Every year, the organizers of the Arnold promise that it will be bigger and better than the year before. And, this year, as promised, it was. The first night of lifting, there were actually 2 platforms going. Even for a first day, some decent lifts were going up, with the last women's session of the night hitting totals over 160kg.
My Team, Risto Sports (yeah, we've never actually registered a club with USAW because we have so many international lifters and lifters who train at their home crossfits, and remotely) had 3 lifters competing - Natasha DeLuca, Vanessa Quinones of Colombia, and LG-- Gwendolyn Rojas...along with a number of our affiliate lifters we helped. Two of us - myself and Elio Guerra- did not compete due to injury.
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As an aside, Coach Ivan Rojas posted Vanessa's complete training for the Arnold on www.ristosports.com/blog . I will get to more on our international lifter, poised to be the next big thing in 53's, in part 2.
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On injury and competing
It was odd being at the Arnold and not being able to compete. The funny thing is, at the Arnold, I had so much adrenaline seeing others compete that I was able to train up to 70% overhead. It was to the point that I seriously considered just pulling off some lifts, and it was not worth risking further injury, especially as my injury would keep me from hitting 100% or more of my best. On the upside, my injury has forced me to work mostly legs, and spend more time coaching and observing at the Arnold ...ie my loss is your gain....
Friday:
The highlight of Friday was watching Lydia Valentin, one of the top European 75kg lifters, workout. Ivan has known Lydia for about 4 years, so it was pretty cool getting to chat briefly with her and her entourage. She is a very warm person who carries herself well. She truly fulfills expectations- showing up in trademark teased blonde hair, with large geometric earrings, coordinated pink outfits, and trademark catseye make-up (dark eyeliner around the eyes). She worked up to 100kg in the clean and jerk and toyed with the weight, like it was 60 kilos.
The second highlight of Friday was helping count attempts for our lifter Natasha DeLuca. She switched over form crossfit, and in less than a year, she went from like a 70kg total to almost 170kg. And she's a veteran.
My Team, Risto Sports (yeah, we've never actually registered a club with USAW because we have so many international lifters and lifters who train at their home crossfits, and remotely) had 3 lifters competing - Natasha DeLuca, Vanessa Quinones of Colombia, and LG-- Gwendolyn Rojas...along with a number of our affiliate lifters we helped. Two of us - myself and Elio Guerra- did not compete due to injury.
----
As an aside, Coach Ivan Rojas posted Vanessa's complete training for the Arnold on www.ristosports.com/blog . I will get to more on our international lifter, poised to be the next big thing in 53's, in part 2.
----
On injury and competing
It was odd being at the Arnold and not being able to compete. The funny thing is, at the Arnold, I had so much adrenaline seeing others compete that I was able to train up to 70% overhead. It was to the point that I seriously considered just pulling off some lifts, and it was not worth risking further injury, especially as my injury would keep me from hitting 100% or more of my best. On the upside, my injury has forced me to work mostly legs, and spend more time coaching and observing at the Arnold ...ie my loss is your gain....
Friday:
The highlight of Friday was watching Lydia Valentin, one of the top European 75kg lifters, workout. Ivan has known Lydia for about 4 years, so it was pretty cool getting to chat briefly with her and her entourage. She is a very warm person who carries herself well. She truly fulfills expectations- showing up in trademark teased blonde hair, with large geometric earrings, coordinated pink outfits, and trademark catseye make-up (dark eyeliner around the eyes). She worked up to 100kg in the clean and jerk and toyed with the weight, like it was 60 kilos.
The second highlight of Friday was helping count attempts for our lifter Natasha DeLuca. She switched over form crossfit, and in less than a year, she went from like a 70kg total to almost 170kg. And she's a veteran.
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| Natasha DeLuca, lifting the big weights in her Wonder woman themed Risto's and Risto singlet. ristosports.com |
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