Mike Gray likes to sugarcoat things when he talks. He holds back his honest opinion, tells you what you want to hear, and tries as hard as he can to stay on everybody’s good side because he’s terrified of offending anybody.
 
Right about now, the people who know Mike Gray are rolling on the floor laughing after reading what I just wrote. Many of you probably feel like you know him a little, even if you’ve never met him, because he’s one of the prolific writers who contribute articles regularly to Catalyst Athletics. Believe it or not, I actually met Mike at exactly the same time as Greg Everett. It was at the 2008 Cal State Games in San Diego, where we all shared the same warmup platform as we got ready to compete that day. Eight years later, we’re all joined at the hip, living our weightlifting lives together and working to make Catalyst Athletics into a powerhouse.
 
In those eight years, Mike has carved out a place in the sport. Like some of you, he didn’t start the sport until his 30s. But like almost none of you, he qualified to compete in the American Open when he was in his 40s. His talent and work ethic are obvious from that distinction, and now he’s decided to begin his coaching life in the sport as well, helping others rise to the top levels as he has himself.
 
I chuckled as I read this interview, because it’s just so….Mike. I hope you enjoy his perspective on the sport, because it’s the right perspective, believe me.
 
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 was born and raised in San Diego, California. I joined the Navy right out of high school in 1990 and have been on active duty for over 25 years now. I am married to a beautiful woman named Emily and we are expecting our first child together any day now. I have a son Corey and a daughter Courtney from a previous marriage. My sports background includes wrestling in high school; I was so small in high school that I actually didn’t play football until my senior year. I have been around weights since about 1988, but until 2006 it was just beach lifting with some powerlifting movements included. I surfed for quite a few years, but after I got married the first time it was very difficult to find the time, I would love to get back to surfing again someday, the thought of sitting on a board with the cool ocean water on my beat up knees sounds so good most days.
 
Describe your weightlifting history. When/how did you start? Who were your coaches? What were your proudest accomplishments as either an athlete or coach?
 
I started in February of 2006. I found Coach Mike Burgener online and contacted him and I was lucky enough to live about 15 minutes away at the time. I had tried teaching myself for about three days in my garage and knew that it wouldn’t work. After I walked up his driveway, I was handed over to his then 15 year old daughter Sage, so I have the honor of being Sage Burgener’s first lifter she ever coached. I did a meet four months later and have never looked back and have become pretty much “all in” ever since.
 
I was extremely fortunate in where I was and that I was likeable enough that people didn’t mind being around me, so I was able to train with or be coached by some of the absolute best in the business. So my first few years in the sport, I was surrounded by Mike Burgener, Sage Burgener, Casey Burgener, Natalie Woolfolk (Burgener), Aimee Anaya (Everett), and Greg Everett, to just name a handful. I relished it because I was at the very bottom of the food chain and all I was doing was watching and learning. I had no reason to open my mouth, I just sat and learned and this was at the age of 35. I had nothing to add to any of the conversations because at that point, I hadn’t done a damn thing and knew even less.
 
My first meet in 2006 as a 94, I snatched 85 and did 100 in the C&J. This was with about four months of training and that was kind of sporadic because I was gearing up to go back to Iraq after the meet. Five years later, as a 94, I snatched 128 and C&J 141 to qualify for my first American Open at the age of 39. This was after two deployments and one knee surgery during that time, which was by far the proudest moment for me as a weightlifter to get to a meet where you had to earn your spot.
 
As a coach, I have proud moments all of the time. Anytime somebody gets better, has a good meet or I can see they just truly enjoy weightlifting for what it is and I am somehow part of that equation, it makes me feel good. A month or so ago, one of my female lifters hit a PR in the snatch; it had been two years since she had one and she came to my club a couple of months prior because she had heard that it was a no nonsense gym and that people got better. She hit the PR on a Saturday night and was just about in tears. I get that and I sure as hell understand that emotion, so to be a part of that is awesome.
 
In addition to your own lifting, you’ve also decided to become a coach in the sport. What are the similarities and differences between those two lifestyles?
 
I held out to actually start coaching for quite some time. I don’t think most people understand how time consuming and how invested you have to be to actually be a good coach. So many people these days love to wear the title “coach” but they really don’t have any idea how to coach or what they’re actually doing. The other side of it is that you can do everything right and lifters will still leave and go somewhere else. I’ve seen it happen to some great coaches and that’s something you have to know going in.
 
Being an athlete you have to be selfish. It’s a terrible thing to say, but it’s the truth. Sure you can be part of a team and support your team to a certain extent, but at the end of the day, you have to be worried about you for you to succeed. Being a coach is the opposite spectrum of that. Nobody comes to a meet to see a coach do what they’re doing, so the spotlight isn’t on you, it’s on their lifters. A good coach will sacrifice just as much athletes do they just do it in different ways.
 
