EZ Lifting Seminar at NC Open Gym: A Recap of the Event

Events

On April 15th, 2023, NC Open Gym and Beer City CrossFit had a super fun time hosting Elijah "EZ" Muhammad for his Lift Heavy Often Weightlifting Seminar. EZ is a former CrossFit Games athlete and a real pro at lifting a heavy barbell. The seminar covered squat mechanics and broke down the positions of the snatch, clean and jerk. EZ started the event with a fun and playful dynamic warmup, including cartwheels 😱, reminding people to keep things fun with your training.

The event was awesome! Everyone left with jello legs and lots of pointers to apply to future lifting sessions. EZ encouraged everyone to be open to trying new things and made the whole thing fun and interesting.

Along with loads of new knowledge, everyone who came to the seminar got a whole bunch of extras! Things like, a free month of EZ's online workouts, a 15% discount on anything from his website, and a special code to get a deal on some sweet shoes from Strike Movement. It was like getting a whole bunch of presents just for coming and learning!

Overall, the EZ Lifting Seminar was a great time and lots of fun was had. We can't wait to host more seminars at NC Open Gym.

What athletes said about the event

Had an awesome time. I don't recall ever having the Oly lifts broken down as good as EZ did this weekend. Looking forward to practicing and squatting it out. Gonna put that one to the test, I hear it fixeseverything

The EZ seminar was so awesome! I went in thinking I wouldn't learn much but I was left being much more knowledgeable in manydifferent aspects of weightlifting. Would 100% do it again and recommend any else to do it also. And obviously couldn't think of a better placeto host it than NC Open Gym!

The lift heavy often seminar with EZ Muhammad was a fresh and needed approach to the snatch and clean and jerk. EZ made the seminar fun while also instilling some great cues and feedback to progress both lifts. This wasn’t a quick fix seminar but instead one that will have continued impact in my weightlifting and CrossFit endeavors. EZ broke down each part of the lifts and how to progress them as well as how to address any limitations to each. The space, NC Open Gym, where the event was held was the perfect space. NCOG had clean facilities, nice equipment, and shower facilities. Definitely recommend both the seminar and checking out NCOG if you are traveling through the Asheville area.

The EZ seminar, took me back to the basics of my olympic lifts! He broke down each lift into many steps, showing us the importance of balance, momentum, and intention. EZ helped me build my confidence in my squat and taught me how to use the deep squat and stacked midline to complete profient lifts with solid form. The teacher in me was completely geeking out over EZ explaining to us how we can learn through play and to think like a child when it comes to liftingheavy!

As a CrossFitter of 10+ years who's been focusing more on Oly for the past six months, I found this seminar super valuable. It reinforced a lot of the things my programming currently contains, while also providing a unique perspective (EZ's basketball background naturally lent itself to a comparison between barbell snatching and the mechanics of simply jumping - not something I had considered before!). Themes of the day were positions, time under tension, positions, accumulating rep volume at submaximal loads, positions, stability, and did I mention positions? (I now sleep with a PVCpipe..

Here are a few images from the event

Photos of the event are the property of Jason De Los Santos -- @jason_dlsantos. Please tag him on social media if you post any of the photos. Photos cannot be modified, printed, used commercially, or otherwise used without the express written consent of the owner.

EZ Muhammad leading a lifting seminar at NC Open Gym