Weightlifting

I have wanted to write on this, probably since I started liking it, but somehow never have. Today I will. The motivation also comes from the fact that the team I built from scratch is for the first time going to be devoid of any of the founding members. And it would be nice to share my experiences and feelings, which might help and motivate them.

I will tell about my experiences and related things. But first things first. What exactly is weightlifting? Contrary to what many believe its very different from bodybuilding or powerlifting. It's an olympic sport, requires power (strength and power are different things), speed, flexibility in the body, a solid technique and above all a herculean mental strength. If your max. lift is 100 kgs, it requires everything to be perfectly aligned to repeat it on the stage. It required twice the everything to make it 101.You have to be focused and have to dedicate yourself to training to add that 1 kg to your arsenal. I have learnt so much after weightlifting that if I start talking about it, the rest won't come and more so it would almost be impossible to appreciate it if you yourselves have not experienced it. So let's start with my experiences.


I got into weightlifting accidentally. I was probably returning from some class when Mohit met me somewhere and told me that some people were required to join weightlifting so that a coach can be brought in, and as he was very interested, he insisted that I just give my name, come for some days, and when the coach is there, just leave. Ironically he left and I remained. :P
So that year, which was my 2nd year, finally 3 people participated from our college in the Inter IIT sports meet. Myself, Bhutani and Satish bhaiya. There I had a chance to meet IIT kgp legendary lifter :) Deori. He gave me the idea and encouraged me to make efforts of developing a full fledged team by the next meet.

Not wasting much on the background stories, lets get on with the real thing. My first event, and I was as nervous as anyone could be. I had probably started weightlifting 3 months(or lesser) back and was competing there with no experience whatsoever. I had never ever even witnessed any weightlifting event and knew nothing. Only during the meet did I get to know the politics and the tactics which is used. I stood no chance for any medal and was asked by the coach to just relax and give my best. Easier said than done. When I was sitting in the warm-up room, the scenes in front of me were no less than a horror film. Likes of Srikanth (whom I really admire and have asked for his help so many times) were doing warm ups without any effort with more weight than my max. lift :p. The first lesson for youngsters is here to be learnt. No matter what others are lifting you should focus on your performance. What others are doing is something which should be kept in mind during the training phase and as a target. But when you are there in the competition, what you have to do is re-do what you have done in the practice room. You have to lift the maximum you have done and may be in the last lift attempt something greater, that too if its creating the difference of a medal. I have seen so many falter just in the heat of the moment, raising their lifts and then getting cleaned up.

I did finish a distant fourth in the event, to my liking :) and a surprise for many. It was a nice experience. After that I played at the state level, won a medal but seldom talk about it because it was more of a default medal owing to the absence of good lifters. In the next inter-IIT, we had a team. :) Myself, somu (Somdutt), Akhtar, saharan (Amit) and sardar (Mandeep). We gave a good fight. Somu had a good chance but nervousness took him. Akhtar was the star for me with giving his 200% and improving upon his best. Saharan and Sardar also performed well and that these people are going to bring medals in the future was very visible. I faltered in the famous last lift (with me hiding the face :P after the lift ) and finished 4th once again :(. I was attempting something which I had never done before but didn't work out in the end. But that was also the time when my knee injury was in the worst phase. You should always give due respect to your body and know its limits.Over exerting might look good one day but an injury can ruin everything you have been working for. I still remember the day when I skipped a couple or warm-ups and got to a heavy squat directly. The knee suddenly started paining and then it never got right.

Just a video of my that last lift (you are allowed to laugh after this one :P) and ya, turn off the volume, or else your neighbors might not take it in the right spirit :D





After this in the even sem. hardly any practice was done, we did decide to do it, but then until the motivation is not strong enough, its very difficult. To add to all this, my injury was still there.
Just after the summer vacations we had the state level. That was probably the best day in my weightlifting career. With almost no practice and the knee injury still there I was able to give a decent performance winning bronze in what was a good competition. . Competing at the state level gives a very good exposure and its a real confidence booster to see yourself competing amongst the best. Winning or not winning is immaterial and it is this exposure which I liked the most. The quality of the videos is not that good, sorry for that.













