Joe is our well deserved Member of the Month!
Joe is one of our newer members, only being with us for just a couple months, but in that time he has been one of our most consistent members. Joe is a morning member that usually comes in at 6 am. He comes in ready to learn and apply it to his workouts. He is a coach’s dream member, always willing to go crush a workout but with proper form. Joe has been an amazing addition to the gym and we can’t wait to see his progress over the next year! Great Job Joe! you deserve this award.
When did you join Croga?
I joined Croga the week of Sep 2nd (2024) after doing the Labor Day workout with my sister in law Catherine (Cat) Waago, her husband Christian (Chris) and my wife Jackie (Jax). Cat soon after signed me up as a gift to help support me with my mental health challenges (major depression & anxiety).
What were you doing before for fitness?
Before officially starting my fitness journey at 12yo, I was just an active kid who loved participating in traditional sports (basketball, track & field, football, baseball), loved to ride my skateboard, my BMX bike, partake in tricks (back/front/side flips) as well as freerunning/parkour (it wasn’t called that back then, it was just being wild! lol).
What was your first workout?
First reaction to your first workout? My first workout at Croga was The Labor Day (Partner-based) Workout. I absolutely loved it – prior to coming in my anxiety was telling me not to go in, but my family encouraged me to go just have fun with them, be myself, and not worry about anyone else. It was tough for me to do so initially, but eventually I got out of my head and somehow found my way back into something I’m very passionate about – movement. It helped that my family was there cheering me on and having the amazing Croga Coaches there to say hello, be very welcoming and friendly during the workout.
What improvements have you seen in the way you look, feel and perform?
The improvements I have seen are that my mental health has improved significantly, my self-discipline & self-confidence has been growing & coming back, my courage to try/learn new things and re-visit things I’m familiar with from my fitness journey since I was 12yo (I’m 46yo now). I’ve been able to get back on my normal routine of early wake ups (4:30-5am), getting my daily movement practice in at 6am, then moving on to bigger & better things in my life & my family’s life. I battle chronic low back pain, occasional achilles & knee pain, some shoulder/arm pain (all stemming from my younger days as a b-boy) so Coach Cody, Coach Carmen, Coach Nick, and Coach Devin have all been so helpful with providing me with solutions to help me either address or workaround my pain in order to do and complete each day’s workout.
What days and times do you come to Croga?
I typically have a set schedule of 6am classes at Croga on Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri. On Wed after 6am Powerlifting w/ Coach Devin, if I have enough energy, ate something small prior to class & slept well the night before, I might stay for the 7am Croga Fitness class to get my strength & conditioning work in.
What’s your favorite WOD?
I haven’t done enough WOD’s yet at Croga, but in the past I’ve done some Murph Challenges so based on this I’d say the Murph WOD is my favorite (for now). I’d also say I enjoy any WOD’s that involve running, a barbell (olympic lifting is my favorite), kettlebells, muscle-ups, handstand holds/push-ups/walks and plyo boxes.
What’s your least favorite WOD?
Assuming we’re talking about what I’ve done so far at Croga, I can’t remember exactly which one it was, but it involved a 400 meter run multiple times along with some muscle-ups and handstand push-ups? The reason I didn’t like it was having to take in the smell of the garbage receptacle taking the last corner (final 200 meters). When you’re breathing heavily during a WOD (my HR is mostly in Zone 5 usually with these types of workouts) it definitely sucks, but it sucks even more to have to suck in the smell of garbage!
“The JOE” WOD! What would it be?
4 Rounds For Time:
Run 400 meters (with a KN95 mask to block out the garbage smell)
30 seconds Handstand Hold/Push-up/Walk
30 Med Ball Situp (20/14)
10 Box Jump (24/20)
10 Barbell Snatch (95/65)
What’s your favorite post-workout routine?
Lacrosse ball or Foam Rolling along with a solid stretching sequence (depending on what we worked on that day)
What’s been your favorite culinary discovery since joining Croga?
My sister in law Cat teaching me how to cook Tamagoyaki (Japanese egg rolled omelet)
What’s your biggest fitness goal for this year?
My biggest fitness goal this year is to return to taking on obstacle course race events (Spartan & Ninja Warrior mostly) and hybrid racing events (I’ve done Spartan DEKA, but would like to eventually take on a Hyrox (single and doubles)). I actually recently signed up my brother in law Chris & I to take on a DEKA MILE (2-person) Teams event on Nov 23rd so 1 of 2 of my goals will be coming to fruition in short order! We’ve done a DEKA FIT (2-person) Teams event in the past so we have some experience working (more like dying & hating each other during the event) together. Hoping he and I can rep some Croga shirts while we’re out there testing our fitness!
What do you love about this type of fitness?
I’ve always loved a mix of different types of movement (as indicated above), but Croga has enlightened me to what CrossFit-style training is like (have never really done CrossFit in the past, though I dabbled in finding CrossFit WOD’s online and trying them). I’m absolutely loving the offerings at Croga and wish I could fit in more classes, but I also need to work on other things in order to avoid further aggravating my pain and also help me get back to where I was in 2023 – outside of Croga I focus on core training, mobility, long/slow distance running (Zone 2 mostly), track work (sprint intervals, repeats) and trail running. Doing other fitness things outside also allows me to spend more quality time with my wife Jackie.
What words of advice do you have for new members or people considering joining Croga?
Croga is an amazing & welcoming atmