Norik Vardanian is a member of the Armenian National Weightlifting Team in the 94kg class. He formerly lived and trained in the United States and has represented the U.S. in international competition. He won the 2008 U.S. National Weightlifting Championships and still holds all of the School Age National records in the 85kg class. As a member of the Armenian National Team, Norik competed at the 2010 European Under-23 championships and will be representing Armenia at the 2011 World University Championships. (Ed. Note: This interview took place prior to the World Universities.)

Norik Vardanian began weightlifting when he was fourteen as a basketball player looking to increase his vertical jump. At the time, he had no ambition of becoming a weightlifter, but after about a year of training he realized that he would be a better weightlifter than a basketball player and switched his focus. During his first year of training, he would only lift five days a week and on the sixth day he would do plyometrics or play volleyball--some sort of active rest type activity. These early workouts focused mainly on technique work. His father, the great Yurik Vardanian, had him do a lot of full lifts, usually working with 75-80%, rarely maxing out.

To work on technique, his father had him do full movements with light weight. These included plenty of lifts from the hang and lifts from blocks. To learn how to do the full lifts, Norik started with a 7.5kg bar and his dad showed him how to snatch. Norik then copied the movement by doing what he saw; there were no overhead squats or other "transition" type lifts done. He continued to do full movements before learning the power versions of the lifts and he did all of these early lifts without bumping/brushing the bar. His dad always taught him to control the weight. There were no special exercises used to learn how to move under the bar, but he was taught to feel where the weight was at all times. Whether the weight was off the floor, during the pull or as he was moving under the bar he was suppose to "feel the weight" at all times. This simplistic approach was taken when learning the jerk as well. His dad told him to feel the weight evenly in both legs during the split and to split fast and divide the weight evenly on both legs. As Norik stated, the jerk has always been his best lift. Even today, he is more likely miss a jerk in competition because he is tired from the clean, not because he cannot jerk.

When Norik was 17, he competed at the American Open and recorded lifts of 135kg snatch and 180kg clean and jerk as an 85kg lifter. About two months before the contest, his dad set goals of 140kg and 180kg for him. Yurik made a list of exercises with certain weights that if Norik accomplished there would be no reason he could not meet these goals. These lifts included a 115kg power snatch, 190kg front squat (which he missed once and then made a week later), 125kg hang snatch, 145kg power clean, and clean pull of 180kg for an easy triple. Norik met all of the goals and thus was extremely confident going into the American Open. Even more impressive was that during this successful period, he was still training only once a day. It was not until he moved to the Olympic Training Center the following year that he began to train twice a day.

In January 2010, Norik moved back to Armenia and his personal records now include a 165kg classic snatch, 170kg snatch from blocks, 210kg clean and jerk, 220kg jerk from rack (done many times), 220kg front squat, 260kg back squat, 140kg power snatch and a 180kg power clean. He said he moved back to Armenia because he felt like he wasn't getting any better in the States. He wanted to train with higher caliber lifters and he saw it as a great opportunity since he had dual citizenship. It was a decision he had been considering for a long time and he finally decided to make the move.

Norik lives in Yerevan, the capitol of Armenia, and he trains with his coach at the Physical Education University. His dad has given up the coaching duties but will come in when he can to watch his son train. The gym has old Soviet bars (about 30 years old) and the only new bar is his own personal Werksan bar. There are seven platforms, all of which are uneven, but as he stated, "everyone there trains like it's their job," even though he is the only lifter there currently getting paid. When asked if these conditions better prepare lifters to deal with the hard training he said, "No, I don't think worse conditions are better for preparation, but it has more to do with the people. Life in Armenia is much harder than in the U.S., so the kids train, train their butts off because that is all they have. Most kids can't afford to come to workouts every day. I think the reason they train harder here is the lifestyle." While there is no fee to train at the gym, simple transportation costs make it difficult to train daily. According to Norik, if you are anywhere in the city of Yerevan, you can take a cab for 2 dollars or a 35 cent van to get to the gym, but a lot of kids can not even afford this.

The training in Armenia is nothing extraordinarily special. When Norik is training in his home gym, he is there five days a week, once a day, with Thursdays and Sundays off. A typical workout would include some type of snatch exercise working up to a good weight (usually 140kg if it's a full movement) for 2-3 doubles, then maybe a power clean plus push press with 140-150kg then pull and then squat followed by 30 minutes of assistance work. When he is not close to a competition, he will finish his workout and then begin snatching again. This workout would be on the harder days, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday and Saturday may be a hang snatch with 130-140kg and jerks off the rack and some presses. These days are easier in the sense that they have less volume, but he is more likely to go heavier.

When asked if the 30 minutes of assistance work was the reason for his increased muscular frame, he said, "Honestly, I still have some extra body fat. All the head coaches in Armenia tell me that every time I go to training camp, but most of the loss in body fat comes from me doing ab work. In the States, I never paid any attention to ab work. Anyone that I ever trained with in the States will tell you that I barely ever did any. Here in Armenia, I do a lot more bodybuilding exercises. I do abs, presses, lower back work, even curls. I do them mainly for injury prevention and to become more muscular to lose the extra weight. The head coach of Armenia, when I went to my first training camp told me to do this. We were in the sauna and he came up and grabbed my lower stomach fat and squeezed it pretty hard and was like, ‘What the hell is this? I better not see this next time you're at camp.' So I was like, 'Okay, sir'. He was the one that told me what different exercises I should do after training, he said after every workout I should dedicate 30 minutes to bodybuilding exercises."

As a member of the Armenian National Team, Norik divides his time between training at home and training with the rest of team in training camps. These camps are exclusive and precede the major international competitions and each camp lasts from two to three-and-a-half weeks, never a full month. They take place in different cities in Armenia. The conditions at the camps are better than at the Physical Education University, with nicer platforms and Eleiko sets, but still a notch down from what we are use to in the States. The gyms that are used for the training camps are used exclusively for the National Team; only one gym operates as a local club. The lifters are housed in either special housing for athletes or a nice hotel depending on which city they are in. Most everyone has a roommate, although certain lifters are offered a room to themselves.

The lifters have to be invited to participate in the camps and if they do not perform up to the coaches’ expectations, they are abruptly sent home. For instance, before the Senior Europeans this year, Norik attended the first two camps in preparation for the contest. After the second camp he was told not to come to the next one. They only keep lifters they believe have a shot at making the team. After the training camp, the coaches decide who should stay and who should go. "It's almost like a Real World/Road Rules Challenge", says Norik. "We get voted off when we don't perform until there are only eight guys left."

During these camps, the lifters train nine times a week and on the double days the morning workout begins at 8:30 am and consists of something like muscle snatches followed by push presses with the lifters deciding what to do. "The coaches usually say what we do but they are really flexible. Their main thing is that we enjoy training; they will say, 'Okay, snatch', and I say, 'What kind?’ and they will be like, 'Whatever kind you like', but if they notice you like doing something more or if you're really good at one, for instance, hang snatch, they will be like, 'Okay, do snatch, any kind except hang."'

Lest anyone believes the Armenians are adhering to a secret formula of sets, reps, and percentages, this is not the case. "The coach only says snatch, for let's say triples, and then he watches and tells you to go up or not. Then he will ask how many you did at a certain weight and he will say either that's enough or do two more. We go by feel, not what is written on paper. A lot of times the lifters want to go up in weight and the coach comes and takes all the weight off the bar so you don't do anymore. That is only when the lifter is real fired up and the coach doesn't want you to go heavier. [Percentages] is all BS, you have to go by feel."

One hallmark of these camps seems to be the camaraderie between lifters, which is only encouraged by the coaches. Rather than being slaves under a draconian leader, the lifters help each other out; everyone gives each other advice. "[The camps are] very intense and serious during workouts, but towards the end we joke around and there is a guy on the team that imitates everyone's lifting and we laugh our asses off. On lighter days, we joke around a lot."

For those of you who wish there was a training hall tape from these camps, you are not alone. Some highlight lifts Norik has seen so far include the following: "Ara Khachatryan (many times European Championship silver medalist) after a heavy clean and jerk workout (he did 205kg that day) grab 120kg from the hang and powered it like a bar, then jumped to 160kg and also powered it. Tigran Martirosyan (2010 World Champion) clean and jerked 210kg weighing 81.5kg and cleaned 215kg. Ruben Aleksanyan (super heavyweight, many times Youth and Junior European Champion) push pressed 210kg like a toy."

