“Leaders are not made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” –Vince Lombardi

Zachary Uzzell Thiel is a CrossFit Coach at CrossFit Central Burnet and the owner and founder of Barbell Sport. He grew up in Lubbock, Texas farming, playing sports and developing a relentless love for an active lifestyle. He played high school football, baseball, and was a competitive power lifter.

While studying Political Science at Texas Tech University, Zach developed a passion for skiing, hiking, hunting and most other things outdoors. He also developed a firm belief in being outspoken. Since then, he has been a farmer and a restaurant and bar manager which fed his tenacious attitude in life. Both of these jobs are demanding and have been instrumental in shaping his character. But still there was a drive to give back. A passion to give athletes the power to succeed by learning from him.

Zach found his passion for coaching after realizing the impact he could have on peoples’ lives. One of the biggest obstacles Zach faced throughout his early years as a competitor was his own fear of failure. Yet, in the face of that fear, Zach took a position as a CrossFit Coach in a brand new garage gym in Austin, Texas. Through hard work and determination, Zach destroyed his fear and helped turn that garage gym into CrossFit Central, one of the largest and most successful CrossFit Affiliates in the world. During that time, Zach also developed a premier Olympic lifting program at Red Black Gym, a no frills in your face gym for competitive athletes. There, the tools honed along his journey are being passed on to his CrossFit and Olympic Lifting Athletes. His mission, to light a fire within his athletes and inspire them to conquer their fears in the same way he has…hard work and determination.

Five Questions with Coach Zach

Three things an athlete can do to immediately improve their performance?
1. Just get started, you don’t have to be in shape to get in shape.
2. Be consistent
3. Get enough sleep, maintain a healthy diet, and implement quality supplements

What is a habit or daily routine of yours that positively impacts your day?
Start the day off with a prayer. It sets the tone for the day and helps me stay centered.

Favorite book or movie?
Favorite movie is a toss up between Saving Private Ryan or Braveheart.

When you’re not coaching, what are you doing? Favorite activities?
I’m a political junky, so I spend a lot of time reading the news. I also enjoy hunting and shooting. And I can’t leave out college football!! Guns Up!!!

Current goals?
When you have three kids a lot of goals are financial. But in order to hit those goals I have to impact the most amount of people I can.