Altar of iron and sweat

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

By Ben Cannon

“Did you see that hill when you were coming up here?” asked Rob Shaul. It was the quick, almost hyena-like chortle following the question that — paired with Rob’s intense but friendly eyes — might make someone who did not know him a little uneasy.

By that quirky mannerism, Rob implies that he is laughing at pain and challenge, a couple of concepts he ideologically embraces as a cornerstone for self-betterment. And now he is bringing that same attitude toward strength and conditioning instruction in Jackson Hole.

This week, Rob, who commutes from his home in Pinedale, opened the doors of Mountain Athlete, a training center that will approach fitness unlike any gym operating between here and Salt Lake City.

“Want to lose weight? We don’t care,” quips his Web site. “Want to build muscle for the beach? Lift somewhere else. Want a six-pack of abs? Don’t even ask.”

One probably could approach these sexy goals under the instruction of the former Coast Guard officer turned newspaper publisher (he sold the Pinedale Roundup last August), just don’t bring it up with him.

For the last two years, Rob has trained “athletes” (he gives anyone who trains with him that moniker of respect) in Pinedale. People ranging from the proverbial soccer mom to high school football players have worked out under his direction.

“I’m not an appearance coach, I’m a performance guy,” said Rob as he took a moment from tidying the rather spartan space that boasts a couple of rowing machines, stacks of weight plates, dumbbells, pull up bars, and, somewhat conspicuously for a weight room, no mirrors.

Rob, who considers himself a “strength and conditioning coach,” is certified as a specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and is a recognized performance coach through the U.S. Weightlifting Association.

Unlike a more conventional gym with its wide open door policy, Rob conceived Mountain Athlete as “a physical space and an idea,” that focuses on training sessions for small groups and individuals.

In what he calls a “hybrid approach to strength and conditioning,” Rob may have his athletes work on raw strength through the use of free weights during one session, and the next build endurance on a rowing machine or sprinting up a hill (like the one he eyed in front of Mountain Athlete, located south of Jackson near the new climbing gym).

So, unlike a typical gym, joining Rob’s private “Altar of Iron and Sweat,” as he has called it, entails not only access to equipment and space, but more distinctly, the programming he culls from varied approaches to and philosophies of weight training and conditioning. “Coaching is a craft,” he said. “You’re always learning.”

“I don’t care who you are or what you look like,” he said. He is also fond of saying that many of his best athletes were often picked last for teams in high school. While probably not an entirely true statement, it sounds good and conveys an element of triumph and redemption that anyone with the right amount of drive can reach for. This would seem to be an ideal Rob has clung to for some time: he claims that for most of his young life he spent Saturday nights working out.

He offers that his way is also a path to mental toughness — a heady push beyond what one would have expected of self.

At Mountain Athlete, Rob is striving to engender a culture that is usually found in  a collegiate sports team weight room. “We’re going to work hard but we’re going to have fun and bang some weights around and maybe play some loud music,” he said.  “Lifting heavy weights is fun. We’re getting back to our roots; to the tradition and spirit of a weight room.”

Mountain Athlete is offering an introductory special of either two weeks of training or six sessions – whichever comes first – at no cost for anyone interested  More information can be found online at www.mtnathlete.com or call Rob at 307-360-6825.
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Altar of iron and sweat | Planet JH News Article: Business

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