Information fever

Before I came to Australia I lived in South Africa for thirteen years. I still miss it, in spite of horrific crime rate and AIDS. Anyway, while living in Johannesburg I got involved in financial derivatives trading. Friend of mine is a professional futures trader, and together we ran a small hedge fund. I was also trading my own account, with reasonable success.

Futures trading is a strange activity. It doesn’t require particular knowledge (except the basic understanding) but is in my opinion on of the toughest ways to make a living. As the result you tend to continuously looking for information how to trade better. Vendors and various service providers feed on this tendency of traders, and there are scores of sites and newsletters that – for a fee – offer to help your trading activity. It can be a trading system, or actually telling when to buy or sell, or a course or seminar. Whatever, this market never dries out, and there are always enough clients for these businesses to thrive. However, the secrets of trading are simple: have a plan, cut your losses and let your profits run. In other words - discipline rules.

Relevance? Yesterday I caught myself doing the same thing in training, asking more and more questions about lifting when all I need is to train. Rather, Frogster pointed it out to me. He is right, all the info about training is here, be it Russian ways or AKC. The recipe is simple: choose the method and follow it. The same with the technique: jerks, snatches and long cycles have been analyzed and re-analyzed many times, mistakes dissected and corrective exercises recommended. All I need to do is to work on this shit!

True, consulting with a coach is very useful, and educated eye can point at errors quickly and save time. But ultimately I know what to do. I have to develop more power in the jerk and become faster in the snatch, work on efficiency, flexibility and specific endurance. I also need to try be as relaxed as possible during static phases of the lifts, in rack and overhead.

So, this is my plan for the next three months. More sport specific work, meaning more long sets. Some faster, some slower for improving the technique. Also speed work, lifting at higher cadence. I am going to alternate harder and easier sessions – working with 16 or 24 kg bells, as well as rotating the snatch and the jerk in a session. I mean on some sessions I am going to do snatch first, and on some starting with jerks. Assistance exercises – when I am not lazy – bumps, swings and one arm jerks with heavy bells.

During my previous training I have built reasonable strength and overall confidence with the lifts. True, they are not perfect, but so what, I am training alone and trying to do my best. Now I am going to focus on actual numbers and see where it takes me.