A Real World Example



I've posted individual lifts by Natalie Woolfolk before, but this sequence is especially impressive as it shows a technical consistency found only in elite athletes. Natalie is a wonderful example of a female athlete who possesses all four of the components of physical health for her sport. There are no compensations. She was a gymnast as a youngster. This allowed her to develop keen kinesthetic awareness, upper and lower extremity mobility and a tremendous foundation of strength-to-bodyweight. Her postural alignment is outstanding.

Her father is Kirk Woolfolk, a former weightlifter and a strength coach at the Naval Academy. Thus, she learned to lift under proper supervision. Natalie has been training at the OTC for roughly 5 years.

She is 23 years old and weighs 63 kg (138 lbs). The final lift is 120 kg (265 lbs). There are very few women in this country who are capable of a double-bodyweight clean and jerk. Natalie is almost there. She will need to lift this much if she is to be competitive in Beijing and beyond. She is a drug-free athlete and proud of it.

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