Lift like an Olympian at CTF

With the Winter Olympics around the corner, all eyes are on Russia. If you want to get a taste of the podium, peel your eyes away from the TV and step into a CrossTown Fitness for an olympic lifting workout with CTF certified trainer Michael Mendoza.

Michael is a huge advocate of Olympic lifts, which he says help to get his clients “more explosive, stronger, leaner, and quicker.”

Whether you’re taking his total body class or something more focused on lifting, Michael likes to incorporate elements of Olympic lifting “for functional fitness because it gets everyone to where [he] thinks they need to be.”

One of those functional fitness benefits is strengthening areas of the body that may have been neglected. He says “a lot of the population has weak hips, so addressing that issue will improve quality of life.”

He doesn’t want ladies to feel intimidated by the barbell. He says, “if you do olympic lifting right … you’re not going to get bulky if you don’t go heavy that way.”

CrossTown Fitness client Kelly Patterson, pictured below demonstrating some of the featured lifts from the Olympic lifting class, talked about the changes she’s seen in her body in the two months she’s been lifting. “I’ve gotten a lot more toned, I’ve never really had this kind of strength before.”

When: February 7 through 23. Class times vary in the morning, afternoon and evening.

RSVP: Classes can be booked through CrossTown Fitness’ online scheduling center.

Price: $25 per class, but it’s also included in unlimited memberships

Clean:

Jerk:

Snatch:

Dead lift:

Front squat: