Wednesday, November 30, 2011

My Inspiration: Kulsoom Abdullah - Hijabi Weightlifter


For most people, any bump on the road will either slow you down or make you want to stop side-aways. While for others, they will fight for what they believe in and what they have passion for. One such person is Kulsoom Abdullah, an American-Pakistani weightlifter, who I have heard about few months ago.

Kulsoom has got the media attention when she wanted to be fully covered and compete in the 2011 US National Weightlifting Tournament that took place in July, she was told she could not because of the way she dresses. However, that did not stop her. In fact, she recently flew to Paris to compete at 2011 World Weightlifting Championship in the 48KG, C class division, the first and only Pakistani female to do so.

In an e-mail interview with me, she said: "I do not have an ultimate goal.  It was the same when I started.  I just did it, and kept going with it. I did not even have goals of competing, but that just happened along the way, as did everything else till now. It has also been unexpected."

Kulsoom has inspired me in a way I don't think anyone else can. She has pushed through boundaries, went out of her way and got special clothes designed for her and still held on to her Hijab...just to do what she loves to do: lifting weights.

"I did not have a role model in hijab for weightlifting...but I have admired the accomplishments of other females in sports. The dedication it takes and the skills you gain was something I wanted to get."  

Her fitness journey started close to her graduation from grad school; Kulsoom used to practise Taekwondo until she learned about Olympic Lifts in 2007. She then started her Olympic Weightlifting training alongside doing Crossfit.

"I loved to lift, and I would attend separate class sessions on weightlifting in addition to doing Crossfit workouts. Finally, at the beginning of 2010, my coach convinced me to go to an open local weightlifting competition in March." 

She then continued into competing at events so she can qualifies. Despite her hard-work, I asked her if she faced any challenges training in a scarf.

"With each activity, there is adjustment and experimentation.  I remember a few times when I did have done some overhead lifts, Snatch or Jerk, the barbell made the scarf fly up and over my face.  I still finished the lift, but I then adjusted my head scarf accordingly," she said, a situation I have faced myself!

Unlike majority of those training, she would train fully-covered, head to toe, and often times people would ask her how she feels about it. 

"A lot of people wonder if I get "hot" because of the extra layers of clothing but I am used to it, I tell them," adding she has been wearing the scarf since she was 14 years old.

Many people can really learn about "fighting for what you believe in" through her story, and inspired me she did.

"I hope it will help encourage other women to try a sport and compete. Definitely, if I knew and was exposed to this when I was younger, I would have started back when I was a child."

Her message to women out there? "There is no reason to consider this sport taboo or masculine, it's far from the truth," she said.

To know more about Kulsoom: 

Click HERE to visit her Facebook Page.
Click HERE to visit her Website.
Click HERE to visit her Twitter Account.

Yours Truly,
GymFreak @999fitness





Friday, November 18, 2011

Review: Olympic Weightlifting in Dubai Clinic

The Olympic Lifts generally are often not given the credit they deserve and often neglected in majority of training programs. In fact, for the past 4 years that I was lifting weights, I not once thought about doing a Clean and Jerk or the Snatch. But then again these two lifts are two of the most complicated lifts and not anyone can just teach them and you don't learn them overnight or even months for some as they are very technique-based.


However, today I visited my first "clinic", a three-hour course run by Olympic WeightLifting in Dubai headed by Coach Derrick Branford & Coach Ikaika Paakaula, in coordination with Evolve UAE. Both coaches have been Olympic Lifting for 10-15 years each. Although having traind with Derrick earlier and with Ikaika recently, I have learnt greatly about Olympic lifts more so today.

Quick Tip: Both lifts require weights being lifted from the ground to an overhead position.

Before getting into the lifts, we started with a general warm-up - which is important to prevent injuries and warmed up the muscles that will be used in the lifts. After that we spent the first hour learning how to "snatch." To practise the lifts, we used PVC pipes and used light weights as the main goal was to learn the technique and not how much we can lift. We worked through the different progressions on getting the lift. The snatch uses a wide-grip and starts from a Deadlift position.


Derrick in action after the second pull
Tips for the Snatch were:

- Always keep the bar close to your body.
- As you pull the bar from the ground until you reach your knees, your upper body stays in the same position and only your leg moves.
-As you reach over your knees, your shoulders would come forward
- Drag the bar up your body and just before you go for the pull, the bar slightly moves away from the body
- Then you use your hips to generate a pop that will drive the bar upwards (not forward or you will miss the lift!)
- Then you go under the bar to catch it overhead with locked out arms
- Then down into an overhead squat.
- You finish by standing with the weight lifted overhead.

Ikaika in an Overhead Squat position














ps: The Snatch is considered a much more complicated lift than the Clean and Jerk.


