Jiří Orság is undoubtedly one of the best weightlifters on the planet and a man who definitely deserves respect thanks to his superhuman performances. But have you ever wondered what the diet of an Olympian competing in the pitch and market looks like? Have you ever wondered what the training of such an athlete looks like? And is it possible, according to Jirka, to move forward in top sport without doping? Find out the answers to these and many other questions in today's exclusive interview.

Hi Jirka. Although you are a very prominent figure in Czech weightlifting and you are undoubtedly known outside of "ourour" powerlifting and bodybuilding sphere, this interview will surely reach someone who doesn't know you that well. So how would you introduce yourself in a few short sentences?

Hi. I'm 29 years old and I come from Karolinka, which is a nice little town in the heart of Wallachia. I started weightlifting when I was 11 years old without any sporting background or goals. No one in my family ever lifted weights or did any strength or other sports. Yet I got 100 kilos over my head at the age of 12.

I am such a pioneer in my family in this direction. I have been competing for many years in the super heavy category and my best results are 190 kg in the market and 245 kg in the overhead.

What are your greatest achievements? What do you value the most?

Among my greatest achievements is the double participation in the Olympic Games (London 2012- 7. and Rio 2016- 8th place) and winning dozens of medals from international competitions. The most recent medals are from this year's European Championships, where I won silver in pitching and doubles. I am also happy that last year I managed to break the historical record in the overhead throw - the biggest weight lifted until then was 242.5 kilograms. It was a 40 year old record, which I pushed first to 243 kilos at the WCR Team Finals, and then a few weeks later to 245 kilos at the WCR Individuals.

What I value most is always a bit of a tricky question, because I value every achievement. But the most important thing from my point of view is participating in the Olympic Games, where you have to go through a very difficultdifficult qualification and then you have the reward of representing your country and the sport along with the best athletes in the world.

Weightlifting is a beautiful sport, but for most people it is quite unknown. So could you give a light outline of what your training looks like in a week?

At the moment, one week equates to eight training sessions - Monday, Wednesday, Friday I have two phases, Tuesday and Thursday one each. In the two-phase workout, I start the morning with squats, then markets and half squat overhead (power snatch and power clean and jerk), then the afternoon is focused on high weights in the market and technical overhead. Tuesday is then focused on back supplements and Thursday is currently physio training.

What are your max performances for squat and deadlift?

My best squat performances are 340 kg for back squat and 295 kg for front squat. I use nothing more than neoprene knee pads and a weightlifting belt. My deadlift has always been weak because I don't consider it a weightlifting discipline. I've pulled 300kg a couple of times, I think the most I've done was 302kg. It's always more important what you can "jump" below than how much you can get to your waist.

If a perfectly ordinary person who goes out for recreational sports from time to time said he wanted to be a good weightlifter, what qualifications would he need to have for that? And how long do you think it would take him to master the technique of these two exercises?

First of all, such a person should not lack determination, perseverance, mental endurance and the desire to work hard. Determination is the first step to get started, perseverance and mental resilience are important so that one does not give up right after the first couple of days.r weeks or months, when he or she is likely to realise that he or she still can't do anything and that it is not a matter of a moment. I do not think we need to discuss the desire to work any further. The question of mastering technique is, as I have already indicated, a matter for a few months. But it is very individual and depends on many factors. One of them is undoubtedly age. And I think this is true in any sport - the earlier one starts doing a particular movement, the sooner one will be able to learn it. As you get older, it becomes harder to start dealing with mobility and flexibility, which is absolutely essential for this sport. I personally started at 11 years old and at that time I really didn't have to deal with whether I could do a deep squat, whether I could do a deadliftor if I could get my hands behind my head enough in a market or in an expression or if I could get my elbows out enough to move.

This topic could be covered a lot more, of course, but if I keep it short enough, the younger you arethe sooner you'll be able to reach a technical level where you're limited by strength and not technique. If someone starts weightlifting at 25, it is very likely that there will be a problem where they are strong but not able to transfer that strength into technique.

We have a beautiful example in our ranks now in Prague, where a young guy who switched from triathlon started weightlifting. He's got strong squats, strong deadlifts, but he still struggles with mobility and technically he's not at the level yet to be able to use his strength in the market and pitching. But it must be said that he has made strides in three years that few could. I believe he will be one of our movers and shakers for the next Olympic season.

I noticed that you and your sponsor Smartlabs have taken to making videos available (among other things) on YouTube. Have you ever thought about making videos yourself? After all, you are a person who has a huge amount of knowledge and could pass it on in this way.

While it may not seem like it, I'm not a person who has any attachment to social media. Sometimes I have periods where I try to sort of keep active with regular posts, but sometimes I just find that I haven't posted anything in a month.

But the truth is, I've toyed with the idea of making some videos more than once.and given my plans for next year, it's a very real possibility that it will happen.

How important is diet for weightlifters? Can you have whatever you feel like from time to time, or are you absolutely strict?

Diet is important everywhere. Unfortunately, it's never been paid much attention to in our country and it's a pity. But I must add that this situation is improving a lot and people's awareness and interest in working in preparation and with food is improving a lot! Personally I never really addressed it either, I was never guided in any way and it was always just training that the coaches addressed and no one said a word about food. But the last few years I've been thinking about it too and trying to eat sensibly.

