Interview with Amanda Braddock — Kuma Weightlifting

Amanda Braddock snatching 71kg at 2015 Worlds in Houston.

Amanda Braddock is a Canadian 48kg weightlifter coached by Steve Sandor on team Sabaria. She represented Canada in both the 2015 and 2016 Pan-ams, as well as 2015 Worlds. She lifted 75/92/167 at 2016 Pan-ams, earning her first international medal with a bronze in the snatch, and earning her the olympic alternate spot for Canada.

I've had the pleasure of being friends with Amanda for several years, we started weightlifting at roughly the same time. She went on to reach the international level, where...I didn't, haha.

Her social media accounts are:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeinkg/
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/lifeinkg/

1, Hi Amanda! So let’s start with some of the basics. How did you first get involved in weightlifting?

I picked up weightlifting in my final year of university. I was looking to get in better shape, and had been doing some calisthenics training on my own and was interested in weight-training, but had zero athletic experience or background to draw on and had no idea what I was doing. Olympic-weightlifting was being offered as a free try-it class coached by Richard Gonsalves, a student-athlete. I went in on the first day back at school and was hooked.

2. What is your best gym Sn/CnJ/back squat/front squat/sn deadlift/clean deadlift/push press?

My strength lifts are quite low. It’s something I’m working on! Best back squat: 116kg x3; Front squat: 103kgx3; Snatch deadlift: 100kg; Clean deadlift: 120kg; Push Press: 65kg.

As for my snatch/clean and jerk bests, if I told you, I’d have to kill you…;) But in all seriousness, my training maxes are close to my competition bests.

3. Favorite/most hated lift?

Favourite lift: Most days I love full cleans. But nothing is better than having a good snatch day.

I try not to hate any particular lift. It’s all just practice. But I’m worst at power jerks.

4. What is your training like, how often do you max out?
I train 5-6 days a week, with three days of technical work, and 2-3 days for strength and conditioning, or active rest. The load for each day is regulated by the exercise and rep scheme, but still leaves room for going heavy if you are feeling particularly good that day.

How often I go to max in the classic snatch and clean and jerk depends on how close I am to competition. We may have several weeks of high volume work where we don’t attempt heavy singles at all. Or we may go to max each week in the last few weeks up to a competition.

For strength and conditioning days, there is some degree of freedom as to what exercises are selected, based on individual weakness and daily condition.

5. How do you peak for a meet?
Peaking for competitions is a process that is planned a year ahead. Realistically, I can only peak for 2-3 competitions a year, even though I may compete 7 or 8 times. Selecting the most important competitions and structuring training around them is part of an athlete’s long-term development plan.

6. What do you think are the most important aspects to be a great weightlifter?

Patience is hugely important. Being optimistic and not easily discouraged is also crucial. Apart from personality, lifestyle is also very important. You have to create a life that allows for training to become a habit. Improvement happens through consistency, and training has to become a regular part of your week that can’t be changed. I treat training like any other important obligation, and I wouldn’t skip it any more than I would skip work.

7. What are some things you feel that weightlifters often emphasize/neglect too much?

I don’t think you can over-emphasize the importance of squats, but pulls are just as important. Strong legs have to work together with a strong back.

8. When did you decide to pursue weightlifting full-time, to seriously devote your all to making the olympics?

It would be a nice life, but I’m not a full-time weightlifter! I still need to work to make ends meet. However, I have been able to develop a schedule that allows me to focus on training as much as possible by coaching part-time with Radix Performance Centre. When I qualified and was training for the Pan Am Games I was working full-time. It was a great job, but physically tiring coupled with training in the evening. As the internship came to an end, I began to look for other options that would allow me more time to recover. It seems to be paying off as I’ve made huge improvements since then.

Making the Olympics was a long shot, but I wanted to be able to look back on my preparations and know that I did everything I could. I didn’t want to be left wondering what may have happened if circumstances were different.

9. Did you and when did you have the moment of “I can actually do this” and realize you could make the international team?

It didn’t really hit me until I actually made my first team for the Pan Am Games in 2015. The two qualifying competitions were provincials and nationals. My total from provincials put me at the bottom of the list in preliminary rankings. If I didn’t improve my total, I wasn’t going to keep my place on the team. Once I finished clean and jerks at nationals, I knew I had done enough to move up the list and earn my spot. I had put a lot of work in juggling training and school and it was a very emotional moment knowing that it had paid off.

10. Thoughts on crossfit/powerlifting?

I am awful at both of them! Both are sports in their own right, and I have a lot of respect for what it takes to be the best in any sport. I enjoy watching the bigger Crossfit events and try to keep up with the big names. I think they both have elements that can carry over to weightlifting. Crossfit incorporates lots of upper body strength work that can be lacking in traditional weightlifting training. And obviously a strong squat/pull is extremely important. Even bench press has a place in weightlifting training. If I ever retire from weightlifting, I’ll probably do some variation of Crossfit to stay in shape.

11. Your coach is known for being very tough and has made people cry. Do you think a tough coach is more beneficial for the lifter in the long run?

A coach has to hold athletes accountable and set boundaries for what is acceptable behaviour in training. Being late or absent, fooling around, and general laziness are not tolerable on a high-performance team. I haven’t met a high-level coach who doesn’t have high expectations of their athletes. Steve is honest and doesn’t mince words to spare someone’s feelings. He is also one of the best technical coaches in the country. Whether you can handle that type of honesty for the benefit of your own lifting is dependant on the athlete.

12. Are there any uncommon or unconventional assistance exercise you've found helpful in your training? Conversely, are there any exercises commonly touted as integral to WL training you've found overrated, unnecessary or generally ineffective?

I do much more bodybuilding and general strength work than I did when I began weightlifting, for injury prevention as much as anything. I’ve also started incorporating small amounts of cardio work if I have a longer prep period before competition, just because it feels good, helps conditioning, and makes maintaining weight easier.

I can’t think of much that is considered essential to weightlifting training that doesn’t have its benefit and place in a program. The basics are squats, pulls, classic lifts, and power variations. Of course, other exercises are also important, but that depends more on individual weakness, general condition, injury management and prevention, and competition schedule.

13. What are your plans for the next quadrennial?

I’m trying to take each training session as it comes. I have competitions in mind for the next 6 months but I don’t plan much further than that. Each international team needs to be qualified for; nothing is a given before the spot on the team is earned. I would like to compete at every possible international event between now and 2020. I just go into each training trying to push myself a little bit further than before.

14. Favorite weightlifting memory?

The first time I snatched 70 - my first red plate snatch. ☺ It was in competition and I actually didn’t lift it in training until several months later.