Topic: News: Coach Burgener infuses life into lifting

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Coach Burgener infuses life into lifting

I had heard his name referred to many times in workouts at the Harbor City CrossFit gym. I've seen his "Burgener warmup" protocol printed out on the wall and watched videos of his daughter, Sage, demonstrating proper lifting form on the national CrossFit Web site.

To meet Mike Burgener, or Coach B as he's known in the gym, a heavyweight (in the figurative sense) in U.S.A. Weightlifting, and see the energy that he brings to his certification seminars, is to understand this mans' lifelong passion.

Burgener's decades of experience as an athlete and coach, and his entourage of assistant coaches, enveloped participants in an energy-filled environment at the weekend training seminar at Harbor City CrossFit in Melbourne.

It's the type of energy you need when trying to throw heavy weights overhead.

People involved with Olympic lifting will tell you the U.S. traditionally hasn't been a strong (no pun intended) contender on the world stage.

Buttressed now by the growing community of CrossFit -- a fitness program that incorporates gymnastics movements, strength and conditioning and Olympic style lifts -- the sport seems to be breathing new life.

"CrossFit has done more to the sport of Olympic style weightlifting than Olympic style weightlifting has done for the sport," Burgener said on a break between drills.

"I love it, I have a captive audience, the CrossFit community is spectacular . . . they are willing to learn, to do their due diligence."

Now, we're not talking bench press or a deadlift here. That is powerlifting.

Two movements only comprise the sports of Olympic lifting: the snatch and the clean and jerk. They are highly technical, and offer someone with great technique the opportunity to surpass another who may be stronger but with poor technique.

Burgener's daughter-in-law, Natalie Woolfork-Burgener, 25, finished 12th at the Beijing Olympic Games for the U.S. in weightlifting.

She is 5-foot-3, and aside from her visually obvious solid leg muscles, appears to be like any other petite girl. But she snatched 213.4 pounds and clean and jerked 250.8 pounds at the Olympics.

Amazing. Think about that. That's the weight of a big man she lifted off the ground and moved overhead in one swift motion.

"I'm in shape, I am strong, but I think I look like a normal, average girl," Woolfork-Burgener said. "I think that it's good for people to see what a weightlifter looks like, that it's not that perception of what they put on TV as Olympic weightlifters. They put on the superheavyweights. We have weight classes, I'm in the middle. There's 100-pund girls that are lifting huge, huge weights. . . . so weightlifting can be for anybody."

She married Burgener's son, Casey, who also earned a spot on the U.S. lifting team as a superheavyweight. But a change in world rankings before the Games removed one spot from the U.S. team -- Casey's -- and he could not compete in Beijing.

But about 50 pounds lighter now, he and Natalie, both strength coaches at University of San Diego, are happy to travel to some of Coach B's seminars. They make spreading the word and good technique a family affair.

Estimating that the Olympic lifting community is about only 5,000 members, Casey said he's never seen a group of people so enthusiastic about learning Olympic lifting as CrossFitters.

"It's just going to have our sport take off to whole new level," he said.

Coach B, a retired school teacher, has about 26 or 27 weekend lifting seminars booked this year.

Also traveling to Melbourne was Burgener's 18-year-old daughter, Sage, the face (or body) of Olympic weightlifting within CrossFit in the video demos.

"She started when she was 2 or 3," Burgener said. "I have Mike's Gym, people would go to the gym, she would watch these guys lift weights, so she'd run into the gym with a PVC pipe and do a snatch. Then she'd run out and play with the dog for five minutes, then she'd run back into the gym and she'd do a clean or jerk or at least what she thought was a clean and jerk, then she'd do a squat.

"I allowed her to come into the gym and be a part of that atmosphere and today she's a great lifter. And she's a wonderful coach."

Wearing a bright pink shirt reading, "Girls rule, boys drool," lifter Mandy Schumacher of St. Mary's, Ga., listened and lifted.

"I think a lot of women are concerned about having big muscles, but it's all about being independent," she said when asked why she's interested in lifting. "When I get older, I don't want to be in a nursing home or have to have my kids take care of me. It's all about being independent."

The extent of CrossFit's infusion into the sport of Olympic style weightlifting remains to be seen.

