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030 - Be Somebody: Building a Weightlifting Legacy w/ Wes Kitts
94 Plays1 month ago
We raise the bar with two-time Olympian and Pan American Champion Wes Kitts as he shares the profound journey that shaped not just his athletic career, but his entire approach to life and leadership.
Wes takes us beyond the medals and records to clean and jerk the curtain back on how the powerful philosophy – "be somebody" – became the cornerstone of his identity and mission. From his roots on the football field to snatching the opportunity in weightlifting as his true calling, Kitts demonstrates how purpose and family becomes a powerful platform for personal transformation.
Join us for a powerful exploration of what it truly means to "be somebody" – not just through the records you break, but through how you rack up meaning in the lives you touch and the weighted impact of the legacy you're building every day.
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Transcript
Introduction and Personal Reflections
00:00:00
Speaker
We had talked about staying over the bar, and because it was hard to do, I didn't work on it. You know what I mean? like Those technical changes, right? I was strong this way, and I could clean this way already, so I just kept doing what I knew instead of making the change. And it took...
00:00:18
Speaker
giving away a gold medal and passing it on a platform for me to make the change. So that's what I mean by by pain points. you know you You go out and you make a mistake, and ah ideally you don't give away a gold medal on an ah international platform to learn. Welcome to the Captains and Coaches podcast. We explore the art and the science of leadership through the lens of athletics and beyond.
00:00:38
Speaker
I'm your host Tex McColkin and today we travel to Knoxville, Tennessee to sit down with a man whose journey exemplifies what it means to be somebody. Two-time Olympian and Pan American champion weightlifter Wes Kitts.
00:00:51
Speaker
From the football field to the Olympic platforms in Tokyo and Paris, Wes has embodied the power of purpose on unwavering commitment. Today, Wes isn't just breaking American records.
00:01:02
Speaker
He's building a legacy through his Knoxville gym, aptly named Be Somebody. Carrying forward wisdom gleaned from family and coaches while empowering others to discover their own potential through the barbell.
00:01:15
Speaker
Join us for this powerful conversation about trust, transformation, and what it truly means to be somebody on and off the platform.
Journey from Football to Weightlifting
00:01:24
Speaker
With that, let's hand it off Wes. Ready, ready, and for great.
00:01:27
Speaker
Thank you.
00:01:31
Speaker
I'm in Knoxville hanging out with Wes Kitts. How are we feeling? We're doing good. You know, I'm not ah i'm not sore or achy right now because i've I've not really been training. So i'm ah physically, I feel pretty great.
00:01:45
Speaker
Well, you've put in a lot of years of training. Now you get the opportunity to to help lead yeah individuals. Yeah. We're about, ah shoot, I guess it's like nine years of international competing now. I'd be going on if I run another one. So, yeah, it's been a long time. Yeah.
00:02:04
Speaker
Yeah, I've got a number of guys that are now looking at LA and want to figure out how they can make that happen. And I'm lucky enough that they trust me to to help them with that.
00:02:14
Speaker
Yeah, that's going to be an amazing experience. LA, home country. Yeah, i I'm a little jealous. i yeah It was originally going to be the 24 games and ended up trading it at some point. I can't remember.
00:02:28
Speaker
It might have been before ah the Tokyo Olympics happened that they ended up swapping those. But Yeah, even at the time, I thought there's ah there's no way I'd be lifting in 24. You know, I just figured I'd be, you know, done with it, moved on. But, you know, now I'm sort of like, man, it would have been nice to be.
00:02:45
Speaker
be in LA, but honestly, Paris Olympics were amazing. Paris was obviously an insane place to get to go to for an Olympics and what a not cool place to visit. Yeah.
00:02:56
Speaker
And it was a long road to
Early Influences and Learning Weightlifting
00:02:58
Speaker
get there. So we're going to explore your whole athletic journey, dive into coaching a little bit and two-time Olympian, Pan American champion, weightlifter.
00:03:08
Speaker
What does that title mean to you and your world or United States record holder as well? Yeah, um man, it's and more than I ever thought you knowd I'd get out of the sport. When I moved to Cal Strength, I just you know i thought it'd be cool to win nationals one day. you know i thought it'd be you know being a top lifter and the country, being ah professional weightlifter. Those were the kinds of things I was thinking about, and it wasn't until um we sort of got thrown into the 2016 qualifications that it became real for me that the whole point of this is to go to the Olympics. and
00:03:43
Speaker
um I actually finished Olympic trials that year in the second spot for the the men's team. We only had zero spots available at that time, went to Pan Ams to qualify one more. So I ended up missing the cut. But by twenty twenty by 2020, it took a much better athlete to get to the Olympics. And you the qualifications have changed every year or every quad, probably the past three or four. so It's just, you know, we take less and less weightlifters and it it got harder and harder. But ah anyways, like that was, like said, i didn't really have that kind of expectations for it. You know, I started bearing down on a snatch American record sort of early on. That was like, you know, thought that'd be a cool, you know, a cool thing to to do. And um I ended up with American records in three weight categories. And so I i don't know, like i said, the
00:04:38
Speaker
the weightlifting journey, you know, it, it ended up being a lot more than I ever would have expected. on And your athletic career, you started to use weightlifting as a tool for sport versus the sport.
00:04:50
Speaker
Right. Very, very young. Um, I was interested in lifting weights. You know, I just, I was lucky that, uh, my dad had gotten into it during the bodybuilding boom and, when uh you know arnold schwarzenegger was a huge influence uh on a literally a lot of huge yeah man like on that that whole generation like you know i don't know how many kids my age their dads were you know keeping up with arnold and like did a show you know oh wow i mean that's just like you know that's uh i'm sure that impacted a ah lot of people honestly but yeah my dad was one of them he got big into it so we ended up with weights in our house that i i grew up in and
00:05:29
Speaker
He showed me how to use them when I was young and just you know told me this is going to make you better at sports. So I was just lucky that you know he he knew his way around the gym and wanted me to to you know learn those lessons that you get out of the gym. and So like I said, just really young, I'd go down to the basement. We had some weights. I'd kind of figure stuff out. But yeah, I'd kind of been...
