When you’ve been in the sport of Olympic weightlifting for over two decades, you hear a lot of stories about how our top national-level lifters got introduced to the game. One of the most standard progressions you hear is when a lifter says, “I did some other sports in high school and there was a guy in our weight room that coached Olympic lifts. I worked with him and developed an interest in it, and then…” This is the start of many careers in the United States.
 
What’s really great is when these lifters turn into highly successful competitors. What’s even greater is when these competitors are good people who act well, respect the sport and its members, and contribute to the business in a positive way. And finally, the greatest thing is when lifters decide to become coaches and develop future generations. Ben Claridad is one of these figures in the sport. Ben has consistently been one of our top US national athletes in the +105 and 105 kg classes for several years now, and the time has recently come for him to open up his own gym and start coaching Occam Athletics, the weightlifting team he created. Now he’s one of the leadership figures in the always-competitive Northern California weightlifting scene, developing his own athletes and leading by example as he continues to achieve top placement finishes at the National Championships and American Open.
 
People like Ben Claridad keep Olympic weightlifting alive in this country. We’re proud to give you a look at his story.
 
Tell us about your background. Where are you from, where do you currently live, what’s your occupation (if you work in addition to training), family life, what kind of sports background do you have outside of lifting, etc.
 
I was born and raised in Sacramento. I love this city, so much so that I’ve decided to set up shop here for my business. Just a year ago, I opened Occam Athletics. I had been working in small gyms for several years and have been building a weightlifting program for the past six years. It just got to the point where it was finally time for me to take that leap and go into business for myself.
 
I’ve never really considered myself “athletic” but I’ve always been involved in athletics and was an active kid in general. The first “weightlifting” for me was actually skateboarding, music and the arts. I actually still practice music and artistic pursuits to this day. Then in high school I played football and rugby and I wrestled. Wrestling was actually the only sport that I played that I felt I was actually good at. I was interested in the sport enough to coach it for three years at Sacramento High School (which is where I met Paul Doherty, my primary weightlifting mentor). I juggled weightlifting and grappling sports for a few years until I finally settled on weightlifting as a full-time pursuit. I was actually practicing grappling skills one day with an older Judo black belt. We struck up conversation and he asked me what I wanted to do most; because doing both well was obviously out of the question. I told him, “weightlifting” and haven’t looked back since.
 
Describe your weightlifting history. When/how did you start? Who have your coaches been? What are your best lifts?
 
I actually discovered Olympic weightlifting by accident. I was spacing out in algebra class one day my senior year of high school and in my book was a photo of Halil Mutlu doing a snatch (for what reason he was in there, I have no idea). At the time, I thought I was strong. I had been doing bodybuilding and lifting for football so surely I’d be able to do whatever this little guy could do. I couldn’t. So I began practicing the lifts by myself until I started my first year at Sacramento State. There, I found the remnants of what was the Sac State Weightlifting club.
 
I got there and was essentially the only member and club president. This was in 2005, so CrossFit was only just beginning to take off and weightlifting hadn’t enjoyed a resurgence in popularity like we see today. I want you to imagine 18 year-old Ben sitting alone at my booth in the school quad trying to convince people to give weightlifting a try. I eventually had a small group that I trained with until I met Paul Doherty at Sacramento High School. There, he was busy building his weightlifting program in tandem with the HS football program; a model that his brother Kevin uses at a high school in San Francisco as well.
 
Paul is actually still listed as my official coach to this day, though I wouldn’t say he was as much my coach as he was my training partner and mentor. I was constantly observing his training programs, coaching cues and teaching progressions. As I got more into weightlifting, I eventually ventured out and started training with other groups and under the eyes of other coaches. I’m lucky in that Nor-Cal (the Bay Area specifically) has always had a dedicated weightlifting scene and whether they know it or not I’ve looked to ALL the coaches in the area for inspiration. Greg was someone I used as a role model as well as Freddie Myles, Jasha Faye, Dave Spitz, Glenn Pendlay (when he was living here), Max Aita and Jim Schmitz.
 
My current best lifts in competition are a 150kg snatch and 185kg clean and jerk, both done as a 105kg lifter. I competed as a super heavyweight for years but I eventually got tired of being chubby and now compete as a 94. The best I’ve done at this weight is 147kg and 180kg so I actually haven’t lost too much strength since trimming down in bodyweight. My best squat as a super heavyweight was 285kg but I was just too fat to move athletically. In my opinion, I now move better than ever and I don’t look as disgusting while I do it.
 
Please give a basic description of your training. Just tell us as much as you can about your program, weekly/yearly planning, etc.
 
