One of the coolest moments I’ve had at a national weightlifting meet in recent years happened at the 2015 National Championships. I was helping Greg Everett count attempts for Alyssa Sulay as she competed in the 63 kilo women’s A session, where she had just come through with the biggest snatch of her life on her third attempt. Alyssa had fought and scratched to save an 84 kg snatch, which got all of us fired up and excited because she had never nailed that weight in a meet. Then, during the ten-minute break between the snatch and clean and jerk, Greg and Alyssa were sitting next to her platform in the warm-up room, and I strolled over to the scoreboard to check out where we were sitting in the competition. I had a feeling about something…
 
When I looked at the scoreboard and confirmed my guess, I walked back over to Greg and Alyssa and said, “We got the bronze medal in the snatch.” Their heads almost exploded. They had no idea we were that high up in the standings, and it was her first medal in a national meet. I still think back about it and chuckle because I can remember my first one. It was like Christmas when you’re a little kid…times a thousand.
 
I’ve seen Alyssa’s whole journey from her first training videos on the Catalyst website, all the way to her rise to the top of the national rankings. I love that fact that she’s good enough now to qualify for an interview. So here’s a look at one of the top female lifters at Catalyst Athletics.
 
Tell us about your background. Where are you from, where do you currently live, what’s your occupation, family life, what kind of sports background do you have outside of lifting, etc.
 
I grew up in Santa Cruz county California, and I currently live in the Bay Area. I work at Catalyst Athletics where I am a personal trainer, fitness class coach, and administrative assistant. I’ve been involved in sports as long as I can remember. The first activity I can remember participating in was ballet at tap, then my brother started playing running hockey, and that looked way better than trying to gracefully dance around wearing a flower costume (not really my thing). So I started playing running hockey. Then he decided to start karate so, naturally, I started karate. I was a competitive little sh!$ so I basically started every sport my brother did so I could be better than he was (I know, that sounds terrible). Once he started playing baseball, I started playing softball, and that’s where I found THE sport for me. I started playing softball at eight years old until I graduated from college at San Jose State University. My parents were always supportive of my athletic career and have been to more softball games than I can count and sacrificed pretty much every weekend during summers to watch me play and help me get a scholarship. They are pretty much the best parents ever.
 
Describe your weightlifting history. When/how did you start? Who have your coaches been? What are your proudest accomplishments?
 
I kind of fell into weightlifting by accident. It started about a year or so after I was done playing softball in 2011. The Athletic Trainer at SJSU at the time had attended a med ball seminar back in the early days of Catalyst Athletics and grabbed Greg’s business card. He gave it to me because he thought I would like the place. It was sometime later that I found the business card and just so happened to be looking for a job and Catalyst was hiring. So I went in for an interview with Greg and Aimee then did a little workout afterwards. I did some Clean Pulls of what was apparently enough weight for Greg to say he was going to turn me into a weightlifter and I said, “okay!” I started a week later and he’s been my boss/coach ever since. I’m pretty sure the clean pulls are what got me the job in the first place, because I was a nervous wreck during the interview.
 
My proudest accomplishment so far is obtaining a meet total of 181 at a national meet and getting a bronze medal in the snatch for the 63kg class. A year ago that seemed so far out of reach.
 
Please give a basic description of your training method. Just tell us as much as you can about your program, weekly/yearly planning, etc.
 
I train Monday through Thursday and Saturdays with some technique work on Fridays. On Mondays and Wednesdays I train in both the mornings and the afternoons. I am fortunate enough to work where I train, so I take advantage of that as much as I can.
 
Describe some of the obstacles you face, or maybe some things that frustrate you in your weightlifting life. What kinds of changes would you like to see, either personally or with the sport in general?
 
I guess the most frustrating thing about weightlifting is having the patience to overcome the mental blocks in training. It’s easy to know what I have to do and to think logically when it comes to bad training days, but the execution is the tough part. Also, finding the time to recover properly from training sessions. There is a lot of extra work I can be doing, but unless days become 27 hours long, it is hard to find the time. 
 
As far as changes in the sport go, I feel like I haven’t been involved in weightlifting long enough to develop an opinion on the matter. 
 
What are your plans and goals for your weightlifting career? How do you see your future in the sport?
 
The plan for my weightlifting career is just to continue lifting as long as I possibly can. I love this sport and I can’t imagine doing anything else. My goal is to place in the top three at a national meet eventually. I see myself staying involved in the sport, in someway or another, as long as I can. 
 
Who are some of your major influences, people you look up to, etc.? Who are the people you want to thank for your success?
 
My biggest influences would have to be my parents. They showed me how to be a committed athlete from a very young age and never pushed me to do anything I didn’t want to do. I would like to thank them for that as well! I would also like to thank Greg and Aimee for introducing me to this sport. I would like to thank Blake Barnes; he is my voice of reason when I am unreasonable. 
 
If we’re all lucky, you’ll be in weightlifting for a very long time, Alyssa. Continued success to you and the rest of the team at Catalyst!