October AOTM: Suzanna Jack
When Suzanna (she/her) joined Solcana in October 2023 (3 years ago!!!), she was a complete beginner to strength training and Olympic weightlifting. She had a very specific reason for getting started: sailing.
Suzanna spends her summers racing big boats, and she wanted to build the strength needed to handle bigger, faster boats. Sailing also requires a strong core for hiking, power in your arms for pulling in lines, and good balance to stay upright on boats.
“I joined for a specific reason—I’m a sailor, and I race on big boats during the summer, and I wanted to build strength for racing,” Suzanna says. “I thought strength training would better prepare me for sailing on bigger and faster boats, and I was right!”
From the beginning, Suzanna loved the atmosphere at Solcana. She appreciated the multigenerational classes and "that the vibe was warm but serious about safety and lifting well".
"Ugh what a sweet and delicious soul she has. I was her EmPower coach back at the old place and she always came in with the brightest energy at 7am. It was due to Suzanna I was able to muster the energy to coach so early! Her energy is contagious." -Coach Neesh
"I am OBSESSED with Suzanna! She is a shining bright ember of warm and welcoming energy, making any class she joins so much better." Coach Anna
For someone who had never belonged to a gym for more than two months, becoming a habitual at 7 a.m. Group Fitness attendee has been huge. "I love the structure and routine it adds to my day,” she says. “I only feel better after I finish a class.”
Suzanna isn't particularly a PR-driven lifter and doesn't know if she'll ever be. She loves consistency and slow progress towards feeling more comfortable doing lifts.
One of her favorite Solcana lessons or "solcana-ism" is “keeping yourself organized" i.e.: arranging your body underneath your weights so that a lift is clean and evenly distributed across your body. She’s put that idea into practice with her two favorite lifts: bench press and back squat.
"Suzanna is such a bright light in the gym and the world. AND, she has committed so hard to a practice of movement and strength and made truly inspiring progress. We often reflect on where she started and where she is now and she is a very good example of what can be done with patience, intention and a lot of hard work. She is a great athlete to coach and a really fun workout partner. I'm so glad Suanna has continued to make Solcana her workout home." -Coach Ferderber
Suzanna brings such great energy to the gym! She's diligent about moving with intention and committed to letting quality dictate her progression. She's self aware, celebrates her own growth, and generally just makes the gym a fun, positive space. She's a star! -Coach Rachel
She has spent a lot of time working on her squat depth, form, and ability to stay upright, and she’s become pretty impressed with just how much power her legs can produce. "The amount of power in your legs is crazy!”, she shares. Her bench press has also come a long way. When Suzanna started at Solcana, she couldn’t bench the 35-pound bar. Now she consistently benches 75+ pounds, which is a huge accomplishment!!
There is, however, one lift where Suzanna has drawn a firm line. “You will NEVER catch me doing a deadlift. I hate them <3 with love and light to the deadlift community.”
Outside the gym, Suzanna is deeply committed to Minneapolis and she has some very specific geographic opinions. “I am a self-described Uptown truther. God’s country is between Franklin and Lake Street. I said what I said!!!”
During the summer, you can usually find her sailing and racing C Scows on Bde Maka Ska. She also serves year-round on the Board of Directors of the Minneapolis Sailing Center. One of her favorite things to hear is, “You taught me how to sail.” “Because I honestly probably did,” she says.
"omggggg i love Suzanna! Such a cool cat and so fun to be around!! I appreciate her tiny finger waves when we pass by each other between classes!!" -Coach Cate
"Suzanna is an absolute joy to have in the class… Her smile and her attitude bring a vibe that I loveeee. She is open to any and all feedback back which makes coaching her so fun..I love Suzanna and so happy that she is a part of Solcana" -Coach Sonal
When she’s not sailing, Suzanna likes reading, biking around the city with friends, cooking in her weird and tiny kitchen, and recently, knitting. She’s also been reconsidering a couple of assumptions she had about herself in her late 20s which are that "I don’t care about sports (I <3 the Timberwolves and Lynx, along with my OG Boston Red Sox) and that I don’t like board games".
Suzanna is also proud to share that: “I have #influenced three people to join EmPower and no one is safe from my spiel,” Suzanna says. “You’re next!!!!” Consider yourself warned.
Thanks Suzanna for being such an amazing and kind spirit in all of our classes and showing the ropes to all the people you've influenced to join us! You'll have to be the captain of the Solcana boat if we ever go on a gym voyage 😀.
