Meet This Weekend

This coming weekend while everyone is putting their lungs to the test for the CrossFit Games Open, Emily and I will be traveling to Ft. Worth, Tx. We are headed to our friendly neighbors to the north to compete in the Black Box Gym Olympic Weightlifting Championship. With the growth and popularity of Olympic Weightlifting (due to the growth and popularity of CrossFit) it seems there are more and more chances to compete in lifting meets. This suits me just fine since I spend the majority of my time training for the Olympic lifts.
Since my time training with Ursula Garza my lifts have gone from barely suitable to semi respectable. In August I was snatching 85kilos and not but two weeks ago while training I hit 100kilos twice. So I would say I am improving. This weekend I plan to open with 100kilos on the snatch and 125kilos on the clean and jerk. I see my self PRing on both lifts. (I'm getting a little nervous as I write this) So with all this said, here is to lifting HEAVY SHIT!
You can follow my lifts on twitter @ZUTFIT

My last meet above is from January at the State Meet. My snatch misses are at 100kilos and Clean and Jerk bombs are 125kilos. I've made some strides since then!

New Video

Sorry for the hiatus. I just go through periods of writers block or just straight laziness. Here is a new video from Red Black Olympic Weightlifting class. Seems my classes have become coaches training here of late. Nothing wrong with working specific weaknesses to get better at a sport that prides it's self on being general. Any who, enjoy the video and come subscribe to my YouTube page for all the videos I have.

A "Light Bulb" Moment

This past weekend Red Black Gym was privileged to host my lifting Coach Ursula Garza. If you didn't know, she is a USAW certification coach and a Crossfit Olympic Lifting Level One certification coach and all around bad ass! One thing I know as a lifter and coach is that it is good to bring in someone you trust and know knows their stuff to help other athletes. It's good to hear different cue's that might resonate with the athlete and help the "light bulb" go off. I actually had this conversation with a young lady I coach while attending the seminar. She then pointed me to an article that was posted on Catalyst Athletics site about this very thing.
So...I thought I would share the article with you all below.

Coach, I Totally Get It Now
Here's a weird phenomenon to think about, because it's something that works as a blessing for an athlete and an irritation for a coach. Continue reading.....

One other thing I want to add is that as a coach you can take this one of two ways, get offended or be happy your athlete saw the light. You may have been trying to say the same thing to your athlete, but as long as they get it, and improve, that's the most important thing.

My Journey

This week I want to feature Stephanie. She has been with me for over a year and doesn't look to be going anywhere any time soon. I have to be honest with you tough,. When Stephanie first started at my 5:30am CrossFit Central class I was not a big fan of her. She whined and her attitude was not the greatest. Needless to say I wanted her in another class so I wouldn't have to deal with her.
I year later she is still in my Central class and is Olympic Lifting twice a week with me at Red Black Gym. She has made great strides and continues to grow as a CrossFitter and an Olympic Lifter as well. I absolutely love having her around and consider a friend.

I joined Crossfit Central in November of 2010. It quickly became very apparent to me that I would need A LOT of extra attention if I ever hoped to learn any of the Olympic lifts, let alone be able to perform them fast with some sort of technique. In April of 2011, I decided to add on Zach’s Olympic Lifting class to my normal schedule. My thinking was, I’ll take this class for three months, figure the lifts out and then I can go back to just crossfitting.

I can remember my first few classes; everything seemed very foreign and really difficult. When I started, I was secretly afraid of snatching. After all, my idea of the lift was to take a weighted bar and throw it at my head, how can you not be afraid of that? So, in the beginning I could only lift with the bar which weighs a whopping 35lbs; hey, everyone has to start somewhere. Even with the bar, I could somehow manage to lose my balance and fall or hit myself with the bar in some other way (I’m embarrassed to even imagine what that looked like.) NOTE: Learning something new is not for the proud; you have to be vulnerable and willing. I would wake up almost every morning with new bruises but all I could think about was how/what I could improve in the next class. It was physically difficult, but more mentally exhausting and at times I felt like a small child trying to learn how to tie my shoe and then immediately jump up and throw a ball. I say mentally exhausting because I would spend a few minutes in front of the bar running through a checklist in my head of things I had learned and was trying to make a habit for my body. It would go something like; feet even and toes pointed slightly out, shins lined up with the bar, bar against the body, hands in the same place each time, hook grip, eyes forward, chest up, shoulders back, knees out, back tight, weight in middle of the foot, deep breath in, hold it, small prayer to God that I would complete the lift, and this is all just to get set up. I could probably spend an hour on the platform just preparing for a lift, but then that’s where the mental part kicks in. I could talk myself out of a lift in equally the same amount of time. Now, imagine doing all of that and your body still only does half of what you told it to do.
Like I said, mentally exhausting. ..

I have had several small achievements, and some big achievements, but they all make huge impressions on my attitude. The first time I received a clean in the proper position and stood it up, I was so happy and it felt so easy, I couldn’t wait to try it again. The first time I snatched and pulled myself under the bar, I realized I would never hit myself in the head with the bar! No longer being afraid of something is incredibly liberating. That’s how it goes; you get something right, then you go back to being inept, then you get something right again. It’s a cycle and somehow along the way you learn and hopefully reinforce only the good. That’s where Zach comes in, he’s always watching.