Competitive Career and Development
00:05:52
Speaker
training myself since i was a kid and you know of course when you're little you just make stuff up and like how do i get my abs you know as possible right it's about at six pack right biceps traps what are we doing yeah you know um so but over time you know you start putting together better workouts you do better research and you know i think at that time not when i was first getting started but Bodybuilding.com was a forum initially and me and my buddies would go there and pull some workouts, learn how to make some splits and I had some books, showed you how to do, you know, how to build super sets, what an athletic development program looks like and I mean this is like
00:06:32
Speaker
I'll probably in middle school and, you know, early in high school, I'm looking into this stuff. So, um yeah, I was just, I was just lucky that, you know, I loved it and always have. And yeah, I hope I'll always will. You know, I think, I don't think there's any getting me out of the gym, but yeah, just, you know, even as I continue to play football, obviously weights culture and football is massive. So it's sort of continued to feed into that and,
00:07:00
Speaker
um By the time I was in college, I was i was probably, you know, i was I was obsessed with the weight room. Like, I probably overdid it, if I'm being honest. But I just, I loved it. And, you know, as a tailback, the...
00:07:13
Speaker
equation is bigger and faster more explosive so the only way i knew to do that was lift a lot of weight yeah and more muscle be able to move that tissue explosively and so i'm you know i'm trying to figure that out um well there's a difference between that high school power clean and you know exactly what i'm talking about and now the very technique technical driven you're training four years for a moment type of Olympic weightlifting. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, for sure. I mean, well, I remember the, the first day I saw power clean, I was thinking about going out for wrestling and they were doing some preseason work and I go in there and and the high school had these, uh,
00:07:54
Speaker
and basically they had glued some plywood together, cut them into disc sized weights. Cause they only had 45 pound bars. So I've got the wood on there. They're showing me how to get the bar from the ground to my shoulders. So yeah the first exposure to clean with, with wooden weights and getting taught by other kids. um I taught by other your teammates. Yeah, of course. I mean, that how to the coaches, it's just, you know, you do cleans, especially at that time, especially in a high school setting, like,
00:08:22
Speaker
they just rip it up to your shoulders yeah you know exactly so uh jumping with weights yeah the that was my freshman year um sophomore year i came out for football they also did cleans and i got a little more exposure there and consistency in doing that lift um and i was okay at it i can't remember exactly i'm pretty sure i'd probably did a sprawling power clean when we would do maxes. Uh, if I was, it's like I said, tough to remember, but I know it was a lot of effort and not a lot of technique. Um, and as I got to college, you know even it's a double double A school i went to, and it's not, you know, we had a strength coach for all the teams and,
00:09:04
Speaker
um you know he was telling me hey when we max they're probably going to want to see a full clean so why don't you start doing your power cleans in a position where you can front squat so power clean plus front squat right until you can build your clean pattern again no technical cues no real information that's actionable that i can use to you know build ah a clean technique or a model it's just do this and let your body learn.
00:09:31
Speaker
It worked somehow. ah First max in college, I
Coaching and Skill Refinement
00:09:35
Speaker
i think I came in around 325 or so. um i saw this other dude, his name's Chris Newell, but he hit, think 350 or 355 for a ah team record So as a freshman doing what I did, seeing that, i'm like, well, shoot, I can probably. It's just 30 more pounds. Yeah, can probably hit that before I graduate. So like that was my first, I guess, like, you know, as far as like a weight room record, that was my first like motivation to do something like that was.
00:10:04
Speaker
just watching a teammate hearing like, what's the most we've ever seen in this gym, at this school, with this team, you know, and maybe I can do that. So, um, you know, put a lot into it, tried to get better, but you know, just working them all the time. Again, I, I didn't even, I didn't even equate it with like real technique. I just, you know, I'm just pulling it up to my shoulders. It's not like a, you know, I didn't, I didn't know weightlifting was even a sport, which probably didn't seem stupid, but,
00:10:33
Speaker
It's the truth. Like I had no idea. Um, so anyways, I, I think I hit maybe three 65 or 75 before I graduated. And, um, that was sort of like my, my football cleaning, yeah I guess, career.
00:10:48
Speaker
i don't know. How would you rate your form and technique with now your, your coach's high? Um, it wasn't bad for a football player. Yeah. You know, I was, i was a, I was the best on my team with the movement and i would help the other guys. And, um, you know, a lot of weightlifting is just hands on bar. You know, a lot of people think it, you know, the, the technique and knowing all the ins and outs is the most important part.
00:11:14
Speaker
It's a, it's a part, but if you don't drill those things, then you can't really, you know, you can't really act on them. Like you can read the book, but you don't know what it feels like or um have any experience using them, then it's not it's not really something you can use. If I'm being honest, you have to practice to understand. so um I don't even know where I'm going with that. the like nuances You had football coaches that were giving you cues, directions, like nuances of the sport.
00:11:44
Speaker
When did you start to pick up on those little things within the sport of weightlifting? The first um coaching I got was actually in this gym, a different You know, ah ah another guy owned it, his name's Johnny Davis. but Um, he had put a little weightlifting team together over here. And my friend was like, man, you gotta check this stuff out. It's called CrossFit. It's like cardio, but you do it with weights. It's an impossible.
00:12:10
Speaker
No, no way. Were you still a football player at the time? I just graduated. Okay. Um, looking for something more. yeah so I was, uh, going in my last semester, I was staying next to that science. So I needed my internship.
00:12:21
Speaker
So stars aligned. I don't know. I mean, uh, uh, the whole journey is pretty, uh, weird how everything just kind of compounded and led me down a path I i didn't expect to. But yeah, I mean, like I said, my buddy gets me in this gym.
00:12:38
Speaker
They happen to have a weightlifting team that happens to be going to a meet in Johnson City, at ETSU. um They're a few weeks out. ah I'm like thinking about like, ah sure, I'll try it, you know, at the time.
00:12:49
Speaker
I could power snatch a little bit, had never really done a full snatch. Um, was the first your snatch experience with CrossFit at this gym? Yeah. I'd never really, uh, we didn't, you know, after I committed to doing the meet, we basically spent two weeks leading into the meet, learning how to catch a snatch in a full squat, um, kind of ditched everything else, which i mean, it sounds crazy now that I've been preparing for meets for so long and know what that, like,
00:13:17
Speaker
but that really is just the fact that I'd go into one so unprepared. It seems crazy. But um yeah, so that's what we did. Two weeks, like almost exclusively, like getting the feel for a full snatch and um a little bit of the other stuff. But and went down there with them. i ended up winning my weight class.
00:13:36
Speaker
um I did it in a really low cutoff T-shirt because that's what we trained in for football. It's super embarrassing now. Like the belly button tee? It wasn't cropped, thankfully. But... The sleeves were like cut off into the nipples, like all the way down the sides. I mean, it looks ridiculous. ah Did you at least tuck that in?
