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Columbus Weightlifting Club, Inc.

Columbus Weightlifting Club (CWLC), an Ohio-based 501(c)3 corporation and  recognized weightlifting club within USA Weightlifting, was founded in 1999 to provide coaching services, training facilities, and other benefits to eligible athletes. The Arnold Weightlifting Championships (The Arnold) has been held annually since 2003. Having begun as a local competition, the Arnold is now recognized as one of the world’s premier international invitational weightlifting competitions.

CWLC, led by President and Head Coach Mark Cannella, is proud to have hosted the Arnold since the competition’s inception nearly a decade ago. Since 2003, CWLC and its partners have awarded nearly $150,000 to the competition’s top finishers in the form of cash, prizes, and scholarships. CWLC is excited and tremendously proud to have the honor of hosting both the 2012 National Weightlifting Championships as well as the 2012 Olympic Team Trials on behalf of USA Weightlifting at this year’s Arnold.

We teach explosion through the Olympic Lifts. Contact us and find out how.

Please contact Head Coach Mark Cannella at 
info@columbusweightlifting.org or 614-832-2757.

Our home is at Endeavor Defense and Fitness – 5040 Nike Dr. Suite D, Hilliard, OH 43026

What is Olympic Weightlifting?
As one of the original sports contested in the first modern 1896 Olympic Games, Weightlifting is now one of the most popular Olympic Sports internationally. Olympic Weightlifting in the US is experiencing phenomenal growth, both as a competitive sport, and as the premier explosive training for other sports, most notably Football.In this sport, two lifts are contested where the primary goal is to lift the weight from the floor to an overhead position. The first lift is the SNATCH where the bar is lifted overhead in one continuous movement. The CLEAN & JERK is first lifted from the floor to the chest, and then in a separate movement, jerked overhead. In both lifts, explosiveness and strength make them the most powerful human movements in all of sport.

Weightlifting is the ultimate sport; it requires explosive power, technique, coordination, balance, flexibility and mental focus.