About Kanama High Performance North

Kanama High Performance North (KHPN) located in Pembroke, ON is the second Kanama High Performance olympic weightlifting gym in Ontario. The original Kanama High Performance gym is located in Toronto, ON and run by Hani Kanama. Click here to learn about the Kanama High Performance philosophy.

About Weightlifting

Olympic style weightlifting (not to be confused with powerlifting, bodybuilding, or strength training), is an original Olympic sport. Athletes compete in two dynamic, explosive lifts known as the 'snatch' and the 'clean and jerk', with a variety of other exercises used in training.

Study after study of injury rates in different sports have found weightlifting at or are near the bottom, with far better safety records than almost all sports commonly practiced in Canada (including non-body contact sports such as soccer). For decades, versions of weightlifting movements have been mainstays of training for high level competitive athletes in nearly all sports involving speed or power.

Trained properly, weightlifting is healthy and enjoyable for children and adults of all ages, with benefits including flexibility, speed, strength, balance, body composition, and bone density. Weightlifting teaches proper movement patterns to everyone, laying the groundwork for a healthy and injury-free life. Contrary to some misinformed opinions, this sport poses little risk to growing children. Proper training of children involves reduced intensity; but even with heavy weights, the joints and growth plates are exposed to forces that are far smaller than those resulting from the impacts involved in normal play involving running and jumping.