00:13:54
Speaker
Golly, I think I was tucked. I'm pretty sure I was tucked. yeah I can't believe they let me do it. You know, I asked him, I said, I don't have a single. Is that all right? I said, yeah, sure. I doubt they imagined I'd ever win the thing, have a cutoff shirt, or win. mean, there's no way. can show the scout, wear just a regular T-shirt. I mean, but anyways, looked terrible, won the meet. My first snatch, got three reds because I bar slammed the shit out of it.
00:14:20
Speaker
um But I guess that's how you learn, you know. ah I never bar slammed in a competition after that, so There you go. um But anyways, yeah, this gym just happened to give me my first experience in weightlifting that I didn't know was a sport until I meet these people.
00:14:37
Speaker
um After the meet, Johnny tells me that the there's girls from China that actually clean and jerked more than k clean jerk more than I did. um Of course, it was the best Chinese right female in the super category, but he was right.
00:14:52
Speaker
And i just, I didn't know people could be that strong. i You know, I thought was the strongest guy in the history of my school. I just thought that had to be close to the strongest person. Yeah. You know, like how far, if you can be the strongest of this school. And of course, like we have a little bit of social media at the time. Like you see most, you know, football players that pop 300 plus clean, like it kind of pops up and, you know, it gets, so it gets around and,
00:15:18
Speaker
Yeah, I'd see that many. I remember video DeMarcus Ware just curling 315, basically, reverse pearl Yeah, every now and then you get, you know, it's usually a some, you know, running back or crazy linebacker that's a nut for the weight room that that does it. But, um yeah, it's just like, was just like, there can't be that many people that can clean 365 pounds. That's insane. I'm incredible.
00:15:38
Speaker
um One of the kids at this gym cleaned 400, cleaned and jerked 400 pounds at 15 years old. Holy. yeah Wow. Yeah. the Morgan McCullough. So, ah yeah, what you you don't know what you don't know. And I didn't know weightlifting was a sport and i didn't know people were so good at it. so And then what was that next phase? You said grid league.
00:15:57
Speaker
Yeah, so short. Is that that next step after this competition? Yeah, pretty much. So I shelved weightlifting after that. Didn't really think much about it. um I was training primarily CrossFit. I opened like a little studio-sized gym in the back of a batting cage where I was kind of training family and friends and i doing a little bit of working out myself. And when train, I'd do a lot of lifting.
00:16:22
Speaker
and in a little bit of conditioning. So I was doing the CrossFit, but, like, always I just couldn't get enough weight. So, you know, it ah it sort of started coming to a head, and I was like, man, maybe ah yeah i should try that weightlifting thing again. I'll go look up national qualifiers. I'm pretty close. I'm like, yeah, if I start training that, surely i' I'd make that. So um sign up for a meet, pop the American Open qualifying total in that meet, did another – And you're just programming, coaching yourself at this stage. ah So there's a – this is another guy. He was here, but it's a little Lebanese dude named Mike Mahmoud Tarha, i think says is how you say his actual name. But, again, he he was on the Lebanese Olympic team.
00:17:04
Speaker
I think he competed – And I want to say, it wasn't Atlanta. Was there an L.A. Games maybe before Atlanta? I think so. 88 maybe? i So I think that he was in that one.
00:17:16
Speaker
um He placed fourth, had the gold medal weight on the bar. But anyways, he ended up staying in the U.S. and he's got a a little Mediterranean food spot downtown. So he was coaching this team here.
00:17:29
Speaker
He had um stopped coaching over here. And when I started, I was like, hey, Mike, I'm going try this weightlifting thing out. would you want to coach me? So that was my first coach. And, you know, course there's a massive language barrier and couldn't learn a lot of technical information and we didn't really teach positions or, or anything, but like a little fundamentals, like, you know, chest up, touch your back, pull hard.
00:17:54
Speaker
Um, and you know, he'd kind of show you like what the error was and then you could make the adjustment based on like, Hey, you did this, do more of this. And so that was like, you know, didn't learn a lot. and I wasn't able to talk about how to weight lift better, but it, um, it didn't help me, you know, and I was doing it a program that was tough enough to get me to, to do well in my meets, you know, it was, it it was the right volume to prepare me for those competitions. So, you know, otherwise I probably would have been still squatting, you know, twice a week and thinking that's a lot, you know, and like,
00:18:32
Speaker
For a football player, It seemed like a lot. you know Obviously, now I've done weeks, but we've got seven squat workouts and out of our nine sessions. so um Perspective is everything.
00:18:44
Speaker
but It helped a lot. right like He'd done a lot of training. He was able to put me through the things that he sort of went through, and yeah it did help him a lot. Mm-hmm.
00:18:57
Speaker
And then we're to this grid league. And for our listeners that aren't aware of grid league, what do you call that? Like sprint crossfit? Yeah.
Olympic Challenges and Adaptation
00:19:04
Speaker
it Team sprint crossfit. Cause there's specialists allowed. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So I, I think I'm pretty sure it was after my first meet.
00:19:13
Speaker
Um, I placed fourth at at American open. So I'm strong. I've done some crossfit. People are, i think the first, uh, first season at grid league is finished, finishing up and they, you know, they went massive. They did, they,
00:19:26
Speaker
They played in Madison Square Gardens, I think, for their opening tournament. And um all the big-name CrossFitters were doing it. So they went they went huge. ah By the second year, CrossFit had kind of started pulling their big-name athletes out Grid League, telling them they didn't want them to it. the hype cooled off a little bit. But they were still doing the traveling freak show. Like, we were going all over the place and competing as a team. That's honestly...
00:19:52
Speaker
Probably the most fun I've ever had working out was trying to like solve these workouts with your team. and what What team name were you? we were the New York Rhinos. New York Rhinos. yeah Yeah, think. Yeah, an athlete on the Brawlers, D.C. Yeah, D.C. pretty much won every year. They had some. Yeah, Christy Atkins, shout out. Yeah, their girls were unbelievable, but.
