Author Archives: ss080075

Once a sport has hit the popularity mark among mainstream media, there is bound to be a wave of businesses that open up and or company partnerships that emerge to specifically cater to the new found target market. Whether it’s a movie that makes a sport more popular, such as Million Dollar Baby that inspired every 30 something year old woman trying to take boxing lessons or an athlete’s performance such as Michael Phelps’ gold medal record, there will be average Joes rushing to their nearby sports center to sign up for the next swim class. Even the dullest sports imaginable have become popular through mainstream hype like archery which has become popular because of the move The Hunger Games. So how does Olympic weightlifting allow mainstream markets to cash in?

Olympic weightlifting has trickled down onto gym rats in variations of intensity levels. For the serious athletes such as body builders, the training regimen, eat habits and workouts fall within a similar range of intensity. Body builders don’t just train because they think a type of sport is cool or fun, it is a way of life, and therefore the weightlifting regimen is a lifetime commitment for most.

For the workout junkie looking for the next high, the snatch and jerk and clean have become well known moves incorporated into the “CrossFit” workout. Cross-fit is an intense workout that spurned into a sport which some non-believers may say is the new “fad” workout. Cross-fit is a high intensity training workout that incorporates heart rate jacking cardio levels with Olympic style weightlifting in a timed segment with competitive incremental weight increases in every set.

The popularity of Olympic weightlifting has grown over the years with CrossFit gyms opening all over the country. The CrossFit gym was created back in 2000 and since then over 3400 affiliated gyms has been opened (according to Hartford Magazine’s article titled “The CrossFit Craze.”) where members are charged from $150 to $275 per month with the occasional Groupon or Living social deal for $50, which introduces the average Joe to the intense competitive workout routines of weightlifting athlete. The sky-high membership rates do give off the impression to a newbie that the gym may be well-scented and accommodating, when in fact it is not. Most CrossFit locations are in warehouses, garages or yards with basic needs for workouts, weights, chin-up bars, mats and jump ropes; so be prepared to bring your own water and sweat.

In NYC alone, there are at least 100 CrossFit locations with classes that cater to all types of crowds; athletes, students, military professionals all of which include a strong percentage of female participants. Weightlifting has become commercialized through CrossFit so much that throughout the years, in the male dominated sport, there has been a sharp increase in female participants and businesses have profited from the commercialization which is most noticeable in the number of female participants in the most recent CrossFit games. Although the CrossFit industry is fairly new in its budding, the analysis of overall profits is yet to be determined but with the increase in popularity based off of the Olympics and Reebok CrossFit games; weightlifting may be able to ride a long steady wave.

Once a sport has hit the popularity mark among mainstream media, there is bound to be a wave of businesses that open up and or company partnerships that emerge to specifically cater to the new found target market. Whether it’s a movie that makes a sport more popular, such as Million Dollar Baby that inspired every 30 something year old woman trying to take boxing lessons or an athlete’s performance such as Michael Phelps’ gold medal record, there will be average Joes rushing to their nearby sports center to sign up for the next swim class. Even the dullest sports imaginable have become popular through mainstream hype like archery which has become popular because of the move The Hunger Games. So how does Olympic weightlifting allow mainstream markets to cash in?

Olympic weightlifting has trickled down onto gym rats in variations of intensity levels. For the serious athletes such as body builders, the training regimen, eat habits and workouts fall within a similar range of intensity. Body builders don’t just train because they think a type of sport is cool or fun, it is a way of life, and therefore the weightlifting regimen is a lifetime commitment for most.

For the workout junkie looking for the next high, the snatch and jerk and clean have become well known moves incorporated into the “CrossFit” workout. Cross-fit is an intense workout that spurned into a sport which some non-believers may say is the new “fad” workout. Cross-fit is a high intensity training workout that incorporates heart rate jacking cardio levels with Olympic style weightlifting in a timed segment with competitive incremental weight increases in every set.

The popularity of Olympic weightlifting has grown over the years with CrossFit gyms opening all over the country. The CrossFit gym was created back in 2000 and since then over 3400 affiliated gyms has been opened (according to Hartford Magazine’s article titled “The CrossFit Craze.”) where members are charged from $150 to $275 per month with the occasional Groupon or Living social deal for $50, which introduces the average Joe to the intense competitive workout routines of weightlifting athlete. The sky-high membership rates do give off the impression to a newbie that the gym may be well-scented and accommodating, when in fact it is not. Most CrossFit locations are in warehouses, garages or yards with basic needs for workouts, weights, chin-up bars, mats and jump ropes; so be prepared to bring your own water and sweat.

In NYC alone, there are at least 100 CrossFit locations with classes that cater to all types of crowds; athletes, students, military professionals all of which include a strong percentage of female participants. Weightlifting has become commercialized through CrossFit so much that throughout the years, in the male dominated sport, there has been a sharp increase in female participants and businesses have profited from the commercialization which is most noticeable in the number of female participants in the most recent CrossFit games. Although the CrossFit industry is fairly new in its budding, the analysis of overall profits is yet to be determined but with the increase in popularity based off of the Olympics and Reebok CrossFit games; weightlifting may be able to ride a long steady wave.

