Piece of the Platform – Volume 10
Welcome to piece of the platform. As Athletes ourselves and as Technical Officials, we’re really lucky that we get to spend time with, know, work or train alongside some really fantastic people from within the weightlifting community. We’re even luckier still that some of those people have agreed to a take part in our mini interviews, that we’ve coined ‘Piece of the Platform’.
We’ve reached out to Coaches, Technical Officials, BWL staff, Athletes and volunteers, and we’ve asked them all some variation of the same 4 questions. The answers we’ve had back have been inspiring, funny, helpful and thought provoking – so we’ve collated them here, as an addendum to the learning resources, to pool that collective knowledge and advice in the hope that you’ll enjoy reading them just as much as we did.
Jo MacManus – BWL level 3 Coach, level 2 Technical officer, co-owner of Hampshire Barbell Club, Masters lifter.
Want to know more about Jo?
@hampshirebarbellclub
@jomaccy
What’s your favourite thing about weightlifting ?
I find weightlifting more compelling than any other sport that I’ve been involved with and I think it’s because of its highly complex and technically demanding nature.
I’m process driven so identifying weaknesses or errors and then working out how to facilitate change and improvement using all the many tools available, is hugely satisfying to me as both coach and lifter.
What one piece of advice would you give to athletes about competition?
Weightlifting training can seem very open ended so get yourself booked onto a competition, it gives your training a purpose and a focus and can really help to progress development.
Also, get your coach to set up a mock competition before the real thing, it will help you to understand the process and solidify the rules.
What do you think BWL and the Technical Officials do well, and what could we do better?
I do see change within BWL towards a more diverse and inclusive organisation and as a member of the LGBQT community I welcome that change.
I’d like to see more mentoring schemes for coaches and officials to facilitate the exchange of ideas and to encourage growth and development.
Also more on-line educational content please like the excellent @_to_thebar
If you could ask your favourite lifter one question, who are they and what would that be?
That’s easy, my favourite lifter is Emily Campbell. I’ve watched Emily compete and I’m interested to know what she listens to on her headphones. Does she have a specific pre-lift track or a favourite artist?