PFP Barbell:Arnold Classic Recap

           Last weekend PFP Barbell attended the Arnold Classic Sports Festival in Columbus Ohio . USA Weightlifting hosted the American Open Series 1 and we had 3 athletes compete. We also helped coach another 3 during their sessions over the weekend. Overall there were 77 sessions of Weightlifting over the weekend so we spent a lot of time surrounded by some really awesome lifters and coaching really awesome lifters. 
            First up was Marisa Galli our 58kg lifter . She lifted in the very first session of the weekend. Marisa is one of our newer lifters , this was her second meet ever, but one of our most talented she moves really well and is hungry to learn and get better. She entered the meet with a 102kg total and was ready to improve on it. She started us off with a bang going 5 for 6 . In the snatch she went 45kg, 48kg, and missed 52kg which would have been a lifetime personal best. In the Clean and Jerk she went 65kg, 68kg, and 70kg. Marisa came into the meet at the 64th seed and finished 41st overall! We always talk with our athletes about working to beat their seeding and she did that in a huge way! She set the tone for the weekend and we are pumped for her future. 
            Next up was Gerald Hayes our 77kg lifter . Gerald is one of our more experienced lifters and has really come into his own this year as an athlete . This was his first meet of this size and as we expected , he responded excellently. He had to lift at 9pm on the first day which we were a little concerned about , however he ended up going 4 for 6 and attempting a PR on his last snatch only coming up slightly short. On the Snatches he went 80kg, 84kg, then missed 88kg . On the Clean and Jerks he had a session that we were all really proud of, we hit 100kg , missed 104kg , then came back and made 104kg. Coming back from a miss and making it immediately after on such a big stage is something to be really proud of . Gerald ended up placing 48 of 68 athletes beating his seed by over 20 spots ! Gerald left super inspired and we expect really big things this year from him ! 
              Throughout the weekend we got to work with a few athletes that aren't "our"
 athletes, meaning they don't train with the team regularly , don't use our programming etc. Most are friends of the club or local Pittsburgh based athletes who want extra help in the back . 
          The first one of these athletes was Tim Larkin . He lifted Saturday morning in the 77kg class. Tim is an athlete over at Crossfit Athletics in the southside and moves exceptionally well.  His snatch is his better of the lifts so we were excited for him in this session. Tim ended up going 5 for 6 hitting a 98kg , 103kg and missing his final snatch (and PR attempt) at 106kg. His Clean and Jerks ended up going much better hitting all of his attempts at  115kg , 120kg, and 123kg . He placed 21st out of 68 athletes . 
            Brian Bauman was next up , Brian is a fun athlete to watch and is in great shape . He and his coach Dylan Snyder of Crossfit Mt Lebo have non-traditional approach that works really well for Brian that they have had good success with.  Brian is in amazing shape as Crossfit is his primary form of exercise so he takes a ton of attempts in the back especially in the Snatch. He hit an 88kg , 96kg, and 105kg snatches during the session . I believe his 1st attempt was the first or second attempt of the entire session  and then his 3rd attempt was the heaviest snatch session. I have never seen that before but it was awesome to see and he crushed it! Brian ended up 4 for 6 on the day with a 231kg total after hitting a 126kg clean and jerk in the second half of the meet. Brian is a super talented lifter and will only continue to get better and better . 
         Jackie Bobsled Rodgers was next to go she is a coach and athlete at Crosfit Mt Lebo as well! She lifted in a very competitive 69k B session on Saturday. Jackie is a really good friend , an amazing athlete, and may be the only person we have every met who is more energetic and goofy than Coach Tom . We love working with Bobsled you never know what you're going to get . She is a great competitor who is always capable of doing something  that makes you go "WOW". In this case her entire effort this weekend had that effect on us. Battling some injuries we weren't sure how her session would go and she ended up going 3 for 6 after having a great snatch session followed by some press out issues on her Clean and Jerks. In typical Bobsled fashion, when the pressure was on she smoked her 3rd and final Clean and Jerk attempt to place 26th overall and get 3rd in her age group! Great work Jackie
         Last to go was Coach Tom . I will be doing a separate post about this session as it was a pretty special . Tom Duer went 4 for 6 on the day for a 325kg total a lifetime PR . On Snatches  he went 140kg,145kg and missed 150kg. Then the clean and jerk session he went 175kg , missed 178kg on a press out , then hit 180kg for a 3kg PR . This is the first time in over 2 years Tom has hit a personal best clean and jerk in training or competition.  Tom ended up finishing in 5th place overall in a very stacked field. 
          Overall is was a pretty amazing an surreal weekend for the PFP Barbell. Last year we only had one athlete compete and probably three athletes total as a club. To have 3 compete well and to be able to help 3 more was a pretty amazing experience. We are excited to be growing the Weightlifting community in Pittsburgh . If you are interested in trying to sport of weightlifting email : [email protected] to set up your free Weightlifting Assessment .