grandpa's desk drawer with a fast turn of the head and a quick flick from your fingers.  Hooked on what the next page has to offer, what shall become of the character, or how it will end.  Set after set you sit while finding your twitches in sync with your thoughts.  Each chug from your energy drink lines up perfectly with the tapping of your foot from the music.  Every swipe to the face from your training towel glides simultaneously with a soft moan from the pain that shoots up your spine from the years the sport has laid upon you.  A perfect harmony has fallen into your lap, and now it's time to stand from your resting chair, and add another 5 kilo's to the long bar that has now reached the north pole.

Lift and sit, lift and sit.  Repeat 'til the gym empties and the owls outside are the only ones watching you paint your painting in the lonely warehouse where your music and monster energy drinks motivate your perfect harmony along.  You will hear the difference between a good lift and a not so good lift. The not so good lift makes a sound that doesn't mesh with the other sounds around you.  It's like sticking your head under the car's hood and saying to yourself, "Now what do we have here.....".  I prefer to coach with my eyes closed. I enjoy lifting with my eyes closed.  Feel how your body moves, hear how your athletes sound.  This will gain more insight in figuring out all the little things that happen between the basic positions that are hidden from the naked eye.  Add 5 kilo's more than the last set.  Even though there are thousands of little two and a half kilo plates on the bar that all add up to a 700 kilo total, it's not that heavy because they are just little plates that feel very light when picking one up.  How on God's green earth can this weak, defeated, scared plate be any match for us strong weightlifters?  It can't.  So stop thinking the weight in front of you is heavy.  This is a common problem I see with myself and others.  You are in charge of the weight, not the weight, fuck the weight, and guess what..... fuck the bar.  We need to stop respecting the bar so much like it's our boss, our all mighty king.  We are kings and queens that allow the bar to live and have a purpose, not the other way around.  Next time you add a one kilo plate to your bar for a PR, just feel that tiny weight in your hand, and think to yourself - the only thing stopping you from making a new all time PR........ is this.

Beginners in the sport of weightlifting, I call out to you to try this workout.  Finding yourself as a weightlifter takes many years and time under a bar, but this workout can help find that inner finesse and rhythm that is over looked and can never be coached.  I am a big believer in big jumps as well, or as I like to call them "Shankle jumps," because I have never seen anyone take bigger jumps than Shankle.  I once saw him clean and jerk 70 kilo's, sit for 2 minutes without blinking once, stand up, load 200 kilos, and then clean and jerk it like it was nothing.  Nothing!  This in my opinion is all a mind set.  Not strength, not technique, not even athleticism.  100 percent mental. There is a time and place for Shankle jumps, but not now my friend.  Not for me, because I am just getting back into training, and not for the beginning athlete, because he or she needs more experience with the lifts and not as much focus on the weight on the bar.  When the day comes that you can take 20 kilo jumps, or whatever very big jumps are for you, then you can lift blind folded.  You have become a pro.  You have found peace and harmony.  You have found yourself as a true artist.

Small Jumps 2016