00:20:10
Speaker
um Yeah, so I mean it was cool that you know I might like there was one race I came out for like a 385 clean and jerk double There's another race where I think we had maybe like 265 shoulder to overheads and I think I did like pick that up from the ground We had to keep the bar up through all four Quadrants so he me and three other guys. Oh carried the bar We had to do 10 in each square so one guy did 10 the next square I think we got through just like six weights on and I was supposed to follow that guy so I think I came in finished that square and did 20 more i think I did 24 shoulder overheads at like 265 but I mean that stuff was fun like being able to like you know you might have to go and like come in for your teammate and
00:21:02
Speaker
I always got to be the strong guy, so they're kind of figuring out, like, where do we use Wes in this workout? There was one that sort of came down to the wire. We were behind on the – it was actually the 385 clean and jerk double, and ah I got to run out there and kind of run this dude down and hit my double and, like, went for the team. And, I mean, it was like – it was – I mean, it was fun. Like, that was – that was – some of those ah memories are some of my best and, like, competitive – you have strength sports.
00:21:32
Speaker
Time out. Every so often I receive messages that remind me why we created the Old Bull program. Today I want to share Kevin's story with you. Not just because it showcases physical transformation, but because it represents what's possible when training evolves beyond just sets and reps.
00:21:50
Speaker
Kevin recently reached out with a message that captures the essence of what we're building. Here we go. Hey Tex, this is Kevin from Old Bull. Just wanted to shoot you a quick text to say I'm really digging the program and seeing great results.
00:22:03
Speaker
Made a few dietary tweaks, upped my protein for one, but through the training I've been seeing more muscle and strength gain with infinitely less pain in the process than probably any other point in my lifting career.
00:22:17
Speaker
I recently got together with some friends I hadn't seen in a couple years and every one of them made a comment about how they've never seen me looking bigger or stronger than I do now. Appreciate the program and what you're doing to make it excellent. Here's what really matters. This isn't about quick fixes or unsustainable programs.
00:22:37
Speaker
Old Bull engineered for the experienced lifter who values longevity as much as they do intensity. We're talking about intelligent progression that respects your embodied signal while constantly pushing your boundaries.
00:22:50
Speaker
If you're ready to transform your training into something more sustainable, more intelligent, and ultimately more impactful, the Old Bull Program is your path forward.
00:23:01
Speaker
Click the link in the show notes and take control of your strength journey today. So then this led to Dave Spitz. And I want to spend a little time with that coach-athlete relationship. Yeah.
00:23:12
Speaker
And yeah I've been fortunate to to spend a lot of time with Dave over the years. And... teaching seminar for CrossFit, go in NorCal and then link up with him, spend some time, and then fortunate with Wellborn to come in for a week when he was working with his combine guys. yeah And then you weightlifters, you were just on the side with all these – potential NFL guys were just not moving as well as you. Oh, and then the offseason guys, i mean, that was such an awesome thing at Cal Strength is that, like, we're meeting and hanging out with, them like, NFL superstars superstars-to-be that think we're cool because we're strong yeah and can move a lot of weight, you know, and they've got, like, there was always this cool, like, you know, we obviously think they're incredible and we get to watch we watch them on TV and everything else. Like, that was, like, huge for us, but...
00:24:01
Speaker
Like, the they just think it's cool that we're so strong, and you know? Like, it just was awesome to get to have, like, relationships with but those dudes, you know? like ah and i got the i got the help may be as was clean one day you know like that's cool or else like the is something like that you know uh... on the end he could so but he's like it is like so i like that i remember that with miami when i was out there and just hanging out with the combine crew like getting haircut he gets a yet he's awesome and so i'd Just like that experience was incredible. But if you know Dave, like, you know that he's hyper intelligent, like he's probably too smart to be a strength coach.
00:24:40
Speaker
um It wasn't his first, it wasn't his first job choice, you know, it's just like, sort of where he ended up, you know, it's just he, he sort of, he felt like he you know, had something left to give the sports world, you know, and he tried to find it in weightlifting.
00:24:58
Speaker
Um, it didn't, it didn't pan out, but then he ended up finding all this success in training these football guys. He's now coached in the Olympics twice and, you know, helped do everything I did, you know, and it, like what I needed was a hyper intelligent,
00:25:15
Speaker
person to teach me weightlifting. You know, I didn't have a technical model and I was older, but I had a lot of power and strength. And, um, so he was able to take this, you know, this lump of clay and make it into a weightlifter. And, um, it's exactly what I needed and it couldn't have been a ah better experience, honestly.
00:25:35
Speaker
Yeah. so Speak to us about that first meeting. And you said it did take you a a few months to decide whether yeah you're going to go down this road. Yeah. So one thing Dave knows how to do is, you know, he knows how to put on a show, like make, you know, make it a good time. So, of course, I'm out there. All the weightlifters are, you know, coming in to do.
00:25:56
Speaker
Max out Friday. They want to see this, you know, this kid from Max out Friday. Yeah, Max out like recruiting day for football. It really, it literally, I mean, that's what it is for weightlifters. It's our, it's recruiting day. Um, so, you know, I'm, I'm down there and the whole team's come out and everybody's lifting weights. Spencer Mormon and Scott Hissocker having a, a, deadlift off and, um, Spencer ended up beating him by a, uh,
00:26:20
Speaker
by a nut that he found on the ground stacked on top of his weights, which was, I mean, just like this stuff like that was like, you know, insane. Uh, so isn't this every ounce counts. Yeah. The group of guys is just, you know, amazing and so much fun. But, uh, yeah, you know, he put on an awesome show. He picked me up from the airport, which they've stopped doing probably after that um I never saw him go back to the airport for anybody, but picks me up. Me and my wife, we go to his place and stay for the weekend. you know ah
00:26:54
Speaker
Alexi Turokdi happened to be in town like working on his seminar at the time, so he'd been like living in the East Bay, training at Cal Strength, and like teaching those guys the ins and out of his his technical model.
00:27:08
Speaker
um while he's working on his English and how to get through a ah seminar that he can like sell to the gyms around the country. so um Again, the stars align. I show up at CalStrength, and my first real technical information, it's not my very first, I had another coach, Rudy, with Outlaw Barbell. He gave me some good nuggets. Yeah, Alexandria, Virginia.
00:27:32
Speaker
Yeah, and that dude loves weightlifting as much he as I've ever met. so um he sort of got me started, but Again, I get to Cal Strength, and now I'm getting coached by an Olympic gold medalist. And I don't know how like I get so lucky that that just, you know, I ah pick up the call, and it's the right time, and that's just how it all pans out. But um that's how it worked out for me. Yeah.