We did practice hard after that. It was my last year but I still competed, and so have somu , saharan and sardar. I really appreciate that and would want that to be the usual practise in the weightlifting team. The inter-IIT meet at madras was a dream come true for me. Somu and Saharan bagged medals, sardar missed but got the push to go harder and eventually achieved it the next year. Akhtar's performance was exceptional and he had made improvement which no one had expected. I am sure if he had made up his mind to continue in the final year we would have seen one more medal coming our way. Anyways that was the last competition I participated in and got the well deserved :) farewell. I unfortunately on the personal front missed again thereby making the inter-IITs a tragic story on the personal level. But that has hardly bothered me because my larger objective has been fulfilled. You can see the videos of my failures here and learn from them. :P. I had not done the required things, had just flown to madras a day before. Did not have my lunch and dinner properly on the previous day, and it all reflects in the end.










I just want to tell all the newcomers that what you are seeing today is not very old. This team is the newest but arguably one of the most successful, and there is a reason for that. We have not followed what others have done. We have made our own rules, our own objectives, set standards for ourselves and then dedicated ourselves for it. The people who want to play for certificates and stuff should be thrown out. The reason to join this team should only be one.

Miss you all.







Comments

After reading yr story..i became emotional ....:P. I did not spend to much time with u but I really respect u not only u did to much to weightlifting team and make a legendary team but u are still connected to team that is unmatchable, other wise what happen generally if u pass-out then forget about team and busy with other life, job...etc. but u still not only connected but also take care of team.This really motivate me and i give thanks to u from bottom of my heart.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Man ... I don't have words , I had goosebumps after reading your blog, so inspiring & so true . People have different reasons for playing at inter, here some play for certificates(the worst kind), some go to visit other IITs be with friends have fun etc , some play for physical fitness , some play purely for the love of their sport in addition to that some develop a deeper passion to represent ones institute & fight for its pride & honor you are up there among the last mentioned category , a true sportsman a personal hero , I promise a sober overall performance this time at inter , IITG shall not be looked down upon as an underdog anymore . Its really heartening and inspiring to see the concern of alumni .
If I have your permission I'd like to post this link on webmail will be very effective in inspiring the freshers who have no experience of inter iit and don't know what we fight for(reply soon).


Joga Bonito.

-Karthik Rachapalli
(A big fan)
Ankit said…
Thanks bhuppi and Karthik,,, people like you who share the same commitment keep me going and keep me involved.

Sure Karthit you can use it anywhere where it cane be of use. The message should be loud and clear and its really high time that the mind set in the college changes.

I know that you will try your best. Your biggest challenge would be (and the previous secys. have tried, but not with a lot of success) to change the mentality of the junta towards Inter-IIT, towards sports in general and bringing it at par and making it as important as the fests are.

You surely remember the things I said before you all were leaving for madras Inter-IIT, in the manas mess :P
Kapinjal Sharma said…
Wow! What a post. Though I never played in Inter, i did practice with the above mentioned team for almost a year, and I can tell you that the motivation and inspiration was awesome........we threw in almost 4 hours of practice every five days a week.......I wonder how many people in IITs do that. All that thanks to Ankit bhaiyya. The weightlifting team practiced without a proper coach, and yet brought medals. Legendary team of Ankit bhaiyya, Somu , saharan and sardar bhaiyya. Really miss those days....felt almost as if we were practising for the olympics. As if there was a higher purpose of life than the ordinary IIT life.

Kapinjal Sharma
Anonymous said…
inspirational.....!!!
Ankit said…
Thanks everyone.

@Kapinjal : really wish you could have continued had you not been restricted by the constraints. You were one of the most promising finds.
Unknown said…
your story is really inspirational...
Amazing..
deka said…
mast likha hain be.... and as usual i also belong to the league who hold that inter, techniche and alcher guys should be respected in this order and not the other way round.
Unknown said…
nice blog, main weightlifting team mein nahin tha phir bhi blog was equally interesting and inspiring for me.
sardar had amazing commitment(for wtlifting) and respect (for ankit bhaiya). I was so happy when he finally got it in final yr.

Good idea karthik of mailing the link and all the best for this december.
Ankit said…
bachhon post with your names :)
Unknown said…
Respect, all the way !
jasveer singh said…
mast hai bhai..vaise isme se bht kuch pta tha muje...aur jo baki tha ab pta chal gya...inspiration ke liye to ab bas apki pics aur video..hi hai hamare pass...is baar ki team me vhi josh lane ki koshis kar rhe hai jo...aap ne hum sab me laya tha.
Unknown said…
I don't need to write it but I am feeling very nostalgic after reading this blog. meri puri IIT life, is eik article mein samayi huyi hai. Many people think and they believe that weightlifting is very very boring game - just lifting the weights everyday three hours, yet we never got bored in that weightlifting room. Some of my best memories of IIT life come from that room.
I really miss my team.
-Somu

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