Learning to lift, more specifically Olympic lifting, is not linear. It is made up of plateau after plateau. You may spend a long time – months even, where you make no or very little progress. You may become frustrated. Then all of a sudden, you make a leap forward. You set a new personal record or you finally understand the feel of the movement . Somthing clicks… then you plateau again.
Most people do not learn high level skills quickly. You must trust the process. Practice and train, every day – no matter how you feel, put in the work, make the time. This does not mean every day at a high intensity. Some days it means slow it down, move with little or no weights again and again and again. Create muscle memory. Know where your body is in space and in relationship to the objects you are lifting/moving.
If you were attempting to learn a new instrument, you would not expect to play in the orchestra right away. You first learn to play the notes. Then you might learn some chords and even play a song. Only after you are able to play a song would you entertain playing with the orchestra. The process is not very different, so give it time.
Take it as it comes and trust your Coach. Keep showing up. Don’t allow negative thoughts to de-rail your progress. Understand that frustration is the gap between your actual capability and where you think you should be.
You might not be able to change your ability quickly, however…
“Watch your thougths, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny”