00:27:58
Speaker
I get that experience. And of course, like, it's probably 10 yards over my head at the time, but I tried to hold on to all that information and, you know, try to put it to use the best I could, um, over the years. And ah started to understand more and more as it went on, but,
00:28:15
Speaker
And then your decision didn't happen on that weekend. No, I just, you know, there's a, I was engaged at the time and, um you know, you got to make sure your, your wife, and your wife to be on board with the move and she was never positive on it. But, you know, and eventually i was like, ah let's just, let's do it you know, let's go for it. So,
00:28:35
Speaker
um you know that those things just they take time you gotta to you know as awesome as the experience was you've got to sort of make sure it's the the right thing both of us graduated from the same high school and all our families out here so it was a tough move for us you know it's a little norkel's a little different than knoxville now you know Honestly, there's way more people, but that East Bay area is like small town feel and football and mom-and-pop shops. like Honestly, like you get in one of those little towns like San Ramon or Livermore.
00:29:06
Speaker
I mean, any of those little spots where they're pleasant in. And then it's like a walk-in street and just small business. like it And it's cool. like The kids get out of school. They're walking around like the local restaurants. And everybody goes to the football games on Friday. So it's just like...
00:29:22
Speaker
ah you I expected, I guess, Southern California, you know, what you see on TV. And then i'm like, oh, this is like... Yeah, exactly. Where's Laguna Beach at? It's got to be close, right? Day drive, yeah. But, um you know, it was kind of cool that it was like a...
00:29:42
Speaker
And kind of felt a little bit like home. Found your place. Yeah. And speak to us. your Your coach is painting this picture of potential. Was it challenging you for to for you to like accept, hey, I can do this?
00:29:56
Speaker
What was the the potential that he painted for you? what was that conversation like? You know, honestly, he just, it wasn't anything I didn't know. Like, you need to you need to learn. There's a lot to the sport. And, know, I was fortunate enough to, you know, be aware that I'm information away from being being better at this sport. You know, I've been kind of guessing. I know my movement's a little rough.
00:30:17
Speaker
um I don't have any formal teaching, you know, and I thought I knew more than I did, but I still knew that I needed to know more. So, um you know, at first, like the Olympics as a goal was like, you know, it was hard to grasp, but we're talking about for a year. Like I said, as soon as I got down there,
00:30:41
Speaker
like, okay, how do we get eligible for the Olympics? And then how do we qualify? You know, and then said, I finished Olympic trials, uh, one spot behind Kendrick Ferris, who was, you know, three-time Olympian, untouchable at the time. I mean, phenomenal, um, weightlifter and, uh, had, uh,
00:31:02
Speaker
um No, I don't think I had to snatch American record yet, but I was getting really close to it. And um there wasn't really anybody that could snatch with me at the time. And that, you know, that helped me a lot, but I was really inconsistent. You know, I was still, we just picked it up.
00:31:17
Speaker
Yeah. I just, pun intended. Yeah. We, I mean, we would make crazy calls. I could, you know, multiple second attempts I missed and we would go up for the third and people just thought that was insane.
00:31:29
Speaker
But the way we figured is that good had the same odds of making my, ah be careful buddy at the same odds of making my second as i did my third you know i could get those weights like it was sort of hit or miss anyways uh... if it was close enough we might as well put on a couple more and to meet a lot that's aiming long-term somehow it worked out yet a few times i mean except never had it shouldn't they are sorry how we as i got older that's not how we continued to make those calls but uh... early on it it just worked out
00:32:03
Speaker
and start I love competing, so when I got in those settings, I could kind of just get after it. Go to the place. And it worked out, you know. Yeah. A little bit of luck involved in Olympic sports, and I was no ah no outlier in that.
00:32:18
Speaker
Yeah. So then setting sights on the first Olympics, was it 2016 2020 where like this is going to happen. um after after, cause 2016 was a shock. like I got never dreamed even as we're like going through qualifications. I like, it didn't become real until i'm literally filling out like my sizes of my clothes on this, like us Olympic committee.
00:32:42
Speaker
like application like i'm like going through there uploading my passport i mean i'm man i'm like i could go to olympic and like i got never even um i liked watching the olympic sports i've never done one so i just never even thought that That'd be a ah reality for me.
00:32:58
Speaker
So wasn't until I found that form. like um I supposed to ah have to go to an Olympics. Like after this one, I can't miss another one. you know What's up, buddy? What is that?
00:33:11
Speaker
It's a microphone. What? No. What's up, man? what's on This is Blaze. Hey, Blaze. Coach Tex. Nice to meet you. I like your sweatshirt. Thanks. And this is Cam.
00:33:24
Speaker
Cam Knuckles.
00:33:29
Speaker
You to say something? Hello?
00:33:34
Speaker
like it's You want to say something? Go with mom. I'll see you in a minute. OK, Bubba? I'm going to figure this.
Olympic Reflections and Transition to Coaching
00:33:44
Speaker
forget this Movers and shakers. I know. it um But, yeah, like, the Olympics was not something, you know, when I started weightlifting, I didn't think I'd go to the Olympics. I thought maybe an international team would be cool. Like, it just, like, it seemed too crazy to to accomplish that. But after...
00:34:04
Speaker
After I filled out that form, i was like, the Olympics is like a real thing. that you know that's what this that's what That's the purpose of me doing this sport. like If I'm not trying to compete in an Olympics, then there's not really a point in competing. like That's the whole goal for elite athletes in this in this sport, which you know it seems obvious, but it just...
00:34:25
Speaker
took me being that close to to understand it and after after 2016 in my mind there I was there's no way I wasn't gonna make 2020 yeah if I was that close like that new like there was you know I wasn't gonna let anything stop me from getting in in 2020 so um that was when I really made the commitment to the sport and that I was going to be an Olympian.
00:34:50
Speaker
um And at my age, I thought I'd do one. and Yeah. 30 years old. That's probably an old Olympian. Like you're supposed to grow up at some point, aren't you? I'm still waiting, man. I'm still waiting. Yeah.
00:35:02
Speaker
And, I mean, four years. Four years is a lifetime. That's a college career. That's a high school career. And you had four years to train. So speak to us about staring up that mountain. Four years of training for one moment.
