We had an idea about 9 months ago: why not create a sanctioned weightlifting meet with the purpose of giving money back to the weightlifting community and our nonprofit? Our sister company, Mobility-Doc, is the sports medicine practice for many of the country’s best weightlifters. Many of these weightlifters train full-time for their sport and pretty much all of them will never make any money doing so. It’s true that USAW has created an improved stipend system. But it’s also true that it’s difficult to live off of less than $20,000 per year. Especially when you’re in your mid-twenties, and you’re putting off full-time work for the chance to make an olympic team.

I, John, low-key don’t like competitions that offer money in an attempt to get signups. Confusing since we’re hosting a meet that offers prize money, right? Let me explain. I feel that mixing prize money into local meets can make the meet less fun for the 95% of lifters who simply just want to be able to compete in a comfortable environment. We felt that the best way to offer money at a local meet for us was to make it all about the good we we’re doing with the money from the meet. Full transparency. A friend mentioned to me recently that we should’ve waited longer before mentioning that Juliana Riotto was competing at our meet because that would deter other women from competing to win the money. But that’s the point. We want people like Jules - hi Jules - to have the opportunity to win money. We want others to compete in this meet, in part to see higher level athletes compete, and also because they know that their registration cost goes directly to the prize money for people like Jules. Full transparency.

In three weeks we will host our first annual Big Money Meet. We originally advertised that 50% of the money would go to the lifters and 50% would go to our nonprofit. But because this is the first time we’re hosting this meet, we decided to guarantee $2000 dollars going towards the top 6 lifters, even if only 30 people sign up. The top 3 men and women will each be awarded $500, $300, or $200, for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd overall. Our 501c3 nonprofit will probably not make any money from this first meet. But thats fine. Really. Because the entire purpose of this meet is to give back to our community. The added bonus would be some more signups to benefit our nonprofit. Our long term goal is to grow this to an even more significant pay out for the athletes through a larger attendance, donations, and sponsorships.

If you would like to take part in our one day sanctioned USAW meet, or if you know someone who might, please let them about the Big Money Meet. We will be selling shirts, offering a 50/50 raffle, and cooking awesome all-day breakfast foods to raise some more money. There will be 100 chairs for the spectators, so even if you don’t plan on competing, just come and be a part of a good thing.

The Frank Spellman meet is special for our club because it's at this meet in 2017 that we officially decided to pursue becoming a competitive team. The LVB team didn't disappoint this past weekend with multiple repeat appearances at this year's Spellman meet. Every single athlete saw significant improvement over one year's time. Most notably our youth athletes almost doubled their totals from last year! 

The LVB Weightlifting Team paved the way for other weightlifting teams in 2017 to become financially sustainable nonprofits. Our club, with the hard work of multiple members, set up the framework for a successful nonprofit club. One that supports it's members both emotionally and financially. One that pays it's coaches fair, living-wage salaries that reflect their full-time efforts. ​

Below is a selection of events & sales that our nonprofit is currently offering. We have 17 club members and we will need to raise about $30,000 in 2018 if we are going to stay on track with all of our goals. Thank you in advance for taking the time to look at them, and for your support.

Dr John Giacalone, President
​LVB Weightlifting Team

We are non-profit sports club. We aren't curing illnesses or tackling the very real problems of our world. When you donate your money to our non-profit  you are helping to scholarship those who suffer from financial hardships. Your money helps to find and create future USA team athletes. Those are very great things to help with. But it doesn't make this world a better place. At least not directly. And we're not ok with that. 

The LVB Weightlifting Team is committed to giving back to the other more noble charities of our community. It simply just isn't enough for our non-profit to use your donations for the purpose of competing in USA sports without our non-profit paying your good will forward. That is why we're requiring our team members to donate their time to various local charities. Community service is a non-negotiable requirement to be a part of our club. 

On Friday, January 26th, members of our club will be at Safe Harbor in Easton, PA. They are an amazing charity that is doing incredible work to both feed and rehabilitate the homeless. Feel free to join us! You can also drop off grocery store gift cards at LVB to help us. We are cooking and serving meals at Safe Harbor. 