I don't advocate any special way of eating, I eat according to my reason so that I don't lose muscle and have energy for training. If I feel like a burger, I'll have one. I'm not strict.

If I'm not mistaken, you're competing in a super heavy weight class that no longer has an upper weight limit. Do you keep your weight at a certain limit, or do you just not worry too much about the extra pounds?

I don't really worry about weight, I try to keep it down in training, but I usually gain weight slightly due to volume training. Considering my height of 181cm, the weight around 132-133kg is already kind of hard for me to handle because of technique. After all, every change on my body means maybe a slightly different starting position and sometimes a loss of momentum. In our sport it is important to be always mobile, fast and as accurate as possible. If suddenly your big legs and belly don't allow you to line up to the barbell the way you are used to, it can be quite upsetting. So I usually try to keep that prep weight around 132 pounds and get it straightened out technically.

I'm currently around 126kg, because I've been skipping certain things due to inflammation in my body foods in my diet, and while I've been at it and have the time, I've decided to bulk up the mass I'm wearing a bit.

Which supplements do you think are the most important? Do you put a lot of emphasis on supplements, or would you be able to function without them?

Supplements are important to me in training, but as you learn, my supplement lineup today is completely different than years ago. I deal a lot with magnesium in particular, of which I have several types, but also other minerals, various mushrooms (like reishi and mushroom), ginseng, vitamins, some immunity supplements (colostrum, immunobran, natural vitamin C) and then I have myProteins (especially Raspberry Tasty and hydro in dark chocolate from the aforementioned Smartlabs). But I also take amino acids, creatine and some preworkout.

I guess I can't say that I could function without those things without a problem, mind you.most of them help me with recovery, which is crucial for me in training. If I switched to "hobby" training, I believe I could do without some of the stuff.

How do you remember your beginnings? Is there anything you would have done differently this way in retrospect, or are you happy with your "evolution" in this sport?

My beginnings were great, I remember it fondly. There was no internet in our country yet, cell phones were only for the "chosen ones" and if you wanted some information you had to rely on what the coach or the guys at the gym told you. I was 11 when I started, living in the valley outside the city and training in the village. And I had no idea what it was like anywhere else. I didn't know there was such a thing as the European Championships, the World Championships or the Olympics. I didn't know what a big weight was anymore, or if what I was lifting was good. And it was great because nothing and nobody was holding me back mentally.

I didn't realize that I was probably lifting a decent amount of weight until I was approached at 14 from Prague and wanted towanted me as a contract athlete, which was the first step towards representation and training camps. I would have done this all the same. The only two things I would change in terms of athletic evolution would be food and compensatory exercise. I believe that if someone had watched over me and helped me in this regard earlier, I could have avoided many injuriesI could have been in a different place in terms of performance, and most importantly, I would be in a different place in terms of knowledge. But on the other hand, it's never too late, and the moment I get into coaching I will know that I won't underestimate these things.

Weightlifting, like strength sports, is nowadays quite closely linked to doping abuse. I understand that Olympic athletes tend to be tested very rigorously, but I wonder what yourpersonal opinion on doping abuse among, say, recreational or even teenage exercisers?

My personal opinion is that if someone wants to do it, let them do it. But I certainly don't agree with someone publicly promoting it and basically publishing how to do it. This is definitely not cool, and it just leads to teenage boys in the gym locker room talking about what they're taking and where they got it. I call that a resounding no!

Do you think athletes can achieve extreme results without abusing banned substances?

I believe it's possible. And I know that the vast majority of people are going to contradict me now, but hand on heart, how many people today will even try to achieveto reach their natural peak without looking for a "shortcut" in the aforementioned banned substances? How many people endure going after their goal for, say, 15 years to see where their limit really is?

Jirka can get more weight over his head than most people in the gym can lift, say, on a deadlift.

Does it often happen to you that people recognize you on the street and want to take a picture?

Not often. But it happens. The last time was last week when I went to the cinema.

In the interview with Jonáš Petřík you said that you have been training for 17 years (by this time it will be 18). Where do you find the motivation to train after such a long time? Do you ever have moments when you doubt yourself or are you happy with what you have now?

My motivation is to keep trying to outdo myself. Motivation for me is believing that I can still be better than I've ever been. Another motivation for me is to compete in my third Olympics, which I will try to fight for. On the other hand, the times when I think that maybe it's time to call it quits come when I've been plagued by injuries for a long time. That's when I start to doubt myself if I can still be better than I was and that's when I lose motivation. In this respect, however, I am kept afloat by my girlfriend, who always supports me, slaps me and it's good again :D

Is there anything you would like to say to your fans and everyone who will read this interview?

I would like to thank everyone who has read this far for taking the time to do this. I guess I've done something to interest them and that's good. People often ask me about personal training or preparing for competitions. I haven't done any of that until now, but that will change in 2019. That's why I recommend everyone to follow me on social media, because by this time you will definitely find all the info about who and when I will start training there!

And thanks to the team at MyFitnessio for this opportunity to chat!

Finally, we would like to thank Jirka for the interview and wish him all the best for the future on behalf of the whole MyFitnessio team. success, as few injuries as possible and still as good a representation of our small country as ever.

Our latest video interview with Jirka Orság

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