Chris Amenta
The founder and visionary of SoCal Weightlifting, Chris founded his weightlifting club in Long Beach in 2014.
Like a lot of weightlifters, Chris was introduced to Olympic Weightlifting through CrossFit. In order to gain his strength back from getting a bad case of rhabdomyolysis in 2012 from Memorial Day Murph - a week in the hospital was no joke - he turned to Olympic Weightlifting and begged Bob Takano to take him on as an athlete. Eventually, Chris wanted to start his own club and he did, with Kody Robison being his first athlete. Chris envisioned a large weightlifting gym that helped hundreds of athletes grow in the sport and has been working to develop athletes at SoCal Weightlifting with his wife, Sarah, ever since.
Chris is a National Level Coach who has taken athletes to Youth Worlds, University Worlds, Pan Ams, and Nationals. He is also the elected President of the California South Weightlifting State Organization, the local governing body for USA Weightlifting in Southern California and a USAW Level 1 Course Instructor.
Podcast’s Chris has been on
Philosophical Weightlifting
Episode 156: From Sport Science to Practice - May 26, 2022
Episode 140: Building a Weightlifting Legacy - December 30, 2021
USAW The Podcast
The Onyx Interview - October 17, 2020
The How and Why of Using Lifting Straps - February 26, 2019
The Barbell Life Podcast
Episode 320: Growing SoCal Weightlifting with Chris Amenta - August 6, 2020