Videos For You

So I've been lookin around and all the cool kids seem to have YouTube Channels so I decided to get one myself.
ZUTFIT is the name of the channel naturally. I created it so all of you can catch a glimpse of the Red Black Gym Olympic Lifting Club and all their glory. I also plan on throwing some vids of yours truly on there training so you can see what sort of stuff I like to do as well as videos from the Central coaches and other cool Olympic and crossfit videos as well.
I hope you all check it out and I would love to see comments on the videos I post up there.
Hope you enjoy.

Just My Thoughts........

So, at this point in my coaching career, which spans a whopping 5 years, I have come to some conclusions. I'm not saying this won't change, but I am going out on a limb here by saying it probably won't.
I coach indoor crossfit classes at Central and Olympic Weightlifting classes at Red Black Gym and some of the lifts obviously come together. For instance, today's WOD at Crossfit Central had hang power cleans in it. Naturally I had the class watch the move performed and had them perform it themselves. While I was watching the athletes perform the move prior to the actual WOD I felt like I was doing a disservice to the move and the athletes themselves. Not because they were performing the lift all wrong, but because there is so much more involved in the lift and I only have so much time to coach them up on it and correct any glaring flaws they may have.

And this is where I shamelessly promote my Olympic Weightlifting instruction separately from a crossfit class. Performing the oly lifts and becoming efficient at them takes practice and performing them repetitively creates muscle memory so that after time the lifts will become effortless. Well, maybe not effortless, but you will be able to concentrate on becoming stronger, faster and more explosive and tweak your lifts when it's called for. There are many drills, skill work and straight heavy lifting that are involved in becoming a good Olympic lifter. Not only will you become a stronger lifter but it will translate into your crossfit class. You will undoubtedly learn how to become more aggressive and also know where to focus that aggression when performing the power clean, hang clean, hang power snatch and on and on and on. I know from my own personal experience that learning the Olympic lifts, and practicing them has made me a better crossfiter. While other people are struggling with a lift like the snatch, I can rip right through it. I saw that first hand this past weekend at the Fittest Games at Crossfit Central.

So, with all of that said, I encourage all of you to consider taking up Olympic Weightlifting separate from your crossfit classes. You will become stronger, more discipline and no doubt more efficient during your workouts. Chances are you will smoke the person next to you because they are struggling and it's just like another day at the park for you.

You Are Powerful Beyond Measure

This is for all the people competing in The Fittest Games this coming weekend. You are Great and you must Act Now! because now is all you have.

The NEW Red Black Gym

So many of you know and some of you don't know SicFit Austin has transformed it's self into Red Black Gym. Along with the new name has come with new programs. The School of Strength featuring Strictly Strength, Lean Lifting and my personal favorite and simply put Olympic Weightlifting are designed to help get you strong, lean and technical.

I want to give you a quick description of what it is I do in the Oly classes at Red and Black Gym. You may assume that we only Olympic lift and that is it. While we do mainly focus on the Clean and Jerk and Snatch, I also incorporate power training. Having incorporated Crossfit Football WOD's and receiving my Football Cert. I have seen great strides in speed and strength with my Oly lifts. So, you could say that the Olympic class is a hybrid style of training. The class uses mainly dumbbells and kettelbells along with prowlers to do a 10 to 15 minute AMRAP. The short explosive workouts promotes power and speed which directly translates into better and more explosive Olympic weightlifting.

Being more efficient and educated in the Olympic lifts will directly translate into being a better crossfiter. It takes focus, discipline, and consistent practice to be a good Olympic lifter and the same applies to being a good crossfiter.
If you have any questions about the program please email zacharythiel@crossfitcentral.com

Integrity......

Integrity seems to be something I've been missing with this blog for the past few months. What's crazy to me is that I am outspoken and at times very opinionated. Yet, I choose not to share with you what's up with my training, what I am doing to better myself at a personal level, and to promote the programs I coach as well as the passion I have for Olympic Lifting and Strength and Conditioning. So, here I am to come clean and apologize for the lack of integrity that I have been showing and to take responsibility for my own laziness. I have much to share with you all and I think that I could help motivate and enhance your lives in some way. So with all this said, stick with me and look for more to come concerning my future endeavors.