Contrary to the way operations are conducted in the U.S., not all of the top lifters are forced to compete in the Nationals to make a team. "The coaches tell who is in shape at training camps, also when they do compete they are not forced to cut weight because that affects training and the main goal is medaling at meets outside of Armenia." The only eligibility requirement for international competitions is participation in a training camp. Usually the youth, junior and senior teams each have their own camps but sometimes there are a few exceptions. This year, "Gor Minasyan came with us to training camp because he was the only male lifter going to Junior Worlds and anyone going on an international trip has to go to training camp."

Where do all these fantastic lifters come from? The assumption in the States is that these lifters are recruited at a young age and systematically trained to become world champions. However, this is not the case; weightlifting is not taught in the elementary schools. According to Norik, gone are the days of Soviet style recruitment, all of their lifters come from walk-ins. "Kids just come in and ask if they can train. Like after Tigran became World Champion, I was at his gym training and two kids came in and asked if they could train. The coach asked, ‘Why do you want to lift weights?' They replied, 'So I can be a world champion like Tigran.'"

Weightlifting continues to be a popular sport in Armenia, behind only soccer, but as Norik said, "our soccer team sucks, so I guess that makes weightlifting number one." There are highlights from the national meets on the news during the sports section and when the lifters come back with a medal it is a huge deal and hundreds of people come to the airport to greet them with cameras and sometimes even the president of Armenia comes. An example of weightlifting's popularity is Tigran Martirosyan, who cannot walk down the street without having someone asking to take a picture with him. Also, "Gor Minasyan (94kg+ Youth World Champion) was given the best under-17 athlete in Armenia award - he is making some good money." And of course Yurik Vardanian is known by every man, woman and child in the country. They love their athletes.

While weightlifting brings notoriety in Armenia, financial bonuses are also a huge incentive for kids to begin training. "When Tigran became World Champion, they said on TV how he got a house in the center of Yerevan, approximately worth 300 grand, so that motivates people. Medaling at an international competition is a guaranteed stipend for a whole year. You receive a big payment and then you get money every month for a year, depending on what meet and what place." While Norik could not give an exact amount because it varies, he did say it is much more than the average person. Even at the Armenian national meets, the winners all are rewarded with cash. While it is not much money the top three lifters in each class get paid, it doesn't matter what weight is lifted.

This is where the differences between the U.S. and the rest of the world become evident. According to Norik, the problem with U.S. lifting is there is no motivation to train. "This is from when I was there. I was ranked top 8 in the nation the last two years I was in the U.S. and all I got was 500 bucks a month. I could work at McDonald's and make more than that. I was thinking to myself 'why the hell am I lifting weights?' Other than the Olympic dream. But you can't support a family on 500 bucks a month. You can barely support yourself. I was living at the OTC with everything paid for and 500 bucks was still nothing."

Internal motivation is another difference between the two countries. In the U.S., a lot of lifters treat weightlifting like a hobby. It is much more serious in Armenia. "I am way more motivated to train here," says Norik. "I watch little kids train and it motivates me. Almost everyone here trains with heart. It is literally their job."

When asked what problems he sees with U.S. Weightlifting having now experienced both sides, Norik said he has noticed the speed of the lifters in Armenia. “You can't even compare it to the lifters in the U.S," he said. Speed is due to focus on speed: hang work, sprints, jumps and recovery (including swimming, sauna and massage.)

Another key difference Norik has noticed in the U.S. centers on motivation. "An individual has to be a ridiculously motivated person to train and reach world caliber status in the U.S.,” he said. “Also, that same person has to be quite wealthy as well.” Going on to further explain his point, he says, "You have to be wealthy because it costs a lot of money to go to all the national meets. Stating at a hotel, flight costs, food - it's expensive. In Armenia, the lifters that live outside of Yerevan get money for their travel expenses. Also, in the U.S., if you don't go to nationals you can't go to any other meet outside the U.S.”

I asked Norik how many weightlifting gyms were in Armenia and he said about 100. The country only has 3.6 million citizens, which makes for about 1 gym per 36,000 people. For comparison, the U.S. would about need 10,000 weightlifting gyms to reach the same ratio.

Lack of athlete recruitment and special top-secret training are excuses made by the U.S. lifting community for poor results. After interviewing Norik, the formula for success becomes clear. Expose people to the sport, give them opportunities to train, make their accomplishments known, and reward them financially for their successes.