EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to 12 Reps – in each appearance of 12 Reps, our coaches, writers, and occasional guests will be answering the same twelve questions. Go “into the locker-room” with them and get to know our coaches and writers a little bit better!
12 Reps with Olympic Weightlifting Coach Greg Everett
1. Who was your first coach and what did they teach you?
I had a lot of coaches as a kid in all the typical sports and none stood out to me. The first coach I had who really made a lasting impression and impact on me was Mike Burgener.
2. Who is the coach you most admire?
Mike Burgener, Dan Gable.
3. If you could have a superhero power, what would it be?
To create whatever superpowers I wanted for myself.
4. What athlete, dead or alive, would you most like to talk with?
Zlaten Vanev
5. When did you know that coaching was your calling?
There wasn’t any sudden realization; it was just a natural process. I knew that for a number of reasons I would never be a world class weightlifter, but I found that I was successful helping other athletes improve. I fairly naturally and without much thought always sacrificed my own athletic pursuits to help others with theirs and found it gratifying.
6. What is the best and hardest part about being a coach?
The best part is seeing your athletes succeed and being able to share that satisfaction with them. The hardest part is meet coaching – too stressful.
7. What is your favorite physical activity or exercise?
Weightlifting (i.e. training for/competing in the sport of weightlifting, not lifting weights)
8. What is your favorite “cheat” food?
Nachos or pizza
9. What is your biggest accomplishment?
Writing Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches. It has been far more successful than I imagined it would be.
10. What do you bring to your students/clients that is different than other coaches and programs?
I think I’m very adaptable, and I can be demanding and have high expectations while also being personable and fairly easy-going.
11. What is your favorite quote?
“This above all: To thine own self be true / and it must follow, as the night the day / thou canst not then be false to any man.” – Shakespeare, from Hamlet
12. What was/is your favorite sport and why?
Weightlifting. I think because it’s so simple in a sense, yet so complex in other ways. Physically it’s a balance between strength, power, speed, mobility, balance, and precision. Mentally it’s a balance between aggression, relaxation, and patience. It’s an individual and team sport: you can train with a team, but you’re entirely responsible for your performance ultimately. And there’s little room for interpretation: you either lifted the weight or you didn’t.
Want more Greg Everett? Well then,read a review of his new book, do three weeks of free workouts designed by him, or read our two part interview.
If you missed any editions of 12 Reps, be sure to check out our archives. You never know who we might talk to and what might get said!