Last November, I had the opportunity to coach South African weightlifter Mona Pretorius at the IWF World Championships in Houston, Texas.  Experiencing the World Championships from the inside was never an expectation I had for myself.  I got into the sport of weightlifting at the age of 26, late in life by world standards, and I have a pretty realistic grasp on my potential as an athlete. When I found myself in Houston last November, alone in an elevator with Artem Okulov and Apti Aukhadov on their way to weigh in, I stood totally star-struck and silent, acutely aware of how fortunate (or lucky) I was to be there as a coach.
 
I was introduced to Mona in 2010 through a mutual friend.  She had already been competing for South Africa at an international level in several sports.  A World Champion in karate and Junior and Senior National Champion in weightlifting, Mona had just come off of the CrossFit games and was primed to pursue a full-time career in CrossFit.  Our mutual friend found this highly offensive and sought me out, as a (blacklisted, excommunicated) former CrossFit devotee, to talk some sense into her.   My conversation with Mona was very productive, ending with me as her new coach.  This was almost six years ago.
 
Fast forward to October 14, 2015.  I met Mona face-to-face for the first time when I picked her up from DFW International Airport.  She spent the next six weeks at my gym BlackBox Fort Worth preparing for the World Championships in Houston.
 
We had a few concerns we were able to address during her time training at BlackBox:

Technique- Given that Mona and I had never met in person and I was coaching her from another hemisphere, my only opportunities to correct Mona’s technique came via viewing her training videos, sending her videos and photos, and verbally communicating or writing what I wanted her to do.  Lots of things get lost in translation, plus I am a very physical coach (meaning I like to physically put you in the correct position), so it was a challenge to effectively assess and correct her.  Mona has a very good extension and turnover, but it’s my opinion that she doesn’t stay over the bar long enough in neither the clean nor the snatch.  Mona’s jerk is golden, so we had no worries there.

Nutrition- Mona was on a relatively low carbohydrate diet (less than 100 calories of carbs/day) when she arrived in Texas.  We adjusted her carb intake to 350-400 calories/day during heavy training and did more adjusting when we decided it was time to make a body weight change.

Body Weight and Consistency- Mona weighed as much as 67kg during training.  We decided she would compete as a 63kg lifter and needed to get her there without losing strength and maintaining training volume and intensity.
 
During this preparation phase, Mona lived in our house, ate our food, and even babysat our kids on occasion.  She trained 10 sessions a week, not including recovery sessions, sauna, and compression therapy time.  The BlackBox family quickly embraced her and supported her throughout her training process.  I know she has some lifelong friendships gained from her time with us.  Mona put an incredible amount of effort into this journey and it was truly amazing to be able to witness her hard work first-hand. After six “hectic” and grueling weeks, we were ready for Worlds. (“Hectic” was a classic South African Mona-ism, which she would use the same way we use “crazy.” After a hard set of squats, she would say, “that was hectic!)
 
We drove from Fort Worth to Houston on Sunday, November 22nd to give us a couple of days to settle in and prepare for Mona’s session (63kg B) on Wednesday.  Houston is only about four hours from Fort Worth, but we had to make a pit stop in College Station, Texas to drop my kids off with their aunt and uncle, which added a couple of hours to our trip.  Due to the extensive amount of time spent in the car, Mona didn’t train that day, but spent some time stretching and mobilizing that evening.
 
Watching Mona train in person for six weeks gave me the opportunity to get to know what would be best for her leading up to the competition.  I needed to know what Mona was capable of before we got to the warm-up room in case we needed to make changes.  Because Mona doesn’t see much benefit from a full deload week, we pretty much kept our foot on the gas with her training up until the last two days. 
 
On Monday (two days out), Mona did full lifts around 80 percent for no more than three singles, followed by front squats at her clean & jerk opener for two sets of two.
 
On Tuesday (one day out), she did power snatch and power clean & jerk for singles under 75 percent, followed by clean pulls at 90 percent for two sets of two.
 
Mona’s session was set to start at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, with a 9 a.m. weigh-in.  We set a wakeup call for 6 a.m. in case we needed time to ensure she would make weight.  Mona had been on an increasingly restrictive diet for the previous three weeks, and fortunately woke up under 63kg, so we didn’t need to do anything drastic.  I think she took a hot Epsom salt bath the night before, which she claimed was “hectic,” but as a seasoned expert in the process of making weight, I doubt it was that bad.  Compared to some of my own experiences, Mona’s cut from 67kg to 63kg in three weeks was a piece of cake.
 
Every step of the World Championships competition was tightly controlled, from getting credentials to accessing the training hall, and weigh-ins were no different.  We were allowed to wait in an athlete lounge after weigh-ins, and we were given 15 minutes prior to announcements to check attempts and get settled in to the warm-up room.  There was a little confusion about which platform we were supposed to be on, and because there were so many different countries in the session, it was entertaining to see the resulting frustration over the inability to communicate with each other effectively.  We ended up in a corner, where there wasn’t a lot of traffic in front of Mona while she warmed up, which meant we had minimal distractions.  She was incredibly focused and tough throughout the process.
 