Only about 25 percent (183 out of 748) of the schools in the Florida High School Athletic Association offer girls weightlifting as a sport this year. None are in Brevard County. It is not offered as a sport for boys at all.

But boys, girls, men and women wanting to try their hand at Olympic lifting in Brevard can do so with the U.S.A. Weightlifting sanctioned team at Harbor City CrossFit, coached by Andrew McKay. It's just forming, so they'll surely welcome anyone who wants to come throw down, er, rather lift up.

[Paul LaDuke]

"CrossFit has done more to the sport of Olympic style weightlifting than Olympic style weightlifting has done for the sport," Burgener said on a break between drills.


I couldn't agree more!  If anyone here is not familiar with CrossFit, check out their website.  If you are running a local meet, you need to advertize the competition on their forum.  Weightlifting needs to embrace this relationship and the communities desire to learn the lifts that we do.  They want coaches to teach them the right way, they want competition to test themselves, they want a place to workout very similar in style to the way we workout many times.

 

[Paul LaDuke]

"But about 50 pounds lighter now, he and Natalie, both strength coaches at University of San Diego, are happy to travel to some of Coach B's seminars. They make spreading the word and good technique a family affair."

Looks like Casey has retired?

[Erik Blekeberg]

They want coaches to teach them the right way...
 

I myself like that Olympic Weightlifting is picking up in popularity. Sadly, it is not really that much easier to find an o lifting gym. Crossfit gyms are on a pay by class basis rather than paying a fee to use their platforms. I understand and respect this practice but, I would like a more readily available platform.

As far as coaching; yes technique is a huge issue and many crossfitters I have met do focus on trying to get good technique out of the individuals they work with. However, don't tell me you can get good form on a workout that has you doing 30 snatches at 135 pounds...for time. Not just power snatches but full squat snatches. They also have a similar workout for the clean and jerk. Using the Olympic lifts in such a capacity defeats the very benefits that the lifts seek to instill to their students.

Coach Burgner is a great coach but, it does take more than a few weekends learning from him to be a great coach yourself. Hopefully, things will progress in a positive manner, as they have done for weightlifting in the US, and we will have more meets, more often and more lifters.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Yea, I think crossfit is pretty cool stuff but I don't believe the hype that it is going to help weightlifting in the USA much, just like the acceptance and promotion of weightlifting as the preeminent s+c tool hasn't helped. If anything, I'd say our sport is in decline and I don't see that changing.

Happy Friday.

[Dan Ewas]

I wish more schools in canada would offer weight lifting as an extra curricular activity or coach people how to do the lifts.

[Erik Blekeberg]

Yea, I think crossfit is pretty cool stuff but I don't believe the hype that it is going to help weightlifting in the USA much, just like the acceptance and promotion of weightlifting as the preeminent s+c tool hasn't helped. If anything, I'd say our sport is in decline and I don't see that changing.

Happy Friday.

As a S+C tool I often use it but, the biggest thing is justifying the time it takes to teach the full lifts and develop the mobility to perform the lifts. This is why you see the hang power clean or hang power snatch used most often. It teaches power generation without the complexities of the pull sequences and doesn't require the massive mobility weightlifters possess. I myself put forth my best effort in teach from the floor to all athletes I work with but, coaches won't always give you the time.

The best way to build up the sport is one at a time. You have started something wonderful here Chris and I thank you for it. I just found it but, already I feel a little bit better that people are coming together and discussing this great sport. As long as we keep coaching, teaching and sharing knowledge and passion with others the sport won't die.

[Dave Chiu]

I see the point of the last few posts, but I still say CF is a MAJOR net positive for O-lifting.

The athletic lifts are about AMPLITUDE (full body involvement w/ an external object, from the earth below to full extension above), and thus all of the ten factors that CF identifies as comprising complete fitness:

CV/resp Endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance, and Accuracy.

The first two are where the many reps w/ light weight come in, but to get one's best achievement, you need to take advantage of good technique.

I think they should make progressive standards, like once you can get 30 C&J w/ 135 lbs in under 5 min, you need to go w/ 185 to set your new standard.

Anyway, I expect a large number of our future competitors at local meets to come from CrossFit.