Jens is our Member of the Month!!!!! Jens joined us in the middle of last year to lift some weights, as he was already awesome at all of the breathing stuff. Jens rides his bike to Croga most every day and never misses a lifting day. Since he joined he has improved his strength and his mobility a ton and he will continue to do so as time goes on.
Jens never cherry-picks a workout and actually does more of the opposite. He will always come to the things that he isn’t as good at to make sure he gets the practice in. Jens is one of the most coachable people you will ever meet! He takes feedback with a smile and always asks questions when he has them. Jens is a pleasure to have in class and it was only a matter of time until he was selected as Member of the Month.
When did you join Croga?
I joined Croga in June 2022 after having relocated to this beautiful part of the world from Northern Germany.
What were you doing before for fitness?
I was – and I still am – running around 20-25 km a week. In addition, if logistically possible – I bike everywhere.
What was your first workout? First reaction to your first workout?
My first workout was with Johnny and Taylor. It was five times rowing a certain amount of calories followed by a certain amount of burpees. I got so exhausted that I thought somewhen throughout the workout that the requirement was only four times. I was so happy that I made it and the coach was so understanding and kind that only a couple of minutes later – with oxygen back in my brain – I realized that I didn’t complete the workout.
What improvements have you seen in the way you look, feel and perform?
The first six months I started with three workouts a week and I strongly felt the muscles trained the next 2-3 days. Now I train more often and this is happening less – which I take as a good sign of my body getting stronger.
What days and times do you come to Croga?
My plan is to come Monday to Friday at 5.30 pm. This has the benefit that I meet almost all of our amazing coaches on a regular basis.
What’s your favorite WOD?
I love all WODs with a lot of changes between different exercises. Somehow breaking the effort up in a lot of parts makes it mentally so much easier for me.
What’s your least favorite WOD?
My least favorite WODs are times in which I need to prioritize something else and I can’t attend. If I make it to the gym, I enjoy everything. I am either already a bit comfortable with performing the WOD and I can challenge myself a bit more or we are doing something which I have a lot of room for growth – e.g. everything with weights on a barbell or pulling myself up a bar – and I have the opportunity for fairly large improvements.
“The Jens” WOD! What would it be?
That is easy: 8000m Run for time… well, on a slightly more serious note:
WOD: Night out in Berlin
AMRAP 30′:
400m Run
30 Sit Ups
15 Box Jumps
7 Push Press (50-40% Max)
What’s your favorite post-workout routine?
I bike back home, take a shower and enjoy the rest of the day with my husband on our balcony enjoying a cold beverage.
What’s been your favorite culinary discovery since joining Croga?
I have always loved food and this has remained the same. What I discovered thinking more about macros was that my diet basically consisted of carbs & fat. Although that is a lot of fun, I am trying to incorporate more protein now.
What’s your biggest fitness goal for this year?
My fitness goals for the year are being able to do a handstand against a wall and double unders. At some point I would like to be able to do toes to bar, but I think that might take a bit longer. Outside of Croga, I ran the SF half marathon for the first time last year and I plan to do it again.
On a more abstract level, I want to continue to embrace this new chapter of my fitness journey which is more focused on building strength & abilities and leave my former main target which was losing weight by doing a lot of cardio and living on a calorie deficit behind.
What do you love about this type of fitness?
Every day there is a new interesting WOD. In addition, I work in a job that only requires mental strength. It is great to have this hour in the day in which I can focus on a purely physical challenge. And last but not least, I highly appreciate the diverse group of great people at Croga that create a motivating and supportive environment.
What words of advice do you have for new members or people considering joining Croga?
Go for it. Everybody at Croga has been in the same situation you are in right now. Going to a new place where people all seem to know each other for years and throw sometimes high weights around can be a little bit intimidating at first, but everybody had this feeling at the beginning and is therefore encouraging and trying to make joining as smooth as possible. In addition, scaling workouts is awesome – you decide how much you want to push yourself and can make the WOD your own.
