As you grow and develop as a strength athlete, you begin to learn your body better than anyone. You understand when you’re ready to go heavy, what your body can do, and in this case, when to save a lift and when to let it go.
There’s a fine line that a lifter has to walk when performing any strength or power-based lift – no matter the weight. They have to decide in a split second when to draw the line and let weight go (often to avoid injury), then when to dig deep and fight for something that’s rightfully theirs (a completed attempt). This fine line athletes frequently walk brings us to the following videos of two athletes who fought like hell for their saves.
The first video comes from Jordan Weichers, who’s a -63kg Olympic lifter for California Strength. Her video features a snatch save that rocked her into her heels with weight overhead for 5-6 seconds.
It requires a ton of concentration, strength, and mobility to save that lift, especially being that far into the heels. Props to Weichers for staying focused and completing her lift.
The second video comes from 77kg Egyptian Olympic weightlifter Mohamed Ehab. This past year Ehab took bronze at the Rio Olympics and continues to prove just how strong he really is. In a 152kg hang snatch, Ehab found himself at the bottom position of the snatch for 7-8 seconds before stabilizing and completing the lift.
Ehab rocked forwards, backwards, then dipped to his right before standing up and completing the lift. The amount of strength and concentration it took to save this hang snatch is unreal. The best part of the video is how hyped Ehab and his crew are when he stands up. That’s the type of hype every save needs.
Every type of strength athlete deserves recognition for the amount of effort and concentration they put into their lifts. Often times it’s not the perfectly executed lifts that create a huge payoff in competition, but the lifts that don’t go so right.
The not so perfect attempts are the lifts that teach athletes how to adapt and learn to fight when settings are far from perfect.
Feature image from @mohamed_ehab_youssef Instagram page.