Josh Hutton breaks four records at England Age Group Championships
Weightlifter Josh Hutton broke four records and brought home a gold medal from the England Age Group Championships on Friday, February 23.
Beating his three own British under 20 records in Snatch (144 kg), Clean and Jerk (163 kg) and Total weight lifted (307 kg), Hutton’s lift in the Snatch also broke the British under 23 record – and the 19-year-old is already thinking about how to improve.
For now though, the Team Sunderland Elite Athlete came into the competition feeling confident, more so in fact than the English Senior Championships in December where he originally claimed the three under 20 British records, and offered SportsByte an insight into the work he has put in to improve.
“Trainings been really good, it’s involved lots of volume work. High sets, high reps and getting that conditioning back after Christmas, after having a couple of weeks off and dialling back my training after I had the English Senior Championships.
“Lots of volume, lots of conditioning work to get myself back up to fitness, then that’s started to dial down as I get closer to the competition. Working towards heavier weights for lower reps and putting myself in that competition phase where I’m trying to peak myself with the best performance that I’m going for.
“I had a lot more confidence coming into this competition than I did in December, obviously there’s a big difference between that senior level and the age groups level, so it was just finding a way of managing my emotions and being at the level I need to be.
“Especially coming off that high at the Seniors, and then coming into the Age Groups where I know I need to go for a win. I need to go for certain totals, and I know it’s a bit more of a relaxed setting. It’s just maintaining and managing myself in the right way, to be at the best level I can be.”
The event wasn’t quite perfect for Hutton, as he attempted to break his own British under 20 record of 140 kg in the Snatch on his first lift – aiming for 141 kg, but after resetting himself and getting the weight up, he was able to go one step further and claim the under 23 record previously set by Omar Keshta.
“I’ve sat down with my coaches, and we’ve discussed the highs and the lows of that competition. A lot of it for me was consistency. I normally aim to try and be as conditioned as I can about my lifts. Especially on the day when I’m warming up in the backroom, and I’m not missing and I’m going great, and then I miss my first Snatch attempt on the platform.
“That’s something that rarely happens, so a very big focus is that first initial lift on the platform and trying to make sure I don’t miss. I nail it first time. That was one of those things, especially with opening up on a British record, trying to manage my emotions and go: ‘Right, this is a mishap. We need to switch on and try to nail this next one and put some more intent behind it, so I definitely nail it.’”
Coming up for Hutton in mid-April is the BUCS Championships which he claimed the gold medal in last year, a feat he is aiming to replicate this year.
“I’ll definitely be looking to start in the 140s and work my way up from there, but who knows? It’s pretty hard to put a rough number on that now, but I would definitely like to stay around the 140s.”
