Lion’s Den/ Way of the barbell
DISCOVER THE JOY OF Olympic WEIGHTLIFTING
Justin is one of the most popular coaches in Toronto and has quickly grown to establish a reputation for caring coaching and delivering great results for all levels of our membership from beginner to competitive. He's a National Level Olympic Weightlifter, who has studied under some of the best coaches including Alex Varbanov.
He's a leader, and is currently mentoring some of our young coaches and apprentices to follow in his footsteps and the other great coaches at Academy. The Way of the Barbell classes are the Olympic Lifting focused programs to help athletes learn the skills and techniques needed to apply to the barbell. Opened to all levels, these classes are perfect for those looking to better understand the sport and techniques to get more comfortable under the bar.
The Lions Den Weightlifting classes are Justin’s more dedicated Olympic Lifting program designed to apply more volume of training over a 2-hour training session. These classes spread the focus of movements for Oly lifting to better train athletes in understanding technique. These classes are opened to all levels as well!
Way of the Barbell classes run Monday/Wednesday/Friday 4:30pm-5:30pm
Lions Den Weightlifting classes run Monday/Wednesday/Friday 5:30pm-7:30pm
Lions Den Weightlifting Team
Starting May 2025, Coach Justin will be providing dedicated training focuses for athletes looking to compete on a regular basis under the Lions Den Weightlifting Team. Those looking to compete will have separate memberships and benefits from regular memberships.
Those interested in the weightlifting team will need to look at the descriptions and details of the membership options and fill out the form below.
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● Access to Coach J via team group chat and direct
message for all weightlifting inquiries.
● Help navigating the OWA (Ontario Weightlifting
Association). This includes registration, competition
schedule, creating a YTP (Yearly Training Plan) aimed at
a specific goal, and competition coaching at the venue
on the day of competition.
● Remote coaching with up to 10 videos per training
session for video analysis.
● Subject to a discounted drop-in fee of $15 if they wish to
attend a class.
● Personally tailored weightlifting programming to address
your specific weaknesses and/or competition schedule.
● Free access to Lions Liftoff (in-house Olympic
weightlifting competition).
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● Everything from the above section+
● Automatic enrollment in any and all Lions Den
weightlifting sessions (3 sessions weekly), with waitlist
exemption.
● Free access to open gym time at Academy of Lions,
should you need to perform the session outside of
classes (in which case video analysis is available to
ensure coaching standards are met).
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● Everything from the above section+
● Ability to also attend other Academy of Lions class
offerings outside of Lions Den Weightlifting classes.