On Saturday March 3rd from 2pm to 4pm we will be hosting a Paint & Sip at our LVB facility. The theme will be spring. This event is $30 and will go directly to our non profit corporation. You must register in person at LVB or online, here. 

A paint and sip is a group painting lesson accompanied by wine. Nikki Michele is the art teacher who will be leading this class.

$30 covers the cost of supplies, a glass of wine, the art teacher, and is a tax deductible donation for our non profit club.  

Yes! This is a fundraiser. We can accommodate 60 people. Everyone must register and pay ahead of time.

Yes, you may bring whatever you would like to drink.

All too often we find ourselves preoccupied with measuring our own self-worth based upon another’s successes and failures. As if you’re better because someone else is worse. That’s a poor system for developing success. Athletes and coaches across the country are all too aware of each other’s progress. Secretly hiding and watching behind the other end of the social media lens. Judging the perceived flaws they see, and using that as the proof they need to substantiate their own superiority. Stifling progress in a sport because they safeguard their knowledge like money buried under a mattress. It’s you, not your competition, that determines whether or not you’ll be the best. And really you can only hope to be your best. Sharing with each other and focusing on an internal locus of control is the path to greatness.

Focus on an internal locus of control. Looking inward can lead you to productivity. Concerning yourself with external forces that you can’t control, and blaming the rest of the world for your difficulties, that will not lead to any improvement. How much you learn, how hard you train, how dedicated you are to your craft. Those are all variables that you can influence. The best that we can strive for is that we will unlock the full limits of our own genetic potential. Collaboration, not isolation, will push you further, faster. Stop pretending that you have all of the answers and start learning from each other. After all, your success has nothing to do with someone else’s failure. If we spent more time sharing with each other, instead of judging each other’s mistakes behind closed doors, we could avoid our own wasted time from known mistakes.  

Pay no attention to what you can’t control. A common misconception in basic economic theory is that one more dollar for me is one less dollar for you. Wealth is created by, and owned by, the individual in the same way that one’s success is created by, and owned by, the individual. It’s not a finite shared resource. You can’t control how many elite athletes another coach creates any more than you can influence how much an athlete will improve. And if the coach, or the athlete, improves, that doesn’t mean your potential is any less. Usain Bolt broke all of the growth rate curves in the world of sprinting, effectively pushing the sport ahead many years in its expected rate of improvement, all while being told that he wasn’t built right for the sport. That couldn’t have happened if he wasn’t internally driven and focused.

Greatness comes from within and it arrives sooner with collaboration. Better implies a comparison to an external standard. Better means that you achieved some modicum of success because someone else just didn’t show up. Seek to be great, not better.

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Click to purchase a beautiful holiday red poinsettia. Sales end 12/11/17. Pick up at LVB begins 12/15/17 and ends 12/16/17.

All 18 members of the LVB Weightlifting Team are selling poinsettias for our non profit club. The beautiful red poinsettias are locally sourced from our friends at Blue Mountain Farms. Each poinsettia will consist of 5-7 hand selected red bulbs in a 6.5" pot. Perfect for the holiday season. Our team will collect paid in full orders until 12/11/2017. On 12/15 Blue Mountain Farms will deliver all orders to LVB. You will be able to pick up your orders on 12/15 from 12pm to 6pm, and on 12/16 from 8am to 12pm. You can purchase directly from our members, or you can purchase online and select who you would like your donation to go to. 

In 2018, LVB Weightlifting is paying for every member to train, travel, and compete. We have 18 members who need to fundraise between $600, and $2200, for the 2018 season. When you purchase your poinsettias, you will have the option to select who you would like your donation to go to. You can also select Team LVB if you don't have a specific person in mind. Each and every dollar from this fundraiser will pay for competition fees, plane tickets, and hotel fees, for our team. We are also using the fundraisers to help us to scholarship athletes who can't afford their gym fees. 

We realize that we are a non profit sport club, and that there are many non profits with much more serious causes. We hope that your generous donations to LVB will help us to improve the mental and physical health of all our members, and to foster future USA Olympians for our sport. We are also doing great work with our ever growing youth and junior members. But, as a club, we will also be volunteering in community outreach programs throughout the Lehigh Valley. To be a club team member at LVB you must do good beyond the good you will do for yourself. 

