Using the Pain Scale in Weightlifting: How York County Barbell Helps Lifters Stay Strong and Safe
Weightlifting and strength training are demanding sports. At some point, every lifter experiences aches, soreness, or even sharp pains. But not all pain is the same — and knowing how to evaluate it can make the difference between safe, productive training and unnecessary time off.
The Hang Position: Why It Deserves a Spot in Your Training
In Olympic weightlifting, the term hang refers to starting the lift with the barbell already off the ground—you're lifting from a paused position where the bar “hangs” somewhere between the hip and just below the knees. Each hang position emphasizes different technical demands and offers its own benefits.
Here’s how we define the hang positions at York County Barbell:
High Hang – At the hip crease. This is the shortest version of the lift, focusing almost entirely on the final explosion (triple extension) and speed under the bar. It’s excellent for training aggression and timing.
Hang – At mid-thigh. This is a classic hang position that places the bar in the “power position.” It challenges the lifter to stay over the bar long enough before extending, reinforcing strong posture and balance.
Hang at the Knee – Bar at the top of the kneecap. This position trains patience, tension, and the ability to stay connected to the floor. Lifters often struggle here if they’re prone to rushing the second pull.
Hang Below the Knee – Just beneath the kneecap. This forces athletes to maintain back tension while staying over the bar longer. It's closer to the full lift from the floor but isolates the transition between first and second pull.
Low Hang – A few inches off the floor. The bar is just shy of the start position, but the plates don’t touch the ground. It closely mimics pulling from the floor and is great for teaching tightness, consistency, and control at the bottom.
Weightlifting and Travel
York County Barbell is home to several national- and international-level competitors. Two of our
athletes are Masters’ World Champions, winning gold in Rovaniemi, Finland in September, 2024. Three
of our athletes are currently competing at the 2025 Masters’ National Championships in Boise, Idaho.
With meets distributed around the world, how do athletes eat to perform, make weight, and enjoy their
travels?
There are a handful of mechanisms that can make the process of traveling to compete smoother.
Knowing details about how you like to eat, sleep, and how you handle transit are critical. For example,
are you someone who deals with the stress of travel by eating calorically dense foods? Are you
someone who would prefer to have a long layover, or would you rather run to a connection in order to
have more time in destination? These are things that should be assessed prior to traveling to a meet, if
possible. Reflecting after that meet will also enhance your understanding of self such that you are
better able to prepare for the next one.
YCB’s Summer Throw Down
Just a few months ago we ran an in-house meet, The YCB Summer Throw Down. We had seven athletes participate.
Romona Frank Competed in her first meet.
Nicolle Durkee broke the New England Snatch record at 69kg for her age and weight category.
David Monesmith and Chris Krug had great comeback meets touching weights they haven’t seen in some time.
Kim Monesmith had a great meet and used this as a tune up for her prep for The Masters World Championship in Finland.
Sarah Barlow Tested the waters to see what was possible as a tune up for The Masters World Championship in Finland.
Elsbeth Paige-Jeffers (PJ) was looking to improve her ranking in New England and to qualify for USAW Nationals. She Snatched 80kg and made a big Clean & Jerk of 110kg. She did in fact improve her placement and now sits in 6th overall in NE, and she did qualify for Nationals with a 190kg total as a 71kg lifter.
Videos of the top Snatches and Clean & Jerks portion linked below.
Scaling or Modifying and Who should consider doing this
The idea was simple: modify workouts so they deliver the same intended challenge, no matter the athlete’s ability or experience. For example, take a popular CrossFit workout like Grace:
Grace Variations:
Version 1: 30 Clean and Jerks for time (135 lbs for men / 95 lbs for women)
Version 2: 30 Clean and Jerks for time (115 lbs / 75 lbs)
Version 3: 30 Clean and Jerks for time (95 lbs / 55 lbs)
Scaling makes workouts accessible to everyone. It ensures that each person can tackle their own version of hard work and feel proud of their effort. This concept creates an inclusive environment where fitness is for everyone—not just the elite
Strength is for EVERYONE
Strength is foundational across many aspects of life, regardless of age. Building and maintaining strength offers more than just muscle mass—it boosts functional ability, resilience, and independence in a wide range of scenarios:
How WEIGHTLIFTING transfers to SPORT
Force and Power Output
-Any and all sport requires a level of force and power to be given. That may be derived from pushing off the ground to tackle an opponent, swinging a bat to hit a ball or taking off from the starting line in a 100m sprint.
Consistency and Repetition
Programming at York County Barbell is based around athletic goals. These goals are specifically geared towards the sport of weightlifting or strength and conditioning for overall athletic development. One of the cornerstones to a successful program is consistency and repetition. If an athlete sees a specific variation of an exercise once in a cycle that might be “fun” for the athlete but does that allow for them to build off of an initial performance/standard to see improvements? No.
Stress and Caloric Consumption
In September 2023, my dog Watson was diagnosed with aortic cancer. He defied all clinical
expectations, living for seven months while undergoing chemotherapy treatment. He died in early April,
and his death is the most profound sense of loss I’ve ever experienced.
During these seven months, the demands on my time, body, and finances were intense. Those demands
were nothing compared to Watson fighting cancer and continuing to show up as the most
compassionate little dog, but they were saliently trying for my human experience. This has led me to
think about how stress impacts the body, especially a body trying to train for weightlifting, compete at
local and national meets, and consume the food necessary to fuel these endeavors.