The part I don’t think most new coaches understand is that these people trust you; they trust you to guide them to be the best lifter they can be. They trust you on the programming, your ability to diagnose their technical problems and the ability to prepare them for game day. Most coaches I see aren’t ready for that responsibility because they just haven’t been around it long enough.
 
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 am going to go on a tangent for a bit here and I might sound a little bitter during this, but bear with me. The explosion of the sport is awesome and I appreciate it because it has opened many doors for many people that deserve it. However, what I don’t like is what else it has brought in with it. When I used to surf a million years ago, you would always be able to pick out the new guy in the parking lot. He would be unloading a brand new board that was probably ridden by some pro or that he had custom shaped so he could look like a pro, wearing a top of the line wetsuit and covered in the latest gear head to toe. The problem was he wanted look the part but he didn’t want to actually be the part. He had no interest in getting up at the crack of dawn to paddle out when it was cold, and he didn’t or couldn’t paddle out when it was big and nasty. He just wanted to be able to look like a surfer and say that he was. I was getting one of these guys about once a month for a while at Outlier Barbell. They didn’t have a clue what they were doing, but they sure as anything had all the gear to look like they did. I think all sports have these guys. I just had never witnessed it in weightlifting and now I see it everywhere. Weightlifting posers, I could really do without them.
 
To go along with them are the amount of “experts” who have cropped up over the last few years. Like I said earlier, I had been lifting for about eight years before I decided to coach anybody. These guys have been lifting for about eight months and haven’t done a damn thing, but they have a t-shirt and a Instagram account and a bunch of “athletes.” I see the same people hosting seminars and posting the most idiotic crap you’ve ever seen on social media to try and sell themselves. I was at the American Open last year getting one of my lifters ready and saw a guy who runs a pretty popular weightlifting club who looked absolutely lost in the warm up room. He had paid a guy to run his cards because he didn’t have a clue, but these are the same guys who buy lifters and like to sell the fact that he coached them to their current ranking. Let’s be honest, most weightlifters are broke and if I was in their shoes and somebody offered me $750 a month to wear a shirt and be a part of their team, I would if it allowed me to keep lifting. The problem is that the sport grew so fast that the amount of coaches who actually know what they’re doing is in such short supply that it allows clowns like these guys to show up and take people’s money who don’t know any better.
 
What are your plans and goals for your lifting/coaching career? How do you see your future in the sport?
 
I’m going to compete for as long as my body will let me not embarrass myself. I will most likely start to compete as a master in the next year or so to try and remain competitive for a bit longer. My ultimate goal is to get a couple of platforms in my garage and do what I was raised on and that’s train lifters out of my home. A majority of my favorite memories in weightlifting are those of being in Coach Burgener’s garage on cold winter nights training with Greg Everett and having coach in one of those plastic chairs drinking Jack and Cokes out of a mason jar keeping an eye on us. I would like to keep that legacy alive in my own way and have people train there at night and of course on Saturday mornings. Weightlifting gyms are great and I am grateful and proud of Outlier Barbell Club, but being in a garage is where I belong.
 
Who are some of your major influences, people you look up to, etc.? Who are the people you want to thank for your success?
 
When I started weightlifting, all I had to really look at that I knew about was the old IronMind training hall videos. I watched and still do now lifters like Zlaten Vanev and Syzmon Kolecki. Another one was Andrei Rybakou, whom I just feel somewhat connected to as he was usually the last guy snatching and one of the first doing the C&J, something I am all too familiar with.
 
As far as people whom I would like to thank over the years, it’s a pretty long list, so stand by.
Mike Burgener and his entire family, for starters. He opened up his home to me and my family and has been a good friend since my first day there. I understand and appreciated his style of coaching, programming and presence with weightlifters. Greg and Aimee Everett. I met Aimee when I first started at Mike’s and met Greg at my first meet a few months later. The relationship I have with these two transcends over weightlifting at this point; they are two of my truest friends for life.
 
Erwin and Erin Caalaman, who own Outlier Barbell, the club I run and train out of. When I started there after being thrown out of my garage by my HOA, I came in and was given the reins on how to make the club better. They stood by me the entire time when people either quit or complained and never once questioned my judgment or process. Now we have a club where people come knowing what’s in store for them and we have lifters who are very serious about training and have tons of character. Everyone who I’ve had the opportunity to train with over the years, including those at Mike’s Gym where I started, the various command gyms on base and now my crew at Outlier and of course all the members of Team Catalyst Athletics.
 
Guys like Matt Foreman and Sean Waxman, friends that are my age but actually lifted during the ages when you should. They are great dudes who I love to hang out with, have a beer or 10 with, and just talk weightlifting.
 
Most importantly, my wife Emily. I can’t even begin to tell you how tolerant and supportive she is of me. It would literally be 5,000 words to explain everything she has done for my friends and I over the years.
 
Damn Mike…what a long, strange trip it’s been. I’ve had nothing but fun working through this sport with you over the years, and I hope you’re in the business for a very long time. You’re exactly what this game needs.