Help us reach a broader audience. We need a small army to help our club. Thank you in advance for your support. We have large goals, and high standards. We couldn't do this without you. 

Brooke Loane went big with a 496lb total this past weekend, taking home the gold for Team LVB. This also marked our first time competing in a sanctioned USAPL meet. ​If you didn't know already, Brooke is the VP of the LVB Weightlifting non profit club. When she isn't training she's busy being an incredible mother, a loving wife, and works a very stressful job managing a ton of people. 

85.5kg / 188lb bench press by Brooke Loane

140kg / 308lb deadlift by Brooke Loane

On November 3rd, 2018, the LVB Weightlifting Team non profit club will hold it's first ever profit share meet. This USAW sanctioned meet - link here- will be open to all ages, and abilities, and will serve as a way of putting money into the pockets of weightlifters who need it. We will have more info in the coming months, but make sure you mark your calendars. This will be one day only meet, and space will be limited. Our goal is to give $5000 back to the top 3 male and top 3 female lifters. REGISTRATION BEGINS SEPTEMBER 1, 2018.

If a profit share meet wasn't a thing before, then it is now. For our Big Money Meet it means that 100% of the earnings will go back to the weightlifters. For the competitors, 50% of the total earning will go to the top 3 male and top 3 female athletes. The other 50% will go back to our non profit club scholarship fund. Our scholarship fund is how we help our athletes who can't afford training, traveling, and competing.  

​The 2018 Big Money Meet Fundraiser will be our first ever profit share meet. 50% of the proceeds will go to the top 3 male and top 3 female lifters, and the remaining 50% will go towards the LVB Weightlifting Team 501C3 non profit organization. Each and every dollar from every registration, and every donation, will go back into the pockets of weightlifters who need your help. Sign up to compete in a friendly USAW sanctioned meet, and, at the very least, give back to a good cause. 

• 1st place male and female will split 60% of the total share dedicated to the competitors
• 2nd place male and female will split 30% of the total share dedicated to the competitors
• 3rd place male and female will split 10% of the total share dedicated to the competitors

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Why You Should Sign Up
​This meet is perfect for all ages and abilities. Even if there is no chance of winning. Your registration goes back into the pockets of weightlifters who need your help.
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How We Will Raise Money
Registration will cost $70. When we sell out at 80 athletes that will be $5600. 50% of that will instantly go to the winners, and be divided accordingly. The LVB club will be seeking out corporate sponsors for additional donation. Donations will be collected from spectators. Family and friends will be able to also donate online. We are also working on running 50/50 raffles, auctioning gift baskets, and more. The goal is to raise a total of $10,000 so that each 1st place athlete will receive $1500, each 2nd place athlete will receive $750, and each 3rd place athlete will receive $250.00. Sky's the limit, and we hope that this meet is so successful that it significantly impacts many people in need.  

In 2018 LVB will become three different entities: 1 gym, 3 Phase Fitness; and 2 club teams, LVB Weightlifting and LVB Powerlifting. 3 Phase Fitness will represent the vast majority of the members. It will help members to move better, be stronger, and encourage athletic hobbies such as: obstacle course races, crossfit, endurance races, and more. Again, this will represent the vast majority of our members. Club members will exist for competing in weightlifting or powerlifting. The overview to follow is limited in its scope to club members only.

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We believe that all weightlifting clubs should act more like other sport clubs. Swimming, cheerleading, and gymnastics, to name a few club sports, regularly raise money to help their teams. It is time that USA Weightlifting clubs start to exist for the benefit of their members. Most USAW clubs are merely hobbies for their coaches, or even worse, exist to raise money for coaches who are trying to sell workshops, and online programming. At LVBW we want our club to be self-sustainable. We want to create job opportunities for coaches, cultivate a love for barbell sports for any age, secure college scholarships for our youth and junior athletes, achieve stipend payments for high-level competitors, and develop USA team members. Everyone in our team should be responsible for fundraising. It should be a group effort, not just an individual show. In 2018 every single member will get the opportunity to be grow as an individual while acting like a team member.

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