The motto of Live, Learn, Pass On is deeply ingrained in all aspects of this site, particularly in the actions of our staff and Team. Elitefts™ team member Josh Bryant has shared his knowledge with thousands of readers and clients. Up-and-coming powerlifter Chris Szorc is one example of that.
LIVE and take chances. As important as it is to strive for the chalk box, it’s another thing to chalk up. The chances of you failing are great, but you’ll learn more from failure than you will from success.
LEARN by acquiring education. Choose to surround yourself with those who have passion, positive influence, like-mindedness, and a backbone. Do go to school, attend seminars, read books, believe in something, believe in yourself, and in others. On the platform, take note of the lifter and the roles in which the judges, spotters, handlers, and spectators play. Off of the platform, these same roles are carried out by your self, advisors, professors, coaches, family, friends, and faith.
PASS ON and give back for all the experiences you have had and will have. The more you pass on, a higher probability lies in that you’ll be present, engaged, and mindful in everything you set out to accomplish. As the teacher, the doer, you’ll master your craft. What you master, you will excel in. This exchange of mastery between the teacher and student has power to create and propel positive affect for the kid down the street, an entire sports team, your family, a community, mankind, and the world.
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Meet Chris Szorc
Chris Szorc is a firefighter and powerlifter who receives programming from Josh Bryant. Chris lives in Springfield, Illinois and trains at Roesche's Gym. At the age of 26 his best official raw total to date is 1,668 pounds (275-pound class). As he now competes in the 242-pound weight class, his best official raw lifts are: squat 562 pounds, bench 374 pounds, deadlift 589 pounds.
Like most of us, Chris got into the sport of powerlifting once he discovered elitefts™. He read everything he could and knew once he completed his college football career, he'd focus and compete in powerlifting. Chris has found that having a coach is invaluable. For example, one of the biggest advantages he finds in working with Josh, is how Josh sees the bigger picture. Chris adds, "Numbers that he puts into the weekly training serve a purpose, but are essentially arbitrary numbers to him. They don't have any preconceived notions associated with them. So, what ends up happening is I show up and I just go for it.
Another reason I have a coach is I tend to over think things. I would spend hours building beautiful programs to address every need I had. It turned out they sucked. Ever since working with Josh I am able to remove training from my mind until it is time to go to the gym."
As a firefighter, Chris' schedule is 24 hours on, 48 hours off. As it's easy for life to get in the way of training and our competitive goals, Chris is the exception and reasons,"It’s fairly easy I guess. On days I am at work (24 hours on) I do light conditioning or stretching. At home (48 hours off) I alternate two workouts and one workout. So a typical scheme will be as follows:
24 Hours On
- Light Conditioning/Stretching
48 Hours Off
- Upper
- Lower
24 Hours On:
- Light Conditioning/Stretching
48 Hours OFF
- Upper
- No training
24 Hours On:
- Light Conditioning/Stretching
48 Hours Off:
- Lower
- Upper
24 Hours On:
- Light Conditioning/Stretching
48 Hours Off:
- Lower
- No training
Chris has found that he does better remaining nutritionally sound by consuming four meals throughout the work day. While at the station for a straight 24 hours,"Two meals will be on my own which are usually shakes, and the other two will be with the guys. It’s kind of an unwritten rule you eat with everybody. I attempt to follow my dietary guidelines as best as I can. I’ve made it that I always train after a day of work since my carbohydrates tend to be higher while at work. On days off I’ll have four meals as well. My breakfast will usually be eggs and bacon (it’s delicious), and before training I’ll have a protein and fat snack. I’ll have one big meal post-workout and a shake at night."
At the beginning of the training week, Josh sends Chris a spreadsheet. The worksheet includes a spot for what he completed, an area to rate his perceived effort, and a section for comments. Chris returns the form to Josh at the end of the week, telling him everything he did, what he didn’t do, how things felt, and his self-evaluation of his performance in the gym. Chris also sends him videos of his main lifts and some of the complex heavy accessory work. Throughout the week if Chris has any questions or is experiencing any issues he'll email him. As Josh has the only say in his programming, Chris accepts technique cues and general coaching points from surrounding coaches and lifters. Chris reflects when he was actively part of Team Stone. "I trained with Eric Stone for many years, so he saw me squat, bench and deadlift on a regular basis—any time he had anything to say, I held value in it." At the present time, as Chris is often observed by TC Roesche, TC may give him cues and Chris finds value in this.
Since he has been working with Josh, Chris has learned to not focus on one specific workout—not even focus on a few weeks' worth of workouts. Instead, it's more important to look at the bigger picture (three-six months of training) and say, "I want to be here at the end of it. What needs to be done over this time period to get there?" Before working with Josh, this was something he wasn't able to do, and didn't realize this is what he had to do. Chris also realizes that, "Another thing I learned from Josh is that training hard does not always mean training heavy. By that, I mean you don't always need to train 90% or above to get stronger. This approach has enabled me to train at higher volume with less injury and more success."
When asked if Chris is passing on any of the lessons learned to help others, his response was, "When I train in a team setting, if I see something I let them know. That’s what a team is. You’re looking out for them and they’re looking out for you. Currently, Josh is prepping Chris for his next competition which is a push/pull meet at the World’s Police and Fire Games in Belfast Northern Ireland this August.