I wanted to write some updates on how things are going.
Salmah Shaikh & my niece Amani Khan
2012 Asian Weightlifting Championships video compilations
Summer Olympics & Training
First: what I am asked the most about is if I will be participating in the Olympics. I currently do not know if I am competing this summer 2012 in London. I have been training the same way 6 days a week so that I can be prepared in case I get the opportunity to represent Pakistan, if Pakistan receives one of the 4 female invitational/wildcard slots from the International Weightlifting Federation and I am selected to be that female.
My Summer Training
I train in a garage gym with no air conditioning. Atlanta, Georgia USA gets pretty hot, and the weather is humid. I have to make sure I consistently drink fluids, additionally, it is important to keep body temperature down, so in between sets I sit in front of a fan and hold two ice packs. One I hold under my hijab (headscarf) around my neck, and the other under my scarf on the back of my neck. When I go up to do my lifts, I have to really make sure I get a lot of breathing and oxygen, otherwise, I get dizzy and I do not want to pass out, especially when attempting a maximum attempt. I will write more about fasting and Ramadan this year in my next blog post. If I do get to go to the Olympics, I will again sell Pakistan weightlifting t-shirts for fundraising purposes.
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Salmah Shaikh & my niece Amani Khan
I want to introduce you to my friend Nazerah’s daughter, Salmah! Salmah, who is 7 years old, has followed my competitive pursuits. After the Asian weightlifting championships and being inspired by the video of my lifts at the competition (also she really liked the princess music during the athlete introductions..) she and her cousin created a presentation for the Summer 2012 Olympics for a talent show at their school, and they made it to the finals!
Here is a video of the test run of their Olympic opening ceremony presentation:
Gateway PS test run for talent show
Finally, Salmah’s mother found this in her doodle book:
Salmah Shaikh’s doodling
Amani, my niece, is also a fan. She likes to pretend she is a ballet dancer when I hold her overhead. During a recent visit, she came to the gym with me one day to try out Olympic lifting. Here are some pictures below:
And the full album:
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| Amani’s trip to Atlanta May 2012 |
Amani dropping the weights!
More subtitles
I have 2 more languages (Hindi and Turkish) added to the captions on the Crossfit Journal video “Lifting Boundaries”
2012 Asian Weightlifting Championships video compilations
When I was at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in South Korea, this past April 2012, I took a lot of pictures and video.
Here are 4 video compilations I put together of 4 of the competitions sessions:
63kg women’s A group Snatch and Clean & Jerk
105kg+ men’s A group Snatch & Clean and Jerk
62kg men’s A group Snatch & Clean and Jerk
105kg men’s A group Snatch & Clean and Jerk
For more detail, view the video on Youtube and please read the description.