00:35:18
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, as I moved out there, I'd committed to 2020. Like, I was like, I was going to stay for a quad. You know, i didn't know what that meant, but I'd committed to it. But when you're looking at it, you know, it's it's like you if you're going to spend four years on something, you're going to put everything into it. And that's you know that was all I needed to do was just try as hard as I i could. you'd be there every day and i would lift as much weight as I as i possibly could. you know i went and um intimidating for me it seemed like i had you know so much time is really what it felt like because i've got forever to to make this olympic team and get stronger like there's no telling in four years how strong i'll get which know that's every ah that's every weightlifter's uh you know biggest mistake is as i get older and as i spend time i'll get stronger
00:36:08
Speaker
is it's not how the math works out unfortunately and you know i learned that like as you get stronger the sport keeps getting harder and taking care of your body gets harder and you have to actually get better at everything you do you have to get better in your movement and your nutrition and your sleep and there's not you know there's not an aspect you can kind of skirt around if you hope to achieve at those levels and um that's what what I was figuring out is that you know, have to continue to get better. And, you know, you have, you get hurt along the way. And like, why'd I get hurt? This part of my movement or this part of my recovery, or you know, you, you just keep learning more. And if you can like always just keep your, you know, keep your mind open, um, you can do it and just always commit to getting better and not falling in the trap of doing the same,
00:36:58
Speaker
thing like just because you show up to your workout and do what's on a piece of paper doesn't ensure you're gonna get stronger or make it to an olympics and it does at some point in your career when you first get started you can do anything you can train three times a week and you'll get better but usually it takes it takes a pain point before your eyes are open to the fact that i have to make a change and The less pain you can experience in those moments, the more successful I think you can be.
00:37:27
Speaker
Were those pain points injuries? Were they misses? What were some of those moments? Yeah, the most prominent example was... um I think it was maybe my second Pan Ams I i competed in.
00:37:44
Speaker
had an opportunity to win gold, which is huge. We've not had an American of Pan Ams in a long time, I think, at that point. um So, you know, I snatched well, we get the clean and jerk, and I hit my opener. I've got two left, and basically, if I hit either of them, I'd take a golden total, right? So if you get two tries to win a gold medal at a weight that you've lifted in training, you should probably do it. You should probably get it done.
00:38:15
Speaker
um First clean, I stand up, super lightheaded. I've got one more, put the bar down. go to the back, you know, and it's something I'd experienced in training. And at the time I just sort of thought like, I just pent it up to luck or had I eaten enough as to whether or not I'd get lightheaded, you know, like I just, I didn't really, that was stupid.
00:38:34
Speaker
Um, but anyways, so I come back out for my third clean it. Same weight. Yeah. Uh, we might've notched up one kilo just to give me some rest or something. But, um, you know, and there's a game behind the game too with that, but, but,
00:38:49
Speaker
Yeah, effectively the same number. Like, not like not completely attainable. um So anyways, I go out there for that lift and I pass out on the platform.
00:39:00
Speaker
Oh, no. Yeah, fall out, drop the weight. um When I come to, i can't remember if Dave was out there or not, but he was pissed pissed off. I yelled, you know, he's like, he he yelled at me. But ah anyways, like that that wasn't like, that's that's part of it. To me, that's sports. I played football when your high school coach could you grab your face mask and, you know, more spit than words would hit you in the face, you know?
00:39:25
Speaker
Um, so I got, you know, the tough coach is not a, that's preferred honestly for me. But, um, anyways, uh, when I got back to training, you know, I knew there was some, some pitfalls in my clean technique. I was more power than, you know, movement. And I would,
00:39:43
Speaker
just rely on the ability to rip on the bar and I would just deal with the repercussions, which was a massive bar crash, standing up with the bar buried in my neck and um you know getting lightheaded and losing consciousness.
00:39:56
Speaker
What I learned was, and we talked about the gym stay over the bar, big fundamental weightlifting. It allows the bar to stay closer to your midline, closer to your ankle. So when you turn it over, you're where you would balance a front squat.
00:40:08
Speaker
and Okay. If you let the bar run off, off the floor, you're going to get behind it. The bar loops over. It's in your neck, and that's what makes you lightheaded. So what I learned was if I work on this movement, work on this technique, I can stand up and not be lightheaded.
00:40:25
Speaker
um And from that point on, I never had that issue ever again. Something I thought was luck or um nutrition. Did you watch the film, go to the tape, or just feel? No, I mean, i'd like we had talked about staying over the bar,
00:40:41
Speaker
and because it was hard to do, I didn't work on it. You know what I mean? Like those technical changes, right? I was strong this way and I could clean this way already. So I just kept doing what I knew instead of making the change. And it took giving away a gold medal and passing it on a platform for me to make the change. So that's what I mean by, by pain points, you know, you, you go out and you make a mistake and ah ideally you don't give away a gold medal on a you know, on a,
00:41:10
Speaker
international platform to learn but that's what it you know it took for me in that one you know hey baby and it takes being being strong mentally right so emotionally for that yeah but the more the the more it hurts then the more you want to work on it i love having them in here but you know oh i get it's fine it makes the road a little bumpy you know but it's it's awesome like having them in the gym and having them grow up here but yeah i mean what i was saying was as an athlete like if you, if you try to make your adjustments before it really hurts and whether it's, you know, your pain, whether it's, you know, your, your shortcomings and competition, um, you're, you're going to not suffer, you know, going to suffer less, right?
00:41:58
Speaker
If you like get first indication, you make the adjustment, you know, if I, as soon as I, I was here and to stay over the bar, if I had started committing to that, I'd probably have another gold medal at Pan Amps.
00:42:12
Speaker
and Sometimes that's what it takes. and you know Maybe you know maybe it was that one was not not significant to Olympic qualifying. so Did I need that lesson to like knock me down a peg? And like, hey, you don't know how to clean.
00:42:28
Speaker
And um ultimately what it led to was me learning to clean 225 kilos after passing out with 208. So, um you know, that's just ah this is part of the journey, man.
00:42:44
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I believe it. And 2020, from that the quad, There you go. That quad turned into and a Cinco. i don't know what you call that, yeah but a five-year.
00:43:01
Speaker
Man, a pent? Is that? I don't know. um But, ah yeah, I mean, that that actually did cause a lot of problems because I went from a place where I was pretty peaked and ready. Like I'd been you know in ah in a good spot to, well, we got to pull back and reset and ramp this up again.
00:43:23
Speaker
you know, is that um, we got to ramp this up again and just extending that year, you know, the year i probably have been resting and making it a year where I was continuing to peak and, you know, that stress of qualifications extend that another year.
00:43:39
Speaker
um it actually, it makes the sport a lot, a lot tougher. And that, know, it's a high level of stress to, to train under. And, um, I ended up with some pretty rough, uh, knee pain and you ended up with some you know just through that training cycle some uh some tendonitis some you know some little tears in the quad tendons and stuff and getting prp last minute and what was that silly uh inflammation uh thing i was on um peptide No.
