The training is not the sport.
Kicking this one off with acknowledgement that the background content here has come from a presentation by Graeme Robson within a HPSNZ Core Knowledge coach development workshop.
We’re starting with the premise that learning is a key component to performing in sport. At novice level this begins with the more obvious things like the skills of the sport (e.g. snatch and clean & jerk), and the rules of competition (number of attempts, order of lifting, press out rule etc). With experience, age and increasing performance, learning evolves into more technical and tactical considerations such as how to perform in unfamiliar environments, the most effective personal approaches to recovery, mental performance skills and so on. Learning includes both how to train, and how to compete.
There are multiple ways to approach learning (research loves to produce a model), one of which is the use of representative training. This is an important one to me to speak about within a weightlifting context because I think it is easy to be lazy with it, and therefore miss an opportunity (particularly as coaches) for our athletes to learn and be better prepared to compete.
Representative learning essentially boils down to the idea that the more training looks like performance, the better. Why do I think we’re generally lazy with this in a sport like weightlifting? Because at face value, the training does look like competing; completing heavy snatch and clean & jerk singles that meet a set of technical criteria.
Except that doesn’t actually look like the potential realities of competition, and unless we make it happen the training environment will not mimic the competitive process. When training doesn’t mimic the competitive process, athletes are not provided the opportunity to learn how to compete.
It is completely valid to argue that athletes will learn to compete by competing. Personally, I don’t think that’s enough, and particularly as coaches we risk athlete performance outcomes (and positive experiences) through a lack of preparation, thought towards and learning about the competitive environments we are going into.
How can we learn about competing without competing? Here are some ideas of things to practice in training in order to make it more representative;
Not allowing the athlete to choose where they warm up
Warming up in one area/on one barbell and then moving to take top singles on a different barbell in a different area
Not allowing the athlete to dictate the timing of warm up
Changing the warm up part way (adding or dropping sets)
Alternating rest periods (shorter or longer) within the warm up and between heavy attempts without prior warning
Limiting the number of heavy attempts
Taking heavy attempts without background music
Taking heavy attempts with others watching (including sitting in front of the athlete)
Taking extended breaks (e.g. 20+ min) between exercises
Further to the above, when there is a specific event coming up, you can also consider…
Time of day
The athlete should be aware of how they tend to feel and have experience lifting heavy at the time of day they are scheduled to compete
Temperature/humidity
This can be difficult to replicate if unable to manipulate usual training environments, however an awareness of how an athlete operates in the cold vs hot and dry vs wet and being able to plan for this is better than nothing
It would not be practical to employ representative training all the time, however it absolutely has it’s place within training for athletes at all levels. The key message is that we are seeking to develop multiple sets of skills; both the snatch and clean & jerk, and the ability to compete in weightlifting. The training itself is not the sport.