Once a sport has hit the popularity mark among mainstream media, there is bound to be a wave of businesses that open up and or company partnerships that emerge to specifically cater to the new found target market. Whether it’s a movie that makes a sport more popular, such as Million Dollar Baby that inspired every 30 something year old woman trying to take boxing lessons or an athlete’s performance such as Michael Phelps’ gold medal record, there will be average Joes rushing to their nearby sports center to sign up for the next swim class. Even the dullest sports imaginable have become popular through mainstream hype like archery which has become popular because of the move The Hunger Games. So how does Olympic weightlifting allow mainstream markets to cash in?

Olympic weightlifting has trickled down onto gym rats in variations of intensity levels. For the serious athletes such as body builders, the training regimen, eat habits and workouts fall within a similar range of intensity. Body builders don’t just train because they think a type of sport is cool or fun, it is a way of life, and therefore the weightlifting regimen is a lifetime commitment for most.

For the workout junkie looking for the next high, the snatch and jerk and clean have become well known moves incorporated into the “CrossFit” workout. Cross-fit is an intense workout that spurned into a sport which some non-believers may say is the new “fad” workout. Cross-fit is a high intensity training workout that incorporates heart rate jacking cardio levels with Olympic style weightlifting in a timed segment with competitive incremental weight increases in every set.

The popularity of Olympic weightlifting has grown over the years with CrossFit gyms opening all over the country. The CrossFit gym was created back in 2000 and since then over 3400 affiliated gyms has been opened (according to Hartford Magazine’s article titled “The CrossFit Craze.”) where members are charged from $150 to $275 per month with the occasional Groupon or Living social deal for $50, which introduces the average Joe to the intense competitive workout routines of weightlifting athlete. The sky-high membership rates do give off the impression to a newbie that the gym may be well-scented and accommodating, when in fact it is not. Most CrossFit locations are in warehouses, garages or yards with basic needs for workouts, weights, chin-up bars, mats and jump ropes; so be prepared to bring your own water and sweat.

In NYC alone, there are at least 100 CrossFit locations with classes that cater to all types of crowds; athletes, students, military professionals all of which include a strong percentage of female participants. Weightlifting has become commercialized through CrossFit so much that throughout the years, in the male dominated sport, there has been a sharp increase in female participants and businesses have profited from the commercialization which is most noticeable in the number of female participants in the most recent CrossFit games. Although the CrossFit industry is fairly new in its budding, the analysis of overall profits is yet to be determined but with the increase in popularity based off of the Olympics and Reebok CrossFit games; weightlifting may be able to ride a long steady wave.

Ever since Holley Mangold appeared on MTV’s True-life series, “I’m a Big Girl”, her name and more notably her physique have become recognizable beyond cross fit gyms across the country. When you think of sheer power in weightlifting, you might think of a person with lean muscle mass, but not an obese 23 year old girl. Mangold is about 5’8 and weighs 350 lbs.; however her gender and size never stopped her from competing as a linebacker for her all male high school football team then competing alongside other top female athletes the Olympics as a weightlifter.

Mangold is not just famous for her athletic prowess herself; she is the younger sister of Jets player Nick Mangold. In her appearance on MTV’s True-life series, “I’m a Big Girl”, Holley compares herself to her brother and states her admiration for him which led to her wanting to play football at a very early age leading up until high school in Ohio.

Because Mangold could not be drafted like her brother onto a college football team after high school, Mangold’s position as an offensive lineman came to an end. But with all her strength to burn, she luckily was turned on to power weight lifting, in which she picked up pretty quickly. No pun intended. She trained hard at a local weight lifting gym, better known as a cross-fit gym, and became highly ranked among her peers. To prove that she was above the rest, Mangold then started competing nationally and then internationally. After being ranked nationally as one of the best female power lifters her notoriety grew and so did her competitiveness. She soon became interested in competing for a spot in the 2012 Olympics.

Before becoming an Olympic contender, Mangold competed in the following competitions and placed high in the rankings:

Jr. National Champion 2008 total: 185 kilos
Jr. World Team Member in 2008 and 2009
– 2008 6th place total: 170 kilos
– 2009 9th place total: 197 kilos
Pan American Championships
– 2010 8th place total: 210 kilos
American Open Champion 2009 and 2011
– 2009 Total: 220 kilos
– 2011 Total: 249 kilos

It was at the 2012 Olympic trials at the Arnold weightlifting Championships otherwise known as the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus Ohio that Mangold was given a shot at the Olympics. The Arnold Sports Festival, named after one-time weight lifting champion, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and hosts popular weightlifting competitions every year.  For the first time in March, the festival which is also run by the Columbus weightlifting club where Mangold trained, successfully hosted the Olympic trials.

Mangold’s larger than life physique and attitude has awarded her the attention she needed to garner hype before the Olympics, but will her size do her more harm than good? She is one out of two female lifters over 300lbs and like most athletes in weightlifting, she has sustained major injuries such as torn cartilage in her right knee, a torn tendon in her right hand.

Ever since Holley Mangold appeared on MTV’s Truelife series, “I’m a Big Girl”, her name and more notably her physique have become recognizable in crossfit gyms across the country. When you think of sheer power in weightlifting, you might think of a man with lean muscle mass, not an obese 23 year old girl. Mangold is about 5’8 and weighs 350 lbs, however her gender and size never stopped her from competing as a linebacker for her all male high school football team then competing alongside other top female athletes the olympics as a power weightlifter.