Zach sees a lift and Boom!, you have immediate feedback on what went wrong and what you were supposed to do instead. Now get back on the platform and try again! Zach’s passion for Olympic lifting is obvious to anyone that he meets and his commitment to the sport pushes me to work harder than I thought I could. He also breaks the lift’s down so we practice progressions. Now instead of feeling like that “small child trying to learn how to tie my shoe and then immediately jump up and throw a ball,” I’m just focused on getting the loop on the laces right. Then rest will come, but it’s all in the details and you build on the technique.

I knew lifting was going to be hard when I started, but I never expected that that I would love it and would become addicted to it. I have gotten so much stronger and never fear Crossfit WOD’s with Olympic lifts in them because I always know how much weight I can handle. The initial three months I signed up for came and went; I’ve been in the class for almost eight months now and have no plans of leaving. Instead, I have huge goals for next year…like snatching my body
weight!

-steph

Improving One Sport To Get Better At Another

I'm going to start having guest writers come to my blog and share there experiences about training and what ever else is on there mind concerning their sport.
The first guest writer is Jessica Estrada. She is a CrossFitter, CrossFit Central coach and an Olympic lifter at Red Black Gym. Big things do come in small packages!

I started Oly Lifting with Zack in May of 2011. Out of all the CrossFit movements, Oly lifting was definitely my weakest. I knew that If I wanted to be a competitive crossfitter, I was going to have to spend a little extra time working the lifts. For awhile I walked around with the mentalality that It was going to be impossible to lift as much weight as most of the girls in CrossFit because of my size. After a weekend at the CrossFit Level 1 Cert, I realized that was just an excuse. All I needed was the right technique and my size would never be an issue. That's when I turned to Zack for coaching.

Before I started Oly lifting I had never done a clean and jerk and my snatch was an inconsistent 95#. Now, my clean and jerk max is 145# and my snatch is 120#....and this is only the beginning. It hasn't been until recently that things have really started to click. I feel that I am more comfortable and more confident with the lifts. I am making daily improvements in the gym. And even though technique still needs some work, I can honestly say that I understand the lifts. I no longer look at my size as a barrier. I've actually dropped weight (not intentionally) since starting Oly, but lifting much heavier. It's all about technique.

Side Note: Oly Lifting was a deciding factor for me when I was considering coaching CrossFit. I told myself I wouldn't be a coach until I understood the movements and could successfully teach them.

To Bump or Not to Bump

Many a discussion's have been had concerning making contact with the hip's during the explosive portion of the second pull of the snatch and clean. I for one do it myself and teach my athletes to do it as well. If done with control it will help you effectively and powerfully propel the bar upward. BUT! you will see people bang the bar causing it to loop way out in front or you may see people just simply brush the bar across the body. I pick the bump, nicely placed right in between. But this is how I was taught and what I share with my athletes. It's not all the same for everyone.
I want to share an article from Greg Everett of Catalyst Athletics who gives his opinion. You can make up your mind for yourself or defer to your coach. Either way its a good read so I hope you enjoy.

Some topics seem to generate more heat than others, and for some reason, the question of how a barbell should come into contact with the body during the snatch and clean seems to get some people extraordinarily wound up. I personally don't lose any sleep over how anyone else lifts or teaches the lifts. I may agree or disagree, but I don't let it upset me to much. The following will undoubtedly further upset the same people who are already upset. Continue reading.....

Ladies of Oly Lifting Crushin' It!

Several weeks ago Crossfit Central had an all women's challenge called the Iron Belle. There were two divisions, the fun division and the competitive division. The ladies in the pic below are the top three teams of the competitive division winners. I am very proud to say that two of the ladies on the 1st place team are athletes that I coach.
Claudia in the front right and Alexis peeking her head out in the back. These two ladies attend the evening Red Black Olympic Lifting class and come to extra training on Sundays. They have elevated there game and are true competitors. I also want to give a shout out to Stephanie who also is in the same Olympic Lifting class as Claudia and Alexis and competed in the fun division. During the competition she earned a new dead lift PR and rocked the house. She is the young lady pictured in my previous post performing the back squat beautifully.
One more shout out to Claudia who is also one of CrossFit Central's Diesel Athletes. I feel privileged to coach these ladies, and to watch their progress makes me very proud.
Congratulations girls! Now we need to get you all into an Olympic Lifting meet!

One last thing to let everyone know. This weekend I will be competing in my first sanctioned USAW Olympic Lifting competition in San Antonio. Since most of you know that read my blog or follow me on Twitter my passion lies with Olympic Lifting. I pretty much exclusively train Olympic Lifting and now want to see how I fare against other athletes that have the same passion as me. I will be wearing a singlet for the first time since high school power lifting. For those of you that aren't familiar with it you can check it out here. I don't think I'll be making that face though, I hope. I will be tweeting out how I'm doing and will have video and pics of the competition so be on the look out for that. I also want to give a big thanks to 210 Crossfit for putting on the competition.

