OUR MISSION
Our mission at ROC is to provide Rome and its surrounding areas with a safe, fun, and inspiring outlet for physical and personal growth for people of all ages and abilities so that they may maximize their health and improve their quality of life to better serve themselves and their community.
Give us an hour; we’ll change your day.
Give us a week; we’ll change your outlook on fitness and exercise.
Give us a month; we’ll change your mindset.
Give us six months; we’ll change your body.
Give us a year; we’ll change your life.
OUR STORY
In 2013, Corina planned to complete a Tough Mudder. Unsure of how to train for such a thing, a friend of hers recommended that she try Crossfit. Corina was told about a new Crossfit gym in Perry called NEO that had just opened up. It was run by a guy named Todd Lamperski. She stopped by to see what it was all about. Corina got there and it was a warehouse with minimal equipment, but it peaked her interest. It was nitty gritty, not fancy, and she liked that. Seeing pullup bars and tires, barbells and ropes, it looked like it could be fun. The only person there at the time was Todd. He said, “come back on Saturday morning, and I’ll put you through a workout.”
That Saturday, Corina pulled into the driveway only to see a class of incredibly fit, beautiful people exercising outside in the sunshine. Out of shape with low self esteem and no self confidence, Corina parked at the back of the parking lot. She sat. She then decided she was not going to get out of the car because these people were way too far out of her league, and she would surely make a fool of herself.
Head hanging down, already discouraged and moments away from backing out of the parking lot and leaving, Corina heard a tap at the window. She looked up to see Todd motioning with his finger to get out of the car, that it was time to work.
Reluctantly, Corina walked into the gym. Todd explained the workout and it was go time. He pushed her and made her feel competent and athletic and oh, so tired!! An hour later, the workout was done, and Corina was officially hooked.
Corina stayed at NEO until Todd no longer owned it, at which point she transferred to Crossfit Mentality in Mentor, and the two eventually lost touch with one another. She trained under the Panchik family, known in the CrossFit community for being among the best in the world. Traveling to Mentor every day became an incredible time investment, though, and coupled with occasional injuries, Corina found herself at the gym less and less until she eventually put her membership on hold.
Corina had always dreamed of owning a gym closer to home where she could continue to persue her fitness and bring something to the community that it desperately needed. She knew, though, that she did not have the business experience to open a gym on her own, so she never took action.
In 2018, Todd and Corina had gotten back in touch with one another, and in May, while on the phone together, Todd had a stroke. Unhappy with the rehab Todd was getting in the hospital, Corina made it a point to get to there every day to make sure Todd was moving and getting proper rehab. It was during that time that they decided fitness and health had to become a priority again.
Upon Todd being discharged from the hospital, the two began talking about how they could bring crosstraining and fitness back into their lives on a consistent basis. They decided that together, they had the experience, knowledge, and resources to bring a gym to Rome, but only if they did it together. Rome needed a gym as badly as they did, and so after months and months of talking and planning and structuring and changing, it all culminated in the creation of ROC…Rome Ohio Cross Training. A second chance and a new beginning. For Todd, for Corina, for Rome.