Interview with Antonino Pizzolato

Biography00on the IWF says that you decided to become a weightlifter after you saw the performance of the Italian athlete Jennifer Lombardo. How old were you and why did it affect you then?

At the time I was 14, Jennifer Lombardo trained in the same club where I started practicing weightlifting. She inspired me with her passion and determination. From that moment I started practicing this sport.

Even 10 years ago, weightlifting in Italy did not shine much, and today your team is one of the strongest in Europe: what is the reason?

    In Italy, the most followed sport has always been football. Over the years other sports have also emerged including weightlifting and in recent years, thanks to the development of fitness and social networks, it has become more visible. Now more people practice it, so there are more opportunities to find a talent that can emerge.

Who creates you a training program and which school do you focus on: Soviet, Bulgarian, Chinese?

My programming is done daily by my coach / technical director, whose name is Corbu Sebastiano. We don’t rely on any of the 3 schools you mentioned, but we rely on the Italian school.

You have been performing internationally since the age of 15 and you have a lot of medals from adult and international competitions. Tell us about the features of warm-up and psychological preparation for them. 

My warm-up in the competition starts with the stretching routine. Start with bodyweight squats, warming movements of the arms, warming of the wrists, hip rotations, some neck openers, from the bottom to the top and vice versa, once finished I start to use the barbell. Psychological preparation has a constant evolution, so I don’t always use the same methodology, but it changes, trying to improve myself, so as not to repeat the same mistakes in the next competition. In my opinion, the most important part remains concentration, which helps me to achieve the goal I have set myself.

You have been performing in the 85 kg category for 4 years. Why, when changing weight categories, you did not decide to gain, but lower body weight?

It was a very tough decision. My technicians advised me to drop weight, so I went to my nutritionist to do an evaluation of the fat muscle ratio and to see if I could lose 4 kilos to be in new category. After the testing, nutritionist told me I could do it. We had a meeting with my sports club and the technical director of the national team and we decided to switch the category. I have to recognize that the first periods were the most difficult but over time I adapted to the diet and I managed to maintain the same volume and intensity, indeed I also improved them. This decision made me understand that proper nutrition makes your training and recovery better. 

What does your training week look like: regime, training, recovery procedures?

My training week is divided as follows:

Monday-Wednesday and Friday I do two training sessions, the first at

10:30 and the second at 17:00.

Instead, Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday I do a training session at 11:00.

As for nutrition, I follow a diet of 2200 kcal per day with 5 food intakes: Breakfast at 8:00

Lunch at 13:30

Snack at 16:00

Dinner at 20:00

Snack at 22:00

I rest 8 hours at night, go to sleep at 23:00 and wake up at 7:00.

In the afternoon after lunch, I have some rest 30 minutes from 15:00 to 15:30.

In my opinion, it is very important to follow this regime well and I think that respecting this daily life will make a better athlete.  

Do you have any other hobbies besides professional weightlifting?

Unfortunately, competitive weightlifting does not allow me to have a hobby, most of the time I spend it in the gym, but when I have some free time, I like racing, obviously, this happens when I am not in preparation for the competitions.

Tell us your best results in SNATCH, C&J, pulls, back/front squats!

Snatch 163 

C&J 201 kg

Pull Snatch 250 kg

Pull C&J 320 kg

Back Squat 275 kg

Front Squat 255 kg

Name 3 of your main exercises for SNATCH, CLEAN, and JERK. Tell me why these exercises? 

For the Snatch:

Pull Snatch from deficit

Power Snatch

Hang Snatch

Snatch pull from deficit helps to improve the first phase of the pull.

Power Snatch will increase speed and keep the muscle always elastic,  hang snatch helps me to perform good the final phase of the pull.

For the C&J:

Clean on the box

Clean and push press.

Muscle clean will perfectly improve the movement, and also the strength and the push press increase the strength in the jerk.

What is stopping you from getting better today? On what disadvantages are you working?

I am an athlete who works hard at the gym, always taking my body to the limit. Unfortunately, I have had some injuries throughout my career and this brings with it several traumas. I am trying to minimize injuries by good technique and with a little self-management. I want to compete with the best athletes on the platform and will do everything to get ready when needed.

Your advice and recommendations to weightlifters.

My advice is to listen to your coach and trust what he tells you inside and outside the platform since he does it, not to take something away from you, but to get you something. Always be clear-headed and when you go to lift the bar you eliminate all negative thoughts, do what you have been prepared for. I confess to you a little secret of mine when I go to lift the PR : THINKING IS A MISTAKE!!!