One Small Step
As we head into a new cycle I wanted to take a moment to discuss where we were prior to this last cycle (RTL) and where we're heading now.
KETO EXPERIMENT
Several weeks ago, I decided to undertake an experimental endeavor with my diet, namely, I decided to
try the ketogenic diet, otherwise known as “keto.” During my years as a nutrition coach, I have
encountered much curiosity surrounding keto, as well as quite a bit of misinformation. Inspired by one
of my current clients, I decided to try the diet for myself. I wanted to assess the research underpinning
the diet, subjectively experience its impacts, and have a point of comparison between my own
experience and that of my client’s. Moving forward, I hope my experience better enables me to coach
clients interested in trying keto. I additionally hope to underpin any suggestion that certain clients avoid
keto with both research-based and personally-informed information.
2023 New England WSO Championship
Our team competed at The 2023 New England WSO Championship at The American Heritage Museum September 23rd and 24th. With a roster of seven athletes participating across various sessions throughout the competition. From a coaching perspective it was probably one of the more relaxed competitions I’ve coached at.
Each of our athletes had goals that they wanted to breath life into while on the competition platform. As examples, Tom Farina wanted to break the New England record for his age and weight in the snatch and clean and jerk. He broke the snatch record at 47 kg but was unable to break through on the clean and jerk. Sarah Barlow also wanted to break some New England records in her age and weight categories and came through with a 50kg snatch, but wasn’t able to put it together on the clean and jerk.
Other goals going into the meet:
Nicolle Durkee: Wanted to attempt 90kg clean and jerk on the platform and was called for a sliught pressout but 90kg was a clean PR.
Josh Frank: Wanted to cut down to a 102kg lifter. As a bigger goal Josh has been working towards being in a lighter weight class and he was able to weigh in under 102kg.
Sonia Aumen: Had a goal to be more confident with her jerks and hit a 65kg clean and jerk while her 1rm is 67kg.
Mariah Zirkelbach: Had set a goal of having a great competition. She did just that with going 4 for 6 and being very close to her 1rm clean and jerk at 85kg.
Elsbeth Paige-Jeffers: Going into this meet life had been a bit chaotic, and didn’t even know if she would make it for weigh ins. So her goals were to have fun. She had fun and also came in first in the Open 71kg category.
Feeling Full & Pre-Meet Food Volume
When seeking to make weight and perform, athletes should be acutely aware of the caloric density of
their food. Put otherwise, how many kCals are present in a meal of a given weight? High-volume/low-
density foods tend to be fibrous produce items, such as leafy greens, peppers, apples, berries, and so
on. Medium-volume/medium-density produce includes starchy carbs such as potatoes and beans, as
well as tropical fruits such as banana and pineapple. Low-volume/high-density foods include carb
sources such as rice and other grains, animal protein, and fatty foods such as nuts, oils, and full-fat dairy.
High-volume foods will literally fill our bellies. A big salad makes us feel full because we are literally full.
However, when we eat a small portion of nuts, we also find ourselves to be satiated. What’s the
mechanism behind this seeming contradiction? There are a handful of things at play here.
Foundationally, our bodies are smart machines. Our bodies want to be fueled and healthy, and they are
incredibly adaptable. The human species survives across incredibly diverse biomes consuming wildly
different diets. Carnivorous humans eating animal protein at the poles survive just as vegans eating
produce do at the equator. In our contemporary age, elected diets such as vegetarianism or necessary
diets such as grain-free to support celiac disease are all capable of sustaining the human body.
Our Mission
I remember a moment at a gym I used to work at where a coach was giving instruction on a clean and he wrapped up his instruction with “…or however you want to do it”. That blew my mind that a coach would offer such flippant instruction to people that respected their position as “coach”. It’s very important to know as a coach what I’m looking for from each athlete and how to get there. Thoughtfully coaching means working with each athlete at their level and ensuring that each person understands the feedback and cues that I deliver.
Our Most Important Meet
Baystate Games 2023 was YCB’s most important meet to date. Last year we brought 5 athletes to BSG, this year we brought 12! Having more athletes at a meet is cool, but to be able to say that each one did really well is something to be proud of. Working with athletes of all abilities is one of the many reasons I love being a coach. I get to push each athlete in a different way and to write programming that helps each athlete see success is something I’m excited to building off of. For a really short highlight reel check out the video below.
Post-Meet Refeeds
After restricting caloric intake to make weight, many athletes will take at least a day off from said restriction. This is true of those competing in either familiar or lighter weight-classes. But can these days off stymie weight-loss progress for future, especially for those athletes who are still cutting to lighter bodyweight categories?
Baystate Games 2023
Last weekend our team competed at The Baystate Games in Beverly MA. We brought 12 athletes and they all walked away with an incredible amount of success in their own unique performances. Some PR’d lifts, some claimed records, and some qualified for various events such as The Arnold/ The American Open Series One, American Open Finals and even The USA Weightlifting Nationals. I’ll be filming a video discussing some of the standout moments from the event. For now I’ve posted the top lifts in the Snatch and Clean & Jerk below .
WHAT IS YORK COUNTY BARBELL?
York County Barbell is an inclusive space for anyone and everyone to improve their strength, athleticism, coordination and balance. We don’t care if you’re a teen or in your 80s we’re here to help you reach your goals.