The Snatch is actually on of my personal weaknesses and just yesterday after two months of hard work I was able to get my half bodyweight Power Snatch:



After we were done with the Snatch, we moved on to the Clean&Jerk which priniciple is pretty much the same. The first part of the Clean is similar to the Snatch in terms of the first pull, which is from the deadlift position up until the pop from the hips, where the second pull takes place. However, the clean and jerk has a narrow-stance and you have to move under the bar and catch the weight on your shoulders first and then drive down into a front squat.

During the class, we learned the push press and the split jerk - which is a movement in which you use your legs to generate power to push the weight overhead. 

Tips on the Clean and Jerk:

- Stay patient with the bar until you reach your second pull.
-Keep your back upright and straight while doing a front squat (don't lean forward)
- Derrick said during the class that the amount of weight lifted overhead in a push press has nothing to do with upper body strength, it's all legs.
- To recover from the split jerk movement, always bring the front foot forward (otherwise you will lose balance), and slowly recover in small movements both legs.

Here is a video of me doing a 40kgs Power Clean. FYI - The 40kgs lift was not pretty lift (i.e. I didn't get under the bar to catch it): 



To wrap up the course, both Derrick and Ikaika demonstrated The Snatch, Clean&Jerk, and Back Squat which you can view HERE in their facebook page. They were MAD! Lifting up to 150kgs.

In a quick chat with Derrick, he said that he spent more than a year just lifting with a broomstick before he actually lifted with weights. The movements are complicated and take time to learn. As he said "It's like riding a bicycle." Once your central nervous system gets used to it - your body never forgets it. So it's best to learn these lifts with good habits from the beginning, as opposed to bad habits which will eventually lead to injury.

Derricks advice to me was simple = stronger legs makes a huge difference. Champions never went a day without squatting. So SHUT UP AND GET YOUR ASS TO GRASS!

I recommend anyone serious about getting stronger, fitter, serious about weightlifting - and improving their oly lifts technique to take part in the next clinic which will be announced in Olympic Weightlifting Dubai Facebook page...and the cool thing? You also get a....





Yours Truly,
GymFreak @999fitness


 


Monday, November 14, 2011

One Month Reflection: Mentality, Training, and Diet

It's been exactly one month since I started my training for the Open Crossfit competition which will take place in exactly 3 months. I thought it would be good to write a post to assess my weaknesses and strengths that I have come across in the past month.

The post will be broken down into: mentality, training ups & downs, and finally my diet.

1. Mentality: 

A large part of training is really mental. Not physical. One of the things I always struggled with is believing in myself and ability, and most of all my strength. There were points where I used to get angry and feel disappointed with not getting the lift I wanted, the weight, or the time, or rounds I thought I could get. In fact, there were times where I literally just wanted to give up. But in the past month I learned that without my failures, I will not grow as a person or as an athlete.

I learned to accept there will be heavy gravity days, there will be days where I don't get what I want, but I also learned through my failures is that I actually wanted to get it even more. So that meant I need to work harder and think smarter. Instead of freaking out about the weight I will be picking, or the workout I have to do, I need to think about my goals, about what I want to achieve - and do my best to achieve it, even if it meant failing again and again. 

And to be honest? I got greedy a bit with my lifts and reality hit me when I struggled TWICE to life 85kgs, when I did lift it once 3 times in a row....EASY!

Lesson? Don't get greedy. There will be really good days. Keep working hard. You will see results.

2. Training up & downs: 

I recently found out that my body is literally "all over the place." In other words, I have a leg that is slightly longer than the other, one hip has more range of motion (ROM), I don't have full ROM of my shoulders - and it has been a big stumbling block in my training, by the way. Anything overhead SUCKS! Putting it all together is affecting my spine and my "natural" posture...to put the situation in simple words.

Due to the reasons above, a lot of what I need to achieve, I have not been able to - and need physiotherapy for it (still do, but financial situation is not allowing me to do it as often as I need to). Hopefully it will get sorted out soon!

Anyway..., I have been working on my mobility for at least two months now, and slowly I am learning to deal with these "situations." And honestly? Sometimes they freak me out. I wonder if I will ever be able to get my issues resolved to make the best of my strength so I can make it to the crossfit regionals. I often wonder... Will I ever be able to get 40kgs overhead? Will I ever be able to overhead squat more than 20kgs? Will I be able to do a handstand in the right position? Let alone handstand pushups! Will I be able to squat more weight?

I have these fears, but I am not letting them stop me from training or pushing against odds. For all it's worth, let me list down my training "ups" & "need to work on..."


Last month ups...

  • Deadlifting 85kgs x 3
  • Shoulder press position improved significantly
  • Got wall handstands & one free handstand
  • Squat form improved GREATLY within 7 months
  • Improved kipping
  • Split jerk @ 35kgs 
  • 1RM Squat @ 65kgs
  • Push Press @ 32.5kgsx5 
  • Capacity and endurance improved
  • ...mostly? Mentality by the end of month one. Patience has set in and determination.

Need to work on....


