Scott Thiele

CrossFit Coach & Owner

I was a 3-sport athlete in high school & was pretty successful. Like most high school jocks, I thought I was a badass. To prove it, I joined the Marine Corps & went to boot camp right after graduation, where I proudly served my country in the Marine Corps Reserve for 6 years.

In my 1st year of college I walked on to the wrestling team at the University of Wisconsin Platteville. That first few months of conditioning was intense & closely resembled CrossFit’s style of training; a lot of circuits mixed with running/jumping/crawling up & down the stairs of the football stadium.

Looking back, I enjoyed the training more than I enjoyed the wrestling. After two years of being a practice dummy & injuries to both of my shoulders, I decided I was done with wrestling & with Wisconsin in general. 

I headed west to California. I finished my degree in Mechanical Engineering at San Diego State & while in school, I picked up a few new hobbies. I played rugby for 3 years, became a respectable surfer, competed in wakeboarding, started rock climbing & unfortunately, started to race motocross. I say unfortunately because a slew of injuries came from my love of dirt bikes (broken humorous, torn ACL, broken knee cap, displaced pelvis, broken wrist, dislocated shoulder & a concussion to round it all off). I never thought I would run again after the knee injuries, but within two months of CrossFit I was back to running & loving it.

I heard about CrossFit through a friend at work. He was talking about this new gym he joined & how intense it was. It appealed to me. At the time I was working out at a boxing gym during my lunch breaks & I was becoming bored of the workouts, not to mention the lack of results. So I figured a change would be good. 

With a quick search online I found a garage gym in my neighborhood & signed up for the free Saturday introduction class. I met Pete who is owns CrossFit Forest for my first introduction to the community. He explained the basic principles to me & coached me thru air squats & other basic movements. Then, it was on to the baseline ladder consisting of a 500m row, 40 air squats, 30 sit-ups, 20 push-ups, 10 chin-ups & then back up the ladder.

I finished just under 18 minutes & dropped to the floor. Feeling completely chewed up & spit out I got into my car & drove home wondering what just happened to me. I walked up to my front door put in my key, then turned around & puked all over the front steps. For some sick & twisted reason I was hooked from that moment on. I knew that I was on a path back to my former self. See, after college I became the stereotypical desk jockey. I gained a couple extra pounds every year until what was once a 155 lb athlete became a 205 lb slob.

In my 8 years of sitting behind a desk, I became depressed & turned to alcohol to deal with my existence. Things didn’t look so bad from the outside; I was making good money, was able to buy a big house, & got married. However; things aren’t always what they seem.

I would have probably continued on the corporate professional path, but in late 2009 my best friend was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer & passed away at the end of July 2010. The loss of my friend really made me reflect on my life. I realized that I had truly lost myself & to get that back I needed to pursue my passions.

So after much personal reflection, I realized that my job was sucking the life out of me. Working a 10 to 12-hour day & commuting another 2 ½ hours. The only time I felt truly alive was after a WOD, lying on the ground. So I graciously resigned from my position in the LA rat race to slow things down & move back to Wisconsin for the simple life.

Since October 2010, I have made many positive changes & a big part of that has to do with CrossFit. I stopped drinking alcohol excessively, eat a healthy Paleo diet, dropped a lot of excess weight (40 lbs to date), quit the job that was making me miserable & overall just live my life to the fullest. To me, CrossFit was a new beginning in my life. It has helped me realize what I truly value & gave me the strength to pursue it by allowing me the opportunity to push my physical & mental limits.

I have been involved with CrossFit Forrest in Lake Forrest California since August 2010 & helped with the transition from a garage gym to a warehouse space at the beginning of 2011.

In California I had the opportunity to work out on a consistent basis, however, when I moved back to Wisconsin, I found it hard to make the drive to the closest box in Rockford. I tried to do some CrossFit WODs at the Y, but between the lack of CF-friendly equipment & getting hassled for performing overhead squats, I decided to invest in my own equipment. Fortunately, I had access to a large garage space. So, I set up a CrossFit Box of my own. During that process, I got a lot of interest in what I was doing from my family & friends, so I thought it would be best to get CrossFit certified before I started training others.

I got my level 1 certificate on January 23, 2011, and officially opened CrossFit Beloit in May of 2011. I really enjoy building the CrossFit Community here. To me, CrossFit is about the camaraderie developed working through the pain of a WOD along the side of your peers. Being part of that greatly drives & inspires me. The Mission Of CrossFit Beloit is to create a community dedicated to improving overall health & helping people achieve their goals, whether it be to lose weight or become a games competitor.

Favorite Quote

"Just move faster & rest less!"

Certifications/Trainings
• CrossFit Level 1
• CrossFit Coaches Prep Course
• Strength-Specific Olympic Weightlifting Seminar
• CrossFit Olympic Lifting Trainer
• Freestyle Connections Movement Seminar
• Superior Athletics Olympic Lifting Seminar
• Mobility WOD Seminar
• Outlaw Doomsday Camp
• First Aid/CPR Certified

B.S. Mechanical Engineering (you may not think this applies much but the human body is an impressive mechanical system that can express amazing amounts of force when used correctly)

What are your personal CrossFit goals?

Qualify & compete in the Granite Games
5 Free Standing Hand Stand Push Ups
Host a CrossFit Throw Down at CrossFit Beloit
Deadlift 500 lbs, Clean & Jerk 300 lbs, Snatch 235 lbs

Favorite WOD?

The Seven.  It has about every difficult movement and it seems as though it will never end.

Favorite lift?

The Clean & Jerk.  This lift is a combination of brute strength mixed with a lot of technique.  

Least favorite WOD?

Every one of them.  I am always nervous prior to the 3-2-1-GO!

Least favorite lift?

Anything light weight with a lot of them.  I like heavy!

PRs

My sub-3 minute Fran. I am proud of this just because my first Fran time was in the 8 minute range. It proves CrossFit really does increase your work capacity...I was able to do the same amount of work 5 minutes faster & that improvement was achieved in less than a year!

I am also working on my Olympic Lifting a lot.  I PR'ed recently in both my Clean & Jerk @ 280 lbs and my Snatch @ 215 lbs.

Watch Scott ANNIHILATE Fran in 2 minutes & 26 seconds!

Scott's Fran from Scott Thiele on Vimeo.