Our training schedule developed over the years simply as a result of me being responsible for more and more people. What was once just myself and one or two others grew into a team of thirty, so organization quickly became crucial. The way it works is that everyone on the team will follow the same basic template. These templates are organized in 4-week blocks and are usually run concurrently with an 8-week “squatting-within-a-weightlifting-program” program. The 4-week blocks revolve around the major contests in the National Weightlifting year. For example, when Elle peaked for JR Nationals this year, we ALL peaked for JR Nationals. The same can be said for when Emelie and I competed at SR Nationals. This helps to strengthen the “team concept.” When people start to peak and valley around the same time, they begin to trust in the long-term plan. One of my mantras for the team is “trust the process” for that reason, because you can’t expect people who’ve only been lifting for a couple years to look at their progress with a clear frame of reference.
 
As far as what day-to-day training looks like, I try not to reinvent the wheel. We have three heavier days of the week (MWF) where the main focus is on the contest lifts. We’ll go to 90% or more a minimum of one session per week. Tuesdays and Thursdays are usually lighter and I’ll throw in more variation and oddball lifts. We’ll also do more unilateral work and general strengthening on these days. Saturdays are reserved for squatting, posterior chain work and jerk accessory exercises. We squat three days per week, though some athletes have the option to squat more often or do other variations of squatting not typical of traditional weightlifting gyms (squats from the safety bars for instance).
 
I also assign the team mandatory prep work and corrective exercises before they step foot on the platform. I think it’s important for coaches to at least address the fact that we work with regular people who have probably spent a majority of their life with some sort of movement dysfunction. I’m lucky because where my gym is currently set up, I’m in close proximity to PTs, sports medicine specialists and strength and conditioning coaches, all of whom have helped me round out my game by addressing the general needs of my trainees first before addressing their specific needs as a weightlifter.
 
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?
 
Well, my weightlifting life is definitely interesting since I’m still an active national competitor on top of coaching a weightlifting team. Being an athlete/coach carries its own set of challenges, which is why conventional wisdom says to not start coaching until you are done lifting yourself. I honestly only get around an hour each day where I can really be selfish and only concentrate on my own lifting. So that’s one challenge. But it’s something that can be easily be remedied by being strict in blocking off my time and saying, “Hey, nobody talk to me or ask me any questions from 4-5pm every day.” Every now and then, I’ll hop in and lift with the team on our heavy days just to get the feel of being in the mix with the group again. It helps break up the monotony and shows the gang I can actually do what I tell them to. That’s actually one of the things I’ve always admired about Greg. He’s not some crabby guy on the Internet who cites journal articles and has opinions about things that he’s never actually experienced himself. He’s someone who practices what he preaches, which is a concept I feel is important to my own training. My main motivator nowadays is to show my group the “how” and “why” of our training while I’m still doing national meets.
 
As far as things that frustrate me about weightlifting as a whole, we’ve obviously seen tremendous growth over the past decade and with it a few growing pains. But I remember what weightlifting was like 10 years ago and it was a dismal place. Things are without a doubt better than they used to be. My philosophy is to perpetuate weightlifting how I think it should be, contribute to the local weightlifting scene and produce lifters who will go out and do the same. Once I feel like I’ve taken care of everything on my end, then maybe I’ll develop more of an opinion on the national and international scene.
 
What are your plans and goals for your weightlifting career? How do you see your future in the sport? Do you plan to stay involved in weightlifting after your top competitive years are over?
 
I’m still on the hunt to medal at Nationals or the American Open. I figure I probably have one or two more years to really give it an honest push and then it’s time to concentrate on other parts of my life. I’ve been doing at least nine lifting sessions per week for a long time. It will be nice to get out and do some hiking, climbing, painting, making music, and living life. I’ll still obviously be coaching and be an active voice of the sport, but I’ll definitely need some time before I pick up competing in the Masters circuit.
 
Who are some of your major influences, people you look up to, etc.? Who are the people you want to thank for your success?
 
I briefly mentioned my coaching influences already but I can’t overstate enough how much all of the local coaches in the PWA have been a positive influence on me. Paul obviously is the guy I owe the most to, him and my older coach, Jackie Mah. I’d also like to thank my parents for making sure I finished up school and for being the voice of reason. Thank you to my friends for sticking by me even though I’m usually too wrapped up in my lifting business to hang out, and thank you to my crew for your loyalty and commitment over the years. I promise I’ll do anything for you guys.
 
You’re doing plenty, Ben. Good luck on chasing that elusive medal at the Nationals, along with your athletes as they work their way up the ladder. We’ll be watching Occam Athletics!