SIT-DOWN: RACHEL LASSETER

Oh Rachel...where do I start. She loves wine, animals, steak, food as a whole, dirty memes, other people's babies, and power cleans. Hates sandbags :) 

Rachel is married to one of Travis's long time clients, Ryan. They were married not long after we opened TCS. After the honeymoon Ryan said "hey my wife might want to start working out so I am sending her up here to you." These are my favorite- I never know if the dude is telling his wife to come, kindly suggesting to start working out, or who knows. But once I met Rachel- I knew for sure Ryan was not telling this chick anything! HA! LIFT was definitely her decision.

Rachel was working out and seeing zero results. Dealing with a long time injury and frustrated she decided it was time to make a move. 

We started out with a month of personal training sessions to get her going and used to the way things work. She is naturally mobile and when I said "squat" she just went ass to grass...and that's when every coach is like YESSSS. She picked up things pretty easily...minus the name of equipment/movements which was pretty entertaining.  Every move we did was new to her. A lot of women would have been pretty intimidated and not come back, but Rachel just kept coming back for more and results came quickly. 

Rachel started off squatting the barbell. That 35lb bar kicked her little ass all over the gym. Today her max is 125 and really that looked a bit easy. She has gotten incredibly strong, and just keeps improving on everything. 

There has only been a couple of workouts where I thought she might punch me. Usually that somehow involves a sandbag. But she has a great internal voice that tells her to keep going and she always finishes. That is a quality that sets her apart from others. 

I love seeing her name on the roster because I know she will be walking up with big sunglasses and a smile soon...and everyone else is happy too because she is a team player in class, and such a great happy person!

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SIT-DOWN: KYLE L

Kyle is relatively new to TCS, but has already made a huge impact at the gym with his positive attitude, sense of humor and hard work. Not to mention, he's got some of the best hair in the gym - and he knows it. Hahaha.

I really can't say enough about Kyle's work ethic. From day one, Kyle has always brought his best effort, regardless of what his shift may have looked like or whether or not their new baby girl, Iona, slept like shit. This consistent effort has obviously resulted in some real progress(#gainZ) for Kyle. He's become stronger and more mentally and physically capable to do hard work. But honestly, the thing I'm most proud of Kyle for is his vastly improved ability to find proper positions while lifting. In the beginning, this was a huge hurdle. We had to essentially start from square one and rebuild his lifting technique, which is very difficult, but he never let ego get in the way and never stopped working at it, which has paid off BIG for him! 

This type of mentality is exactly why Kyle makes TCS a better place. He's here to get better, even if it means slowing down, swallowing his pride, and putting in the time and effort to do it the right way - even it may not be the easy way.

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SIT-DOWN: ALLISON

Allison has been with me for years. Hundreds of workouts, happy hours, events, job changes, everything.  Like many of the LIFT girls we see each other more times a week than friends or sometimes family. I notice hair changes, body changes, personality changes, stress, sadness and happiness. Allison and I have seen all of these with each other over the years. 

Recently she came to me after some major life changes wanting to start a new nutrition plan. I always suggest Renaissance Periodization first. If you are willing to count, measure and surrender to the process, RP is for you. After a short chat she was on board and ready to go!

Months later many people in the gym have noticed the changes. She is squatting more, pressing more, and overall a better athlete. Yes, a lot of this is contributed to making the nutrition change. The rest is your attitude, ambition, drive, and determination in the gym. It's all about the implementation. She took all the information and decided it was time to make a change. 

In the past Allison was okay being the smallest and lifting the lightest weights. That's how it went. Then she wanted more, and as a coach I was so excited to see her take this step. She shows up four to five times a week ready to rock. No complaining, just doing. 

Other people in the gym have noticed how strong she has gotten....because she is catching up with them! I could not be more proud of this chick. She decided she wanted to make progress. Goals, plan, workout, nutrition....SUCCESS. How can that be better planned out?

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SIT-DOWN: CLINT HARBOUR

A couple words come to mind when I think of Clint:

-JEEP
-Bandana
-Hip-Hop

Now, if you don't know Clint, this probably doesn't make much sense, but what it provides is a glimpse into how eclectic this guy is. Clint rolls up to the gym in his sweet lil red JEEP about 15 minutes before class. As he strides through the gym, he's rocking a bandana or headband with his earbuds in listening to some type of podcast. He sets down his old-school gym bag and begins his mobility exercises. And you better believe that if there's some old-school hip-hop on, he's reciting every single word right along with the artist. He's got them all memorized, word for word!

Clint is a lawyer for the state of Texas, which tends to keep him busy with either case prep or travel, but when he's in town he always makes the time for the gym. The guy works extremely hard while he's there and does the right things outside of the gym as well. All told, Clint has lost 36lbs while with us and impresses/inspires others to get their nutrition on point through ACTION. 

There are a lot of people that talk. Clint walks the walk.

With an already jam-packed schedule, he finds time to coach TWO basketball teams; the 5th-6th grade boys at St. Andrews, and a High School select team with the Austin Dawgs club. What's really cool is that he's been able to use some of the things we do at TCS to help condition his teams and improve their fitness. What I respect most about Clint is that he does it first. Again, he walks the walk and provides his players with a great role model.

Just one more reason that TCS is the special place it is. With people like Clint, how could it not be something special? 

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A Sit-Down with Jen Jones

You've probably noticed that there isn't a lot of flare or fancy shit going on around here. We like to keep shit simple and get down to the brass tacks. So in keeping with that, we are starting a new interview series that we're calling Sit-Downs.

In each Sit-Down we ask our athletes, who, by the way, don't know that we are scouting them for this project, why they train here at TCS and what it has provided to them. 

So, without further delay, here's our Sit-Down with TCS athlete and all around badass, Jen Jones.

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