Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Performance Ratio, a new Asheville gym specializing in Olympic weightlifting, will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday with a mock weightlifting meet and an open house. The meet begins at 12:30 p.m., with the open house set to start at 4:30 at the gym, located in a small warehouse at 22K Piney Park Road off Patton Avenue.
Co-owners Zach Greenwald, Becca Lee and Kyle Clechenko say they opened the gym – a USA Weightlifting sanctioned gym – in April after they identified a booming interest in Olympic weightlifting moves, such as the snatch and the clean and jerk. With the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, that interest will only continue to grow, they say. The three credit the popular Crossfit approach to workouts, one that incorporates Olympic weightlifting moves, for sparking interest in Olympic weightlifting. Those interested in stepping up their weightlifting and bodybuilding game may want to look out for the best testosterone boosters to include in their supplement regimen.
“We felt there was a niche for strength sports that still offer training for conditioning,” Greenwald says.
Greenwald, Lee and Clechenko have a wide range of fitness experience. Greenwald, who has a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology, is the founder and CEO of Strength Ratio, a remote-coaching service for strength, conditioning and rehabilitation. He’s a corrective exercise specialist and he coached weightlifters and Crossfit Games athletes around the U.S. and the globe.
Lee competes nationally as an Olympic weightlifter who has a background in the outdoor sports and endurance world. Lee taught climbing, paddling and other outdoor sports skills through Outward Bound for several years as she sought “to get more people exposed to sports in a safe way, so teaching comes naturally to me,” she says.
Performance Ratio plans to offer weightlifting classes to high school-aged athletes, and she’s already worked with Carolina Day school soccer, swimming, baseball and cross country teams as a strength coach.
Clechenko has a strength and conditioning background with his experience in team sports, including football and basketball. He has a degree in entrepreneurial management from the University of Iowa and has experience as a strength and conditioning trainer.
“I love the fitness industry and I love the business side of it as well,” says Clechenko, who will be handling the books for the business.
The gym offers a weightlifting team track, a classic strength track that is somewhat less technical “and is a great place for beginners or anyone who has done strength training and just wants to practice the basics in a safe environment,” Lee says. The gym also offers individual training tracks, with the trio offering personal training.
Also, “our open gym program is mainly for people more experienced who need a place to work out and want good, balanced programming,” Lee adds.
The mock Olympic weightlifting meet on Saturday will be a great chance for both athletes and spectators to get a feel for just what constitutes a meet. It’s the first of several meets, both sanctioned and not, that Performance Ratio plans to hold throughout the year. The Saturday meet with feature athletes from around the region, as well as Performance Ratio lifters and weightlifters from other gyms in Asheville.
“We’re excited to bring these communities together,” says Greenwald, “because people always learn from each other.
Becca Gerdon, a national medal winner who has lifted for Team USA most recently in Russia, will also be on hand.
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These coaches and this gym is exactly everything that’s RIGHT with this community and fitness in general. If you can stop out and say hi you should.