41 weeks of my online student’s life
We started working with Christophe Rebreyend from the Netherlands on the 16th of June, 2014, after his participation at the National Championships, where he won 1st place with a total 725 kg (265 kg – 150 kg – 310 kg). Looking through the video of his performance in the competition, the first thing that struck me was his height! 200 cm tall and his bodyweight was only 118 kg. And of course – a big black beard. I remember what I thought: ”He should play basketball instead”. I watched his video again and outlined things we have to work on.
1. To improve technique.
Squat:
- a huge forward lean at the start position, which increased during the lift
- knees went forward too much and crossed toes’ line
- the closer to parallel the lower the velocity
Bench press:
- a narrow grip (a little more than shoulder width)
- long arms (impossible to fix)
- weak leg support
Deadlift:
- low butt position at the start
- highly raised chin at the start
- strongly rounded back
- snatching the barbell of the floor instead of pulling
- bad fixation at the top
2. To increase Christophe’s muscle mass and overall bodyweight.
3. To increase power qualities.
We began a long and difficult work. Christophe has so far been very industrious and persistent in achieving his goals. It is pleasure to work with him.
One very important thing is that he believes in his coach. For example, correcting technique always takes a long time. When he told me that he wanted to compete in 2.5 months after the start of joint work I agreed but said that we wouldn’t decrease the load in order to taper off for the competition as is normally done. The competition would just be a test. As I expected, Christophe totaled less than at the previous competition. Despite the fact he gained bodyweight, from 118kg to 124 kg, his result dropped from 725 kg to 712.5 kg. I liked that Christophe reacted calmly to this result and calmly continued to train with my plans.
Fast forward 40 weeks and Christophe took part at the European RAW Championships with IPF rules. I have to confess that I worried more than him, I knew that Christophe had no experience at international competitions (it was his first). I have seen many times when athletes were so worried that they made many mistakes, completing just 5-6 lifts instead of 9.
Christophe surprised me by his strong and balanced psychological state. He made 8/9 attempts and increased his total by 25 kg compared his previous best, setting all time personal records in each lift.
He totaled 785 kg RAW (287.5-175-322.5).
With great pleasure I congratulate Christophe for excellent performance at the European RAW Championships. However, he has no time to relax and rest, we have been preparing for the World RAW Championships this June in Finland where he will compete in the national team of the Netherlands.