A Little Hiatus

Well it's been a while since I've written a blog post, but that doesn't mean a lot hasn't gone on. I know the last blog I had written I was in the midst of doing Fuel 21. Well, I will give you all the final results from my experience. Weight lost: #190 to #184. Body Fat: 15.1% to 13.3%. Inches lost 2.75 BUT, gained in my shoulders and biceps.
All in all it was a great experience! Crystal Nelson is top notch and knows her stuff. Her menu is satisfying and there are great recipes in her workbook. She tweaked my diet to fit my training regimen and it obviously paid of.
Since Fuel 21 ended I did go on vacation two times so I obviously didn't stay on it quit as strict. But since the end of July I have been right back on my diet and have seen a great response from my body through sleep and performance. I have been lifting heavy and my performance has not gone down. I am getting stronger and have put on good weight.
I would strongly suggest Fuel 21 for great ideas on food choices, and questions on when to eat. Crystal also touches on performance diet, and post work out suggestions. Great stuff all together.

Awwww, my sweet wife and I got to enjoy the beautiful country of Costa Rica for a week at the first of July with great friends and lots of good food. So you could see why I went off my eating regimen for a bit. I must say IF YOU EVER have a chance to travel to Central America choose Cost Rica. The people are friendly, the food is fantastic, and the scenery is AMAZING! It was our second time to go and we are already planning the next trip. Oh.... and their national beer Imperial is awesome.

Last but not least the CrossFit Games! I have been to all but one of the Games and the '11 Games were the best! The crowed was amazing the venue was full and the weather was great. A very fun filled group of us stayed in Redondo literally on the Strand on what is the widest beach I have ever seen in my life. I was waiting for Pam Anderson to roll up in her Baywatch truck ready to save me.
My sister Carey Kepler , sister in law Lisa Thiel and good friend Lindsay Smith all did great! Watching them work is awe inspiring and motivating at the same time. The caliber of athletes competing now is pretty impressive. Well, it's come along way since I competed in '08. Mad respect and I can only imagine what the sport is going to evolve into.

So...there is an update and some lame reasoning for the lack of blogging. My training is taking off and I have some Oly meets coming up here in the near future I will be telling you all about. I am bangin' some serious weights right now and fully expect to set some serious Snatch and Clean & Jerk PR's. Oly classes at Red Black are bumpin' and the athletes are making some real progress. Will have more updates on that as well. Good Day!

Do Work Son

Wanted to share a new video from Red Black Gym Olympic Lifting class. It's not your typical video you would see me put out, but more of a promo video for the class it self. A big thanks to Elliot for his hard work and great editing on the video. He is a busy guy and has been generous enough to do the editing for all the videos I have coming.
I record the athletes for their benefit of seeing their lifts from a different perspective to help them improve. I also do the same for myself so others can see me and help me become more efficient and a more productive lifter. So be on the look out for more videos come your way and become a subscriber to my YouTube page to also see some of my favorite videos and pages I like to follow.

Gettin'er Done

A nice collage of the Red Black Olympic lifting class. As you may notice we like to incorporate power training in with the lifting to give the athletes a good set of lungs and to maximize max power output. The AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) almost always consist of dumbbells and or kettlebells to help promote balance and mid line stabilization. It's a tribute to the famous Zach Even-Esh and John Welbourn from hum I learned these great things from.

First Video

Here is the first video from the Red Black Olympic Lifting Club. I am just learning to film anything worth a darn so bear with me on the angles.

I know that I learn quite a bit by watching videos of people lifting. Some of it is do's and don'ts, but all in all it's good to watch other people lift. I hope you all get some good training ideas that you maybe hadn't thought of before and add it to your training. I know that as my athletes get better at the lifts and I get better at filming and coaching, you will gain more and more from the videos. I will try to have a new video up at least once a week from the Oly classes and my own training so I hope you follow this blog and my YouTube page.

Start'em Young

Wanted to share this clip with everyone. Found this YouTube Channel a while back and it is awesome. Wish I would have known about this Olympic lifting stuff when I was a kid.

Liberation Strength and Conditioning

Wanted:
Two highly motivated energized individuals to join one single highly motivated energized individual on Friday mornings 6:45am to 7:45am.

What Will Happen:
You will participate in highly demanding, blood pumping, strength based and power inducing workouts.

Why Should You Join:
Because if you want to get strong, conditioned, and do it all at the same time this is were you need to be. I train you the way I like to train myself using Kettelbells, Dumbbells, Barbells, Prowlers, Sleds and Sledge Hammers. If that doesn't peek your interest than I don't know what will.

I call it Liberation Strength and Conditioning because doing something different, grueling and challenging is absolutely liberating. Why not do something different?
We begin this Friday at Red Black Gym, there are ground rules to joining and farther details will be given when you make the commitment. One thing I will promise, you will get strong and it will be liberating. First come first serve. Contact: zacharythiel@crossfitcentral.com

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.

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.