  • Improving mentality every single session
  • Gymnastic skills: handstands, ring dips...to name a few
  • Up on the list is DOUBLE UNDERS! They are a MUST in competition, and I ain't got them
  • Improve my Olympic lifts: Clean&Jerk and The Snatch (technique and weight)
  • Other skills: Knee to Elbows, Kettlebell swings with big weights 
  • Need unbroken box jumps
  • Hollow rocks
  • Running (I am a fast sprinter, but not a good runner!) 
  • Increase amount of weight lifted overhead. 
I failed a lot last month, and there is no need to mention every single failure with the world. But one thing is for sure, I have a lot of work to do, and I say BRING IT ON...with the blood and sweat, and tears...of course!

3. Diet

People often ask me what I eat and what eating lifestyle I follow. Well, I follow my own guidelines. Yes, there are eating lifestlyes that are the most "ideal", and work for the majority. But not for me. I had a number of people either advising me on what to eat or how I should eat. I only realized by doing so I only became obsessed with food, and every single bite I had made me  feel guilty if I "strayed" from what I should be eating.

Four years ago, I actually had a major binging problem - not the point I had to go to someone to "fix it" or "fix me", but I knew I was going through a path of self-destruction. I started dieting, counting calories, not eating certain foods...and then going CRAZY on weekends, nachos, burgers, 3 scoops of ice cream. YOU NAME IT!

Finding myself in that old mentality - again, mentality - I realized you know what? It's not that I don't care what the experts told me is best for me to get the best results, but I know if I did exactly what they told me to do through sudden changes in my eating lifestyle, I am only setting up myself for failure. I was doing perfectly fine on my own as I know the consequences of the food I am eating, I know what reaction I will get from certain foods and whatnot. I understand how to control my weight, how to gain and how to lose.

So in the past two years I have been following my own diet and despite eating the way I did, I still made muscle mass gains, strength gains, I lost 15% of bodyfat in 2 years ON MY OWN in a healthy way - mentally and physically. So I decided I will continue doing what I am doing, and SLOWLY change some eating habits when I see fit according to the advice given to me.

My diet consists of the following food items: 
  • Lean meats (chicken, steak, turkey...and now introduced salmon)
  • Eggs
  • Lots of veggies (mixed greens, carrots, broccoli...etc,)
  • Wholewheat rice or white rice occassionally
  • A bit of dairy (a cup of milk every other day and an ounce of cheese in my salad) 
  • Healthy fats: nuts, avocado, olive oil, coconut oil...
  • Sauces: balsamic or lemon olive oil.
  • Ice cream (specifc flavors!) or chocolate (I only eat lindt milk chocolate actually!) on specific days post-workout (Disclaimer: it works for me - it may not work for you, so don't try it!)
  • I should eat fruits, I don't as much as I should. One fruit a day would be enough for me.
The above is just a quick run through of the kind of foods I eat. Most of my calories come from protein sources and healthy fats, and some from carbs. Also, I often stay away from junk food: i.e. fried foods and pastries. I eat whole foods 80% of the time, so the results I see are from my diet and not just training Just how I turned my eating lifestyle around in 2 years, I will turn it around even more with time. Baby steps!

Like I say...achieving a healthy lifestyle is a process, and it's not a procedure. Keep that in mind everytime you slip off the wagon - it will still be there for you to hop up on. If you choose to.

Yours truly,
GymFreak @999fitness


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

I once feared squatting...

Something that many do not know about me is my fear of squatting. Given I am a person who lift weights, and believe in compound movements, squatting is a no brainer.

You thought wrong.

Since I started training in 2007 up until April 2011, I never A) properly back squatted, B) ditched squatting for more than a year.

Why? The idea of having weight on my back and going deep enough scared me. I never had someone to spot me, didn't trust anyone to do it, and most of all feared being stuck in the bottom position with no idea how to bail out.

I occasionally, well less often than not, "attempted to squat", by doing half squats. I told myself doing those would workout my quads... who cared about my hamstrings and glut muscles, my deadlift will take care of that!

Wrong, again. Realizing I was not going to get away with half squatting. I decided you know what? The hell with squatting, it was not for me, I HATED it.

But in April 2011, things changed. One day I walked into something called a "box"  (i.e. http://crossfitlifesparkdubai.com/), where all I saw was barbells, plates...and a number of squat racks. The first thing my current coach, Candice Howe, asked me to do back then was... show her my squat. I did. It was any coaches' nightmare! I did not know how to SQUAT!...and by that time my half squats where at 50kgs.

50kgs, my a$$!

Since that day, she and I have worked hard to "re-program" my squats. We started with body weighted squats (trust me, they ain't easy still!), box squats, with 10kgs, 15kgs...etc, until we reached a bodyweight squat with 50kgs with depth just a couple of months ago.

However, this past weekend, all the hard work paid off....

Seven months later since April this year.... I still fear squatting, but I still squatted 65kgs. So now I will leave you to enjoy watching the video.


 

See how I got stuck coming up? Instead of calling for help...I fought to get it. That's progress. 

Yours truly,
Gym Freak @999fitness