Meet Coach Craig Gilbert

Welcome Coach Craig To The Starke Coaching Staff!

It is a great pleasure of mine to welcome a long time friend and member of Starke to our coaching staff as one of our Weightlifting Coaches.

Craig is an NCCP level 2 Weightlifting coach whom you've seen picking things up and putting them down on a daily basis at the gym (most of the time they are very heavy).

If I could describe Craig's coaching style in one word I would have to say it's Analytical. He sees movement patterns athletes make and can correct faults with drills and appropriate mobility work.

We are lucky to have Craig join our team and share the same passion we do for training and continuously chasing perfect technique on the most technical of lifts.

Here is a little info on our new coach...

Name or nicknames? Craig Gilbert aka Craig Mack, or Behemoth

Age 39

How long have you been doing CrossFit and what can you tell us about what you have learned?

I’ve been doing Crossfit ever since Paul put Crossfit in the gym name. If I could sum up what I’ve learnt in the gym over the past few years, the list might include:

-       Just because I don’t like something is no reason not to do it.

-       Just because I’m tired is no reason to quit.

-       Just because I don’t have a six pack doesn’t mean I’m not good enough.

-       If I’m really hating a workout, it’s not OK to blame Paul or make up some bullshit excuse, but sometimes it’s fun to do that anyways.

Favorite workout?

Anything that involves lifting something heavy, or simply going balls out for any length of time. Some of my recent favorites include The 300, Hercules, and 14.3. And Olympic lifting. Definitely Olympic lifting.

Least favorite workout?

Anything with more than 2 burpees, or where someone is beside me waiting to say “no rep.”

What are your training goals?

My general training philosophy is to be better today than I was yesterday. My goals are to start competing, both at Crossfit events as well as Olympic weightlifting.

What will having you as a coach bring to the members of Starke?

I definitely want to help our members to excel in Olympic lifting, and to have fun doing it.

You have really turned things up over the past several months. Where did this fire come from?

While I have always enjoyed working out, I have never really excelled the way Paul or some of the other members do. For instance, I have always sucked at pull-ups. Sucked as in couldn’t do a single one. Never really liked cardio. Never a fan of watching what I eat. And so I went to the gym and did my thing and went home. Until one day I did some pull ups, and doing cardio didn’t make me want to puke, and I began to care about what I ate. With good coaching and an awesome gym full of cool people, I realized that I was capable of more than I was previously committed to achieving. So I made the commitment to strive to be the best athlete that I could, and to overcome my limitations. That means giving 100% every day and loving every minute of it!

We are looking forward to having you with us Craig.