What it feels like to lift 500 pounds over your head

The first time Hamman lifted over 500 pounds; 507 pounds to be exact, was at the 2000 Olympic Trials.

“My first time was at the Olympic trials,” he recalled. “My best lift had been 490 pounds up until that point. When I went to the Olympic trials I needed 507 to make the Olympic team. That’s when I went up and did 485 on my first attempt and then I knew I was going to do 507 on my next attempt. So I went up, loaded it up, picked it up and made the Olympic team. That was the greatest moment ever; making the Olympic team.”

“That was the biggest pressure I’d ever been under too; to make the team and lift over 500 pounds. It all happened at the same time too. I knew when I was walking up that I was going to make the team. I had no doubt in my mind, but when it actually happened, that’s when I got all excited and went crazy.”

Leading up to his most climatic moment was not easy nor is it ever.

“You actually are totally worn out. You are training, preparing, getting ready; you do totally wear yourself out. You want to; you want to be able to barely walk to your room after your done with your workout and then just rest and barely be able to do it the next day. That is how you build up and the last week – before the competition is when you rest. You get your body, you break it all down and the last week you rest it and you’re ready to perform.”

In addition to being physically ready, a competitor has to be mentally prepared. At 5’9, 370 pounds, Hamman still claims his mental game is one of his strongest competitive points. He uses that to give him the advantage over opponents.

“I usually perform better the more pressure there is for me to perform, the better I do. That is something that has been something that has been really good for me. It’s kind of hard to explain how I do it. It’s a natural thing.”

“The way I go about it is just focusing on exactly the numbers I want to do. I totally see myself; I sit there and visualize myself, just in my room, doing the weight that I plan on doing at competition. That is just one of the little things I do. There is so much more.”

Outsiders might imagine that elite athletes such as Hamman would think about the competition and focus on the challenge months, weeks and days in advance. Hamman, however feels its better not to center all energy on the task until right before the time to perform.

“The day before and the hours up until I weigh in (two hours before) I try to think about other things besides lifting. I totally get that off my mind because I can get myself so psyched out and think about it too much and then I wear myself out. I really wear my mind out and my body out by sitting there thinking I have to do this and trying to get psyched about it. It’s just a matter of me thinking back on my golf game, just kind of relaxing; think about other things … getting lifting off my mind. After I weigh in, and I have two hours before I compete, that is when I focus on competing.”

In addition to Hamman’s strong mental game, he likes to have an advantage other weightlifters find difficult to obtain. Hamman is no stranger to attention; in fact, he feeds of it and uses it as fuel for a better competition.

“I’m kind of a crazy lifter in a way that I want the crowd to enjoy what I’m doing too. I want to get the crowd involved. A lot of people just walk up and lift weights and walk away, but I like getting the crowds totally involved in exactly what I’m doing and having the same feelings I’m having. I feed off of them. Part of my mental game is getting the crowd involved any way that I can and then I’m able to lift better.

“You have to just see yourself doing the weight and be 100 percent confident that you’re going to get the weight when you’re walking out there. That’s in my mind also, I’m walking out and I have no doubt in my mind that I’m fixing to lift the weight that is there no matter what it is. That’s definitely in my mind. After I lift it, I never know what is going to happen. I always have different reactions, depending if the much the crowd is into it, how big of a record it was, how much weight it was for me, I’ll have different reactions to different ways. It’s always a relief to lift it.”

Anyone can imagine that holding 507 pounds over your body wouldn’t be comfortable. Right after the weight is lifted it takes a moment to sink in for Hamman.

“It’s kind of like I’m a step back and I’m watching myself doing it and then it’s actually happening. I’ve had some weird feelings when I’ve lifted big weights, but I definitely know I’m there doing it. Sometimes its kind of like something else is going on. “

After the fatigue and soreness wear off, Hamman is left alone with his thoughts. He admits that weightlifting can be a tireless job, but the rewards are well worth it.

“The feeling I get? I sit here and I train five days a week; that is my life. It is boring, I go in there and I lift weights everyday. It’s not the most exciting thing in the world to do, especially in training.

“So when I go and I compete, especially internationally and I beat guys that were above me before, medal, and do what I’ve been training to do, it’s quite a feeling of accomplishment. It is actually doing what I expected to do and so many times you can train for stuff but when you perform and flop under pressure. But whenever I go somewhere and I compete, like Worlds this year. If I can go there and medal, it’s going to be one of the greatest moments of my life.”