Editing Rob Van Dam (section)

=== Training ===
Szatkowski is a trained [[Kickboxing|kickboxer]] and [[Martial arts|martial artist]]. Growing up in [[Battle Creek, Michigan]], Szatkowski studied martial arts at two local dojos. He received instruction in [[Karate]], [[Taekwondo]], [[Aikido]], [[Kickboxing]] and [[Kajukenbo]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with Rob Van Dam |url=https://kungfukingdom.com/interview-with-rob-van-dam/ |website=Kung-fu Kingdom |access-date=February 21, 2021 |date=November 16, 2017}}</ref> In 1990, he placed second in the Kalamazoo Heavyweight Toughman Contest. Szatkowski is also an outspoken advocate of [[vitamin]]s and [[bodybuilding supplement]]s and attributes this to his mother's influence.<ref name=endorser>{{cite web|title=Rob Van Dam big on his bodybuilding supplements|publisher=Muscle And Sports Science| url=http://www.musclemass.com}}</ref>

He is the inventor of the ''Van Dam Lift'', a [[Powerlifting|weightlifting]] technique that involves performing a split (which he took up in his early teens) between two benches and lifting a [[dumbbell]] from the floor to the waist.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} The lift was approved by IAWA, the International All-Around Weightlifting Association, in 1998. It was also entered in the rulebooks of USAWA, the United States All-Round Weightlifting Association.<ref>[http://usawa.com/is-the-van-dam-lift-impossible/ Is the Van Dam Lift impossible?] June 30, 2009.<br />[http://usawa.com/the-10-worst-lifts-in-the-usawa/ The 10 Worst Lifts in the USAWA] October 26, 2010</ref>