Rolling With It

It's a new year, and as we see messages of "seek to find meaning, not happiness," floating around social media, I know we're all thinking "Ah, yes that makes sense, because if you find meaning, happiness is likely going to come along for the ride." In founding RistRoller with Jade, I was able to connect to purpose more deeply. That tagline "feel awesome, do awesome," is really an extension of my life's purpose: helping others feel awesome so they can do awesome ties into my sense of purpose which is to help others claim wellness. (And no, "Others" is not a reference to LOST, though I suppose it is now, now that I capitalized the O. "Others" is meant to include more than just humans.)

A decade ago, a Men’s Health article caught the eyes of retired federal agent Mario Dispenza, who was, at the time, looking for something new in training. Having been active with cardio and weights all his life, he was drawn to the claim “the greatest workout known to man,” so he picked up their piece about Olympic Weightlifting. Mario found the  sport to be quite captivating, and the article spurred him to find a local USAW coach. Soon he was hooked.

Olympic Weightlifting is about sport: the bar is lifted overhead in a fast, explosive movement. Body mechanics are key. Olympic Weightlifters train to become more efficient with the bar, to better harness their strength and grow their personal records (PR’s).  In the sport of Olympic weightlifting, there are two lifts: the snatch and the clean and jerk.  The snatch is performed with a wide grip.  The bar is lifted overhead in one single motion.