As this was my first time in the warm-up room of an international competition, the standard operating procedures were a little foreign to me.  For example, cards are arranged in order of lot number, and that order doesn’t change, regardless of attempts taken.   At local and national meets in the U.S., we use the cards to determine the order of attempts; however with the recent addition of electronic scoring systems, this could change soon.  Mirroring the international system would help our coaches at international meets in the future.
 
It is also very common for athletes to post a starting weight, only to change it as they start warm-ups, or even to wait until their name is called to change.  This could be because they want to be sure warm-ups go well, but it might also be a tactic to throw other coaches off while warming up their athletes.  I dislike this tactic, and I think it’s flat out stupid and disrespectful to use it at local meets with beginner athletes, but at a more competitive level, it can be the only advantage a coach can create for their lifter.
 
Mona’s snatch warm-ups went smoothly.  We planned to open in the snatch between 80-84kg, a range where she is consistent, and considering that she was incredibly nervous, a range where the lift is automatic for her. After her easy (power) snatch opener of 80kg, we found ourselves back in the warm-up area for a long wait for her next attempt.  The problem was that following Mona’s opener, there were 10 athletes with openers just heavier than hers (85-87kg).  When there are many lifters posted to attempt a certain weight, we have to take into account that many will change their attempt based on how their warm-ups are going and some will miss their attempts and follow themselves, which adds extra minutes to the wait.
 
Mona does not like to sit down in competition, so instead of spending 10 to 12 minutes in a chair, we decided to stay on the platform and drop the weight on her warm-up bar to 75kg (from 80kg) and work back up to her next attempt.  Mona took successful attempts from 75kg up to 85kg, where she had her first and only miss of the competition.  Watching misses in the warm-up room makes coaches nervous.  I know I personally question whether I made the best decision in regards to the next attempt.  She took another go at 85kg (and made it this time) and could rest a moment before being called for her second attempt at 86kg. 
 
As a coach, there is nothing more nerve-wracking than watching your athlete walk out on the stage alone.  This is the point where there is nothing more you can do to improve their chance of success.  You just have to trust that your training methods were sufficient and they are prepared to lift weights they have never touched before.
 
Mona’s successful second attempt was followed again by a significant wait time.  We decided to drop down and work back up a second time.  This essentially gave a double-wave pattern to her lifts.  Mona ended up lifting a total of 20 snatches above 75kg before taking her final attempt of 90kg.  She snatched it with ease - a Personal Best (or PB, as Mona would say).
 
We had little time to celebrate a great snatch session before it was time to plan for the next phase: clean & jerk.  We had to take the remaining snatches in the session, time between snatch and clean & jerk, and the beginning clean & jerk attempts of the session into account when planning for Mona’s clean & jerk warm-ups.  We determined she would be the fifth opening lifter in the clean & jerk, assuming there were no misses.  However, there were two misses, which added a little bit of a break between warm-ups, but nothing as significant as in the snatch session.  Mona does much better with shorter rest periods, so this worked well for us. 
 
After making her first clean & jerk attempt of 107kg, we posted 110kg as her second attempt- a career and competition PR weight.  Based on her performance up to this point, I had no doubt she would be successful, yet I was once again overcome by the feeling of complete helplessness washing over me as I watched her struggle to stand up with the clean.  Her jerk was on-point and solid, resulting in a successful lift, but that shaky-leg feeling got into Mona’s head when planning her third lift.  Because of this, we only called 112kg for her final attempt.
 
With seven attempts before her final clean & jerk, we had some to rest, refuel, and develop a game plan.  Luckily, there were no misses between 110kg and everyone jumped past 111kg, so timing warm-ups was straightforward.  After a handful of jellybeans, some fluids, and a 115kg clean pull, Mona was ready for her final attempt.  As she walked down the hall leading to the competition stage, I told her that this lift is in her heart, and her body will do what her heart wants. 
 
She clean & jerked 112kg with no issue.  Mona had heart. 
 
Later on while chatting with Mona about the competition she said that it felt like an angel helped her lift those last attempts in the snatch and clean & jerk. Hectic!
 
Mona broke in to the 200kg total club, went six for six, and crushed three Personal Best weights on the World stage.  And she did it after spending six crazy weeks training and preparing on another continent, far away from her entire support system, with a coach she had only met over the internet.  I could not have asked for a better performance from her. 
 
My trip to the World Championships was the experience of a lifetime. It was already pretty fortuitous that the Worlds were held in Houston and I got the opportunity to watch the best weightlifters on earth compete, let alone rub shoulders with them in the warm-up room and dining hall. But what will really stand out in my memory of this week forever?  Watching Mona put years of training and dedication to use as she showed the heart of a lion at the World Championships.  I’ll never forget how it felt to be a part of that experience.  It was truly hectic, in the best way.