00:44:12
Speaker
know That's the future. Yeah, that is the future. ah Unfortunately, those are not allowed in weightlifting. but Golly, Celebrex. So I yeah had to take ah a Celebrex twice a day, and you know those things are... terrible for your insides, but allowed me to train into the Olympics. So, um, one thing that I was committed to, if I was going to do more training was that I wasn't going to rely on these anti-inflammatory drugs to do it. i was going to like, if I couldn't do it without celebrate a day or two, then I just like, it was, you was my time, you know, and, yeah um, time off, rebuild my squat pattern. And fortunately i was able to, to get in, ditch it. And,
00:44:57
Speaker
I never really relied heavily on anti-inflammatories, but i needed to for that Olympics. And um I just, like I said, I wasn't ready to commit to that for the long term. So that was one of my, like, you know, must do's if I'm going to continue. but um Yeah, it's tough, man. Like i said, you've got to get lucky to qualify. You've got to get even luckier to have your best day at the Olympics. you know like it's ah it's a It's hard to aim at that and yeah like you know and plan all that out and it just works out, especially. you know
00:45:29
Speaker
Qualifications are already so tough. A lot of lifters are gassed by the time they ever get there. Yeah. um Happens a lot of track athletes as well. That's what I was going to say last. We as spectators, we just see the we just wait for the finals. Right. right nobody you know They talk about the road and the journey, but yeah no one's really that interested in it. You don't really see it, right? You you want to see the the big day, the Olympic stage. and We said that the track athletes, they really go through it um in their and their trials. and that I mean, I think they're like a month out from the Olympics. or
00:46:04
Speaker
I mean, if it's more, it's not much. I mean, it's right there, and swimming does the same thing. So you have to come into a peak and then reset that and run it back like a month later. that's not a i don't think it's a time span that most athletes are really comfortable with for for all-time bests now you gotta trust your coach yeah this is why it's tough yeah it is trusted a few more questions here the i'd i do want to speak to now you had three years for twenty twenty four year after twenty twenty one was twenty twenty four ah vision a goal
00:46:41
Speaker
after that or did it take some you know i still get some gas left in in the tanker goals to accomplish yeah for like you know i felt pretty i didn't feel very fulfilled after that olympics just because i didn't do um the numbers I was capable of. you know Like I said, I was just dealing with those was both my knees, and they were just like, it felt blown out. I mean, it sucked. It was it was terrible.
00:47:06
Speaker
um But you know ah was dealing with that, and i wasn't able to it really affected the clean and jerk because I couldn't push heavy squats into it. I didn't have the reserve strength I needed to do the big cleans and uh so you know i just like that didn't feel good and you know it it's a huge accomplishment getting there right and you everybody's going to tell you that but um you know for me as an athlete it's like what am i capable of and if i can get you know within that range that's when i feel um fulfilled right like
00:47:44
Speaker
it all you know it's another meet you know again it's hard to get there but if i'm not able to put put my best you know performance out there like a you know sort of limp into it it just didn't like it didn't fill me up like i'd right you like i'd hoped and um you know and that's part of it it's you know so again it's a lot of luck involved um unfortunately but Um, so I, you know, I kind of get back to life and like, okay, what am I going to do? Am I going to work coach? Um, I mean, just like, do I, do I train again? Am I even capable? Like that seems kind of crazy. And, um, it took me a while to go back to the gym, honestly, probably the longest I'd stayed out of a gym period. And it's probably about three months. And I mean, like, since I was like a little kid, I'd not spent like, there's not been three months past where I didn't like lift weights.
00:48:37
Speaker
Um, So, you know, after that, I started like, okay, I'm going go ex exercise my buddies. had some buddies that like work out at 6 in the morning. and They went to this like, you know, little gym down the road and just they would, you know, do the just bodybuilding splits. But yeah, I was just exercising. I was like, okay, like I'm back in the gym. I'm going to start like working in my squats. Like I need to i need to make sure my...
00:49:02
Speaker
my knees and legs are okay. And like, you know, need to build those back up if I'm going to lift weights anyway. So might as well squat. And I thought I could do like a a high rep workout with like 225 pounds.
00:49:14
Speaker
My knees hurt so bad. i like, they're still so tight and inflamed from the the stuff, the, the, you know, the injuries into the Olympics. So I was like, man, I might be, I might be cooked, but, um, I kind of stayed on it. Like I kept trying, kept trying. And,
00:49:30
Speaker
eventually i i did i ended up doing my biggest uh five rep back squat that i'd done um in my life as i was like building back up into this and once i hit that was like i'm not i can still weight lift you know if the squat's there i can put the other pieces together yeah um so once i was sort of established proof of concept. It was drumming up financial support, which is a really tough part of Olympic weightlifting that a lot of people don't anticipate. It's really hard as you get older and you feel a need to be a provider or to to to work, you know.
00:50:07
Speaker
um So yeah that's a big part of it. so But anyways, I go to work on that. I'm starting to find some interest, and that starts to come together. um But, you know, the way qualifications are set up,
00:50:21
Speaker
it kind of came to a head us nationals. So I have to, what year is this? twenty twenty Uh, 2022, 2022, but basically there's new weight categories. One of the Tuesday Olympic class.
00:50:35
Speaker
I was probably got up to two 55 plus while I was sitting on my butt. No, I'm not doing anything. um so probably a week or two into January rolls around and I was like, I gotta, I gotta do something. Uh,
00:50:51
Speaker
to start 75 hard just because I needed structure for me. If I've got rules, I can follow them. right if i If I'm making up my own stuff, then I can just make my rule not make any sense. like that can You know what I mean? like I'm like, you know, today I can have a cheat day because I did this, this, and this. And actually carbs are good for your muscles. for I mean, you know, you know i mean, let's probably everybody's probably done that. And that was what I was doing. Don't coach for yourself. Yeah. So anyways, I i committed to this program. And i didn't I didn't make it to the end. I ended up getting a stomach bug when flew out to California. How many days hard did you get?
00:51:34
Speaker
I was probably, i was closing in on 40. um but Behavior's established. yeah We're good to go. I'd already, I'd lost a lot of the weight. I was feeling really good. And, um you know, like so I said, I got to California, ended up getting a stomach bug.
00:51:49
Speaker
And I was like, okay, man, so but I'm trying to get this weightlifting workout in with all the guys. um And I keep pooping. I keep, like, everybody doing, like, one snatch and taking it down. It wasn't like a, you know, it was more of a squirt. Yeah.
