Athlete Profiles
Ellie Spooner
(When talking about squatting 100kg for the first time) I never ever thought this number was achievable for me, now I can do it for reps!
What were your biggest Struggles?
Why you signed up to the SPA
Low Motivation & direction in lockdown
Inconsistency with weightlifting
Overall strength with a barbell
Spooner joined the SPA in the first lockdown as she was struggling with direction and motivation in her training, she wanted to get the structure and enjoyment back with her training. Previously spooner had struggled with a heavy barbell - especially when it came to squatting and deadlifting - she just didn't get on with the movements.
She also struggled with the snatch and clean + jerk, regularly missing top percentages with the movement feeling foreign due to the the little time she had spent learning the movements
With a background in gymnastics spooner had a whole lot of potential to learn and improve in this area but struggled when it came to strict pulling strength and high skill gymnastics (muscle ups and butterfly)
As a healthcare worker the addition of a global pandemic presented new life stressors and obstacles to overcome, spooner needed someone to set the plan so that she could just go into the gym, destress and perform.
Lastly spooner would describe herself as her own worst critic, she finds it easy to see areas that need improvement before saying what was good, she needed someone to remind her and pat her on the back for how far she's come and how well she's doing 'it's the confidence I sometimes need without realising'.
How did we Fix the Problem?
What we worked on at spa
Add Specific exercise primers & cues
Provide her opportunities to reach out and ask for help
Get her consistently doing movements she struggled with
With spooner it was about getting reps under her belt & educating her on what she should be doing, she needed more than just to be told to do snatches, or do clean and jerks. We gave her specific exercise primers for both the snatch & CJ which added a constraint to the lift that helped her to improve her technique. We then combined that with a cue that corresponded to the primer and furthered her understanding of what to do.
This allowed her to accelerate her progress compared to just doing snatch after snatch and hit some significant PBs
She was also encouraged to ask questions as to WHY she was doing X and Y, by asking questions she could understand better and as a result apply it better to her training.
We needed to address her achilles heel - strength. Especially in the squat and deadlift - we worked hard to make sure they were a consistent part of the training week, whilst working through mobility restrictions as well as strengthening the muscle groups that were holding her back.
What we have achieved... so far
Improvements since joining the spa
At this stage being 12 months into coaching spooner has pretty much improved everything in some way shape or form. Some of the highlights are hitting her first strict ring muscle up (then did 2), she then has learned kipping ring muscle ups, butterfly pull ups & chest to bar, then do 50 pull ups for time in 2:03. She's hit her first set of 30 HSPU, put 7.5kg on her snatch, 10kg on her clean and jerk, 17.5kg on her Jerk, hit 10kg over her old 1rm squat for 3 reps, deadlifted 2.5kg over her old 1rm for 5 reps & qualified for the CrossFit quater finals.
Strict Ring Muscle Ups
0
➟
2
Back Squat
92.5kg 1RM
➟
102.5kg 3RM
Jerk
65kg
➟
82.5kg
Snatch
52.5kg
➟
60kg
Deadlift
102.5kg 1RM
➟
105kg 5RM
