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This past weekend I attended the CrossFit Olympic Weightlifting Certification with Coach Mike Burgener. The cert was hosted by CrossFit Ottawa, and held at the local Notre Dame High School.  Unfortunately the weekend got off to a rough start as one of the instructors, former Olympian Fred Lowe, was denied entry into Canada. The sport of Olympic Weightlifting in this country still suffers from a lack of exposure and the thought that someone would come to Canada just to instruct it for the weekend seemed rather foreign to the border officers. Our own Pierre Auge stepped up to fill the void for the smaller breakout sessions, joining Matt DeMinico, Debbie Hudson, and Melissa Cvjeticanin.

The weekend was full of great instruction on technique and progressions  for training the elusive snatch and clean & jerk. I picked up plenty of great coaching cues and “drills to develop the skills” that  I believe will help me teach the lifts to a greater variety of groups and individuals.

Myself, Coach Mike Burgener, and Janine Daigle (CrossFit Bathurst) at the CrossFit Olympic Weightlifting Cert in Ottawa

Coach B joked that he was going to take me back to California with him, along with a few others. He was impressed with my size, as short people with my lever lengths do have an advantage in this sport! Then there was Janine, who was given a lot of “tough love”, all in good fun though.

We also had Hani Kanama of Toronto Weightlifting on hand to show off some of his equipment, most notably the weightlifting shoes that he’s developed. The majority of the lifters in our club are using them now. Many of the weekend’s participants quickly discovered how much of a difference a good pair of weightlifting shoes with a solid raised heel makes regarding overall stability and positioning.

A few personalities emerged over the weekend, kettlebell trainer “The Iron Angel”, who exhibited some great flexibility, and David, who made the trip from Iqaluit, Nunavut. At 64 years young, he is just one year older than Coach B. David was then affectionately referred to as “Dad” by Coach B, and showed that you’re never too old to learn new tricks and have fun.

Overall, Coach B. is an engaging instructor and commands an attentive audience. There’s nothing like having strong “motivational consequences” to ensure everyone’s paying attention. YAY BURPEES!*

*You’ll have to go and find out yourself what this means!