Gwen Weightlifting: Carlos Andica- Part 4, Risto Sports & Getting ready for 2012 Olympics

Carlos getting his game on
at the Arnold

Carlos and Ivan had first met at the 2009 Pan Am Championships.
In 2011, Ivan and Carlos's work was first revealed to the US.

It was February 2011, and Carlos was planning on competing at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival. It is a long and arduous series of flights from Armenia, Colombia to Columbus, Ohio. And, Carlos would not be going alone-- his little brother, Johnny Andica would be competing as well. Having great trust in Ivan's capabilities, the hermanos Andica asked Ivan to coach them.

Ivan strategizing with Carlos and his brother Johnny, both weightlifters at the Arnold

Ivan coached the duo to top prizes at the Arnold, with Carlos doing better than recent training lifts. Carlos only clean and jerked 187kg and deadlifted 190kg. Although these lifts were good enough to beat the rest of the field -- both Carlos and Ivan recognized that Carlos's performance lacked from his 2008 Olympic Games performance.

Like a true champion Carlos easily puts his ego aside and takes rational steps to get to his goals. From this point at the Arnold, Carlos and Ivan formed a pact to win an Olympic medal. In technical terms, Carlos and Ivan created a training plan to get Carlos on the Olympic podium. The first step along the way would be qualifying for the Pan Am Games, then winning a medal at the Pan Am Games.

Ivan doing clean and jerk weightlifting video analysis with Carlos at Risto Sports Gym

Carlos flew to Maine to train at the Risto Sports High Performance Training Center with Ivan. Ivan completed in depth technical analysis. This included video and velocity analysis on Carlos's snatch and clean and jerk.

Ivan's trained eye immediately picked-up that Carlos was lifting too far on his toes during the pull. He then confirmed his instincts with video analysis. By shifting Carlos's pull further onto his heals, Carlos would optimally apply force and, hence, lift more weight. Secondly, Ivan noted the position of Carlos's wrist in the jerk. Because Carlos does a squat jerk, it was imperative that his wrists be pointed directly toward the ceiling when he jerked.

Later in 2011, Carlos qualified for his national team according to plan. Note, in Colombia the National Team does not train together year round. Rather, the Team converges on a single location for a training camp a few weeks out of the year. It is at these camps where the final team is selected for an upcoming, major international competition. To plan, Carlos was selected to the Pan AM Team.

Carlos warming-up during a training session at Risto Sports

Perhaps I should back up a bit and go into more detail on what "the plan" was. By simple data forecasting, Ivan and Carlos identified that Carlos would need to clean and jerk at least 205kg to be in the top 2 at Pan Am's. Ivan analyzed Carlos's squat numbers. Although Carlos's total improved just from t he technical work Ivan completed with him, Ivan identified that Carlos would need to add kilos to his best squat. Ivan advised that if Carlos front squatted 205kg for a triple, then 205kg would be no problem for him at the Pan Am Games. 205kg for a triple was a huge goal for Carlos-- this is the same lifter who had trouble cleaning 190kg at the Arnold. Additionally, Carlos had never touched this weight before-- not even when he lifted 201kg at the 2008 Olympics was he front squatting over 200kg for a triple.

For months before his national team selection, Ivan and Carlos tracked his squat performance. Just weeks before the Pan Am Games, Carlos hit 205kg for a triple. He then cemented his spot on Colombia's Pan Am Team.

The 2011 Guadalajara Pan Am Games validated Carlos's work with Ivan by delivering huge improvements. At the Pan Am Games, Carlos competed neck and neck with the top contenders for gold- Yoelmis Hernandez and Kendrick Farris. By the end of the snatch, Carlos was neck and neck with Yoelmis and Kendrick, with the trio lifting 157, 158, and 157kg respectively.

The Pan Am Games medals would all come down to the clean and jerk. Kendrick opened with 191kg with a miss then a completed lift. Carlos opened just a kilo heavier and nailed his first attempt. Yoelmis held out for more weight, before opening. Farris, having only one attempt left, jumped to 200kg. Carlos stood on deck with the same weight, and Yeolmis would take 200kg for his first attempt. Team Farris was a NO Lift on his last attempt at 200kg: he came out to the platform with only seconds left on the clock, followed by only deadlifting 200kg for a miss.

At this point, Carlos could have settled for the silver without taking a further lift. With Farris out of the competition, Carlos's first attempt already put him ahead of Farris. Again, like a champion, Carlos was competing to test his ability and for the sake of performing well. He took 200kg on his second attempt and easily lifted. For his third attempt, he asked for 205kg.

205kg was a weight he had never lifted before. From the video, you would have never known that. He lifted with such technical precision and smoothness. He also broke the Pan Am record with this lift. Months of training had resulted in a perfect lift, a medal, and a record. Yoelmis was only able to equal Carlos with 205kg (Carlos holds the record on account of lifting the weight first). Yoelmis's coach would later confide in Ivan that he had chills/went cold when he saw Carlos lift 205kg-- he could not believe it. While his competitors counted him out, Carlos focused on training to win the clean and jerk record and impress all.

Weightlifters: Carlos, Coach Ivan Rojas, Olympic Silver medalist Diego Salazar,
Johnny Andica, Coach of Armenia Youth team

Carlos's work is far from over. He has set out to win a medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. No doubt, this will take thousands of repetitions and hours upon hours of planning-- Ivan and Team Risto will be fully behind him.

More Photos at the Arnold: