The Man Behind The Barbell
Get To Know Jon North By: Lauryn Lax This past weekend, FloElite brought you coverage of Professional Weightlifter Jon North taking center stage at the weightlifting expo in Las Vegas, promoting the upcoming Grand Open of the American Weightlifting Federation (AWF), a new weightlifting league projected to take the sport of weightlifting to another level. The AWF officially kicks off Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, January 16-18, 2015. The Federation is a dream, come true, for North, an Arnold Championship Winner, who has competing in the sport of weightlifting for the past seven years. North was inspired to create the AWF in order to offer athletes in America options in the world of barbells. “Until now, there has only been one federation for the sport of weightlifting in the United States, which is rare for Olympic sports. Almost every Olympic sport in America has multiple federations, and with weightlifting being one of the oldest Olympic sports in the world, we think it is time for it to grow,” North said. Get to know a little bit more about the man behind the AWF. Name: Jon North Age: 28 Title: Co-Founder of The Attitude Nation, Inc. Founder of American Weightlifting Federation Professional Weightlifter Weightlifting / Strength & Conditioning Coach Hometown: I currently live in Lake Shastina, CA with my wife, 3 dogs and unborn baby. However, I was born in Dallas, TX, and was raised the majority of my life in Eugene, OR. Q. How did you first get into weightlifting itself and how did you originally get into competing? A. I competed in my first weightlifting meet in 2007. Before that, I played football for College of the Siskiyous, where I am now currently the strength and conditioning coach. I always enjoyed the weight room more than I did the field. I was naturally drawn to the atmosphere of the gym. Not only did I work out in the gym for football, but I focused a lot on bodybuilding during that time as well. For anyone that has taken an Attitude Nation Seminar, they know that bodybuilding saved me, and led me to my love for weightlifting. After ending my football career due to too many concussions, my strength and conditioning coach at the time, Tim Frisbee, encouraged me to focus on weightlifting as my sport. Coach Frisbee told me that Sacramento State University had a weightlifting team, and I enrolled in school at Sac State the following semester to be a part of that team. Sac State was my first introduction to weightlifting as a sport. The first day I joined practice, I saw a poster advertising Weightlifting Nationals. Immediately upon seeing that poster, qualifying for Nationals and becoming a National Champion became my number one goal, and the rest is history. Q. You are the number one lifter in the U.S.—That’s some hard work! Tell me about the work and time that goes into that? What does your daily training look like? A. At many points in my career I have been number one, however, that is always changing. I have dedicated my life to weightlifting, my career and The Attitude Nation. Words cannot quite express the work that it has taken. Being a weightlifter is truly a lifestyle. Being that I no longer compete in USA Weightlifting sanctioned meets, only American Weightlifting Federation meets, my new goal is to be number one in the AWF. My daily training fluctuates based on how far away I am from a meet. With the 2015 Grand Open approaching, I am currently focusing on a Bulgarian style training method from now until the competition. In short, I am focusing on Snatch, Clean & Jerk, and Squat to maximum every training session. I have eliminated things like complexes and accessory work from my work outs for the time being. I complete many waves in my training sessions though, in which I work up to a max, drop down in weight, and work up again multiple times, all in an effort to achieve the highest maximum I can for the day. This takes not only physical strength, but mental strength as well. The perfect combination for meet preparation. In addition to weightlifting, I am doing bodybuilding work outs a few days a week as well. I have always been torn between my two loves of weightlifting and bodybuilding. For a long time, I thought that I had to pick only one. However, I have been finding a lot of new success in doing both, and it is really benefiting my training. Q. What are you looking most forward to for the 2015 AWF Grand Open? A. I am most looking forward to getting to know the Las Vegas community and building relationships. We (the AWF) want Las Vegas to be a main location for our biggest events of the Federation, and by traveling and lifting at local gyms here in Las Vegas as part of our expo, I was able to connect and get to know the community better. Since this expo weekend was all about promotion for the 2015 Grand Open, it was impossible to not be excited about it. I want the 2015 Grand Open to be the best weightlifting event in America! This past weekend was all about fine tuning the details to make that happen, from lifting at local gyms, to touring the Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino, to mapping out the layout of the venue. It is all incredible (that this is actually happening). Q. What are your current personal career goals, physical goals and visions? A. At this point in my career, I just want to build the American Weightlifting Federation to be as incredible as I envision it to be, continue to grow The Attitude Nation philosophy, and lift has much weight as possible. I want to be free to express myself on and off the platform, and reach my true physical potential, while making those same things possible for every weightlifter in America.
Nov 25, 2014
