Heidi E.
Heidi is a wildland firefighter and is the first woman to conquer the notoriously challenging Boise Smokejumper Training Camp in over a decade. She was Fritz's first great professional success. She approached Fritz six months before her THIRD attempt at Smokejumper rookie training camp, a 5-week ordeal similar in physical and psychological demands to military special warfare training. There are almost no females in this field because the physiological barriers to entry are extreme, and the psychological barriers are worse. Heidi had failed this specific training camp twice in the past two years, so she came to Fritz armed with exactly what she needed to be able to do. It was a laundry list of crazy shit:
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Must be able to run a half-marathon on a whim
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Must be able to sprint fast
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Must be able to carry a 110 lb pack 3 miles in under 60 minutes (Heidi weighed about 120 lbs at the time)
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Must be able to conquer the minimum PT requirements for:
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Pull-ups
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Push-ups
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Sit-ups
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1.5 mile run
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Pack Carry
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Must be able to hike for hours with a 40-70 lb Cubee
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Must be able to cut fire line with a Pulaski for hours
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Must be able to climb multiple flights of stairs with 80+ lbs of gear
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Must be able to recite and execute complicated parachute jump sequences while fatigued and mentally drained
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Must be strong enough to withstand hard impacts from parachute jumps
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Must be mentally strong enough to make it through the hellish conditions of camp
*** This is a small portion of her initial list
Here’s what she had to say about their first season working together:
“Fritz’s experience and knowledge, personal drive, motivation, discipline, positivity, competency, confidence and empathy clearly carry over to his passion for creatively and successfully training athletes of a varied sort. Fritz previously coached me at a CrossFit gym and when I heard from a friend of mine who was training with him for strongwoman competitions, I knew he was the one to help me succeed in something I had failed in twice. His diverse coaching and training experience, education, work ethic (he worked just as hard, if not harder than I did), attention to detail, and the want for his athletes to succeed just as much as they do was a driving force in my personal success. Being his athlete is not an easy feat. He really gets to know his athletes and push them waaaaaaay past the limits they thought they had but the rewards are PRICELESS.”
She continues,
“Thank you for preparing and developing my body and mind to succeed in something not believed possible by many!! I will continue to follow your coaching lead as I progress throughout my career to maintain and improve my physical prowess needed to do the job of a wildland firefighter and continue to inspire others that they can do it too. I speak highly of you and refer you to rookie candidates!”
Chad L.
Over the course of one year, Fritz coached Chad Latka from a novice weightlifter to a seasoned competitor! He qualified and competed at the University National Olympic Weightlifting Championships in Ogden, Utah. When he was stepping on the stage for his last clean and jerk attempt, he asked Fritz to smack him on the back to prepare him for the lift. He did so, and almost knocked him off the platform! Here's what he has to say about their time together:
"I can attest that having the presence of Fritz in your life will make you want to train harder, eat better, move more efficiently, and reach your goals inside and outside the gym. Overall a really fantastic coach that is incredibly intelligent and will get you stronger doing things you never knew you were able or wanted to do."
Cortney M.
Fritz coached Cortney for many years. Recently, she heard that Fritz was online coaching from San Diego and wanted in! Here is her feedback:
“I love how you check in with me a couple times each week! Even if I lag on my responses, I always appreciate knowing that you are watching my progress.”
She continues:
“Your programming did wonders for me years ago and working with you again is making me remember how much of a coaching genius you truly are. If anyone ever has any reservations because they think the results are not coming quick enough, all they need to remember is: Trust the Process.”
Anant M.
Anant, a Medical Physicist by profession, is an amateur adventure racer who came seeking a better solution to training for ALL of the necessary skills to be a successful adventure racer! Here's what he has to say about working with Fritz:
"Da Vinci was born to create excellent paintings. Mozart was born to create excellent music. Fritz was born to provide excellent strength training!! He is the most amazing guy I ever met in my life. One smile from Fritz...and you already feel that you are strong. He takes his work very seriously and he is a wonderful teacher. He understands other people’s strength and weakness and tailors the training accordingly. He is very patient with people. I never worked out in my life before. Fritz's program helped me gain a lot of strength and gain confidence in lifting!"
Sierra B.
Sierra is an absolute badass. She was the second female smoke jumper that Fritz helped successfully smash through a 5-week block of rookie training. She came to Fritz as a seasoned ultrarunner, so he often had to teach her to do less, suprisingly. She could handle marathon-plus length runs in training, but her upper body strength and other Smokejumper-specific tasks were weaker, so they focused on her problem areas (PT TEST movements: pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups) while maintaining her strongest areas as much as possible. Overall, she crushed rookie camp! Here's what she has to say about working together:
"Working with Fritz really helps me to have a plan and have someone to check in with on a weekly or even daily basis. I stay on top of my workouts. I needed help with my strength and speed, but I also needed a plan to keep me in check so I didn’t overtrain.....something I could easily do. It’s really hard to train for something so challenging all alone... especially if I wasn't keeping track of progress or obstacles. Having Fritz is very helpful with holding me accountable and it was also great to be able to call him and talk when I had discouraging workouts!"
Jeff S.
Jeff is a minister who rides a Harley. He was also Fritz's bar tender for many years, and eventually was the officiant at his wedding! Jeff is a beer expert and also has experience as an actor. He was coached by Fritz for many years. Here is what he has to say:
"Fritz has an incredible knowledge base. Not only for athletic training, but for nutrition as well. I highly recommend Fritz Programming. Fritz has amazing knowledge for clients, but also lives it out himself. I have zero doubt that anybody following the Fritz Program will achieve their fitness goals."
Jason R.
Jason Ravel is a Body Mechanics Therapist in Redlands, California (https://raveltherapy.com/). Fritz had the pleasure of coaching him for a short time, and was also a client of Ravel's. Here is what Jason has to say:
"Fritz is hands down the best trainer I've ever met. I struggled with efficient box jumps at crossfit for years. Other trainers helped me to improve my box jump but it always remained a move that I was inefficient at and that I dreaded. After a couple of sessions with Fritz I couldn't believe how wrong I had been doing it for so long and how easy I was able to execute them. Many of my own clients also go to him for training and I have NEVER heard a single derogatory remark or a single complaint. Only praise. Thanks Fritz!
Fritz has an unbelievable amount of education, training, and experience. He should be training pro and Olympic athletes. No hyperbole."