00:52:03
Speaker
But anyways, so this is bad. it My head's pounding. I'm like, I'm going to go to my hotel room. I'm going to take nap. I wake up feeling better. I'm going walk. That'll be my workout number two. I've got an indoor-outdoor workout, and I'm good to go.
00:52:18
Speaker
I wake up at like 2 a.m., barf in the toilet. It's already the next day. I'm definitely not going on a walk. um So I spent the next day ah in my hotel room. um But ah anyways, that's how I i lost it the 75 Hard Challenge and um wasted a day and a half of my California strength vacation my hotel room.
00:52:42
Speaker
But ultimately, Those habits got me prepared for the Nationals, which I needed to come out of that National Championship top two in the 102-kilo weight category to be eligible for a World Championships. and to be able How many guys were competing for those two spots?
00:53:02
Speaker
um I mean... there was a couple guys that had me a little, you know, a little concerned. And um at the time, you know, the best snatch I'd seen in training was maybe 165, 167, probably 165.
00:53:19
Speaker
And I think clean and jerk was 205. So I was very much on an upswing at that time, but, I was beatable for sure if I didn't have like, if I didn't lift consistent, but um I went six for six, number one in the 102 category, made the world team that ultimately led to me being eligible for the Olympics. but one bad day away you know anything could have happened that ruined that day from not going to an olympics and that's how like mean that's a full that's over three years out and your whole hope your hopes and dreams could be dashed uh before you ever get started so um you know after that it was world championships and that's our first qualifying event and
00:54:03
Speaker
um Everything just kind of kept working out from there. But and so it's a tough it's tough sport. It's not good to you It's really not. No. And during that phase of 21 to 24, came home and established or beat somebody.
00:54:22
Speaker
Yep. So... ah Yeah, basically um I was in need of a place to train. i was sort of using this area. um There was a new owner over here that had bought the other location that was part of this business as well.
00:54:36
Speaker
This one wasn't as successful as the other one, and he lived a lot closer to the other one and just sort of wanted out of it. So um we worked something out, and i you know made my Olympic journey a lot tougher.
00:54:50
Speaker
But just as far as like a future for myself and my family, I saw opportunity in it. And so I take a chance. And, you know, of course, I put my Olympic, my second Olympics on the line to do it. But it's just, again, it's tough to, you know, just prioritize the competition over.
00:55:12
Speaker
your family and your future know and i just i wasn't willing to do that for a second olympic appearance and it's just uh you know it is what it is and i'm lucky that it worked out and i'm really happy it did and i love that i was able to get myself to an olympics training in my own gym and um i love what's going on here and the the guys that have come out to train with me the you know it just all kind of worked out but i needed this to have a team to train with there wasn't you know if i didn't have a gym there wasn't going to be anybody that came out and lifted with me and this sport is really hard to do alone so yeah well i believe it yeah and you're out there on the platform solo yeah so first thank you to ryan metzker for connecting us at the and nsca clinic one of your athletes now yeah and then i was there summer strong 10.
00:56:04
Speaker
Yeah. When you got the gold-plated Aleko plates. the most ridiculous ah moment, maybe. I'm splice a video in there. So, last question. Were you more nervous being this close to somebody trying to perform this record snatch or out there on the platform at the Olympic stage?
00:56:24
Speaker
I was... It definitely... It's up there. the You know, having 100 strength coaches five feet away from my face with a gold-plated Aleko bar... um You left out that David started a USA chant for no reason um at all. Just ah this that kind of guy. All the reasons. Had to start a USA chant.
00:56:42
Speaker
I mean, it's the most ridiculous. like That video is insane. USA! USA!
00:57:07
Speaker
when you ah When you work three or four years for something and you can blow it, that's a lot of pressure. So ah having a few strength coaches a few feet away that you know would love for me to win in that moment, like honestly, that's more motivational than and scary. And just being an athlete, like ah love stuff like that. like As ridiculous as that was, the fact that that's the moment I was in and everybody's yelling USA. and I mean, that's like, I don't know. I kind of like that spot.
00:57:35
Speaker
Yeah, I really do. yeah The weeks leading to the Olympics, like that sucks. But by the time I get on the platform, I like that spot too. So I just, I love, I love it, man. I love that moment. I love competing and I don't know, just part of me.
00:57:49
Speaker
Yeah. It's, it's cool. Platform's home, Knoxville's home and you're able to, to bring it all together with be somebody. yeah So if people want to continue, if they want to come train here, where do they go? If they want to continue to follow your journey into coaching and family, man, where should they go? Yeah. Well, um, if you're local and you want to work out, be somebody, Jim.com.
00:58:11
Speaker
If you you know you want me to come out and do a clinic or work with your coaches, athletes, westkids.com. I've also got my apparel and stuff there as well. but um Also social, we do some ah goofy YouTube videos out of the gym that we think are fun. but you know It's just, it's just the boys. This is the boys on a Friday and, yeah you know, hanging out and banging weights. Team environment. Yeah.
00:58:34
Speaker
Two dudes were, were clapping at each other before here, just trying to get competitive before they, they hit their training session. It was fun. Just observe that. It's great, man. I love the team training environment and I know weightlifting is individual sport, but I want to bring like as many people into my sessions as possible. And like,
00:58:51
Speaker
for us all to do it together. It makes me feel, you know, it makes me feel like I'm playing football again. You know, it's the summer. We got the whole team in there. Everybody's screaming and using bad technique, but yeah lifting a lot of weight and trying really hard, you know?
00:59:03
Speaker
Oh, I believe it. Well, dude, thank you for your time. Thank you. Beautiful facility, cool community, even just hanging with these guys. Thanks again to Ryan and everyone for listening in their ah episode of captain's coach podcast. Bye. See you guys.
00:59:19
Speaker
Boom. Thank you for joining us for another episode of the Captains & Coaches podcast. If you like what you heard here today, be sure to like, subscribe, rate, and review to the show. If you find yourself in Knoxville, Tennessee, be sure to drop in to Be Somebody Jim, grab a platform, train in the same space that Wes used to help prepare him for the Paris Olympics.
00:59:41
Speaker
If you need a training program to train on that platform, head to captainsandcoaches.com. And then lastly, thank you again for listening and helping us raise the game. They did exactly what I expected.
00:59:54
Speaker
Go grab a camera? Yeah. Just come in and blow it all up. What are you going to do? It's good. Yeah. Stage of life.