OLYMPIAN-LEVEL COACHING YOU WON'T FIND ANYWHERE ELSE
When you train with The Lifting Zone, you get coaching from some of the best athletes & most experienced coaches in the world.
All of our coaches have achieved the highest status of athlete in world sport, an Olympian!
We have over 40 years of combined experience, coaching thousands of athletes of all skill levels from around the globe.
SONNY WEBSTER
Sonny Webster has achieved the highest status of athlete in world sport, an Olympian; competing at the 2016 Rio Games in weightlifting.
He’s also accomplished competing in the commonwealth games and multiple world championships, then graduating with a degree in sports performance of Olympic Weightlifting from Bath University, England.
He’s now turned his attention and 14 years of experience to focus on his overarching goal to “leave the sport in a better place than he found it”.
Successfully changing the lives of over 10,000 athletes of all levels of experience from complete beginner to world class
Delivering face to face seminars in more than 30 countries, as well as building the biggest online weightlifting coaching & community platform in history.
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Currently based in Sydney, Australia, you’ll easily find his highly engaged social media presence (@sonnywebstergb and @theliftingzone) with one of the most exciting platforms for fitness lovers, turning weightlifting into a sport that can be appreciated by all types of people far beyond the weightlifting community, especially well known for his complex and creative lifting variations.
This platform has allowed him to share his life and knowledge with the world, as well as turn his hand to additional projects such as the Fair Points Podcast.
One of his proudest projects is the lifting dreams charity, a movement based in Soweto, South Africa. One of the most dangerous places in the world, Sonny’s charity provides equipment, facilities, funding and knowledge to the local weightlifting club which is designed to keep young people off the streets and out of danger with the combined passion of weightlifting.
“The best lessons you learn are when you lose” - A favourite quote of Sonny’s as well as an outlook on how he likes to live his life.
SAM BISHOP
I've been coaching both Weightlifting and Crossfit in Bali, Indonesia for the last 8 years. Like most, Crossfit was my first introduction into Weightlifting over 10 years ago. I enjoy the challenges and rewards that weightlifting gives me, in both my own training and in helping others understand a movement or hit a new Personal Best.
My experience of coaching, running seminars and programming both in Bali and online has allowed me to meet and coach tens of thousands of people from all over the world, from first-timers to competitive athletes. This has given me a vast experience, knowledge, and understanding of what works when it comes to weightlifting with regards to cues, programming, and techniques.
I pride myself on keeping things super simple, easy to understand and always help my athletes understand the why behind what I'm asking them to do.
Being a part of TLZ, learning, sharing, and coaching alongside Sonny, Gaz, and Oscar is a dream come true and I cannot wait to share my passion and experience with as many people as possible.
OSCAR MATCHAM
Oscar has been involved in the lifting zone since its conception and before helping Sonny bring his knowledge to the online market. With a deep rooted love for coaching and helping people achieve their goals.
Oscar began his coaching journey by attending University to complete a Sports Strength and Conditioning degree. This is where he found his key interest in Olympic Weightlifting. After finishing University Oscar completed his Level 1 and 2 British weightlifting coaching qualifications to begin coaching at club level. In his first few years of coaching working with youth athletes took 2 athletes to a national level where both achieved medals over a number of years.
In undertaking betterment of his knowledge he sort out Sonny moving to Bristol to work alongside him at his weightlifting club allowing him to hone his skills with a wide variety of clients.
"I have been lucky enough to continue to learn and grow my coaching skills under the guidance and tutelage of one of the more technically gifted lifters of my generation. Helping improve not only the way weighting is taught but making it easier for everyday athletes to understand and implement changes to smash their goals."
With this being just the beginning Oscar is excited to help as many people learn more and apply what they learn to smash through their lifting goals!
GAZ EVANS
Gaz has been involved in Olympic weightlifting since 1998 and since then has completed a 24 year international lifting career before retiring from competitive lifting in January 2022.
During this time Gaz competed at every level of competition from youth Nationals through to the Olympic Games in London 2012, and winning the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in 2018.
In 2015, Gaz also became only the fourth British lifter ever to snatch double body weight in competition to sit alongside numerous national records.
“When given the opportunity to join the TLZ coaching team I jumped at the chance. To be involved with a great team of people with a singular focus to help improve people's lifting abilities and experiences excites me, and being a part of the community created Is something that makes the job so enjoyable.”
Since retiring from Weightlifting, Gaz has been involved in planning and preparation of international standard Weightlifting competitions such as the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham 2022 working alongside international federations, national governing bodies, and also global equipment suppliers, such as Eleiko, to provide high-level competition environments for one of the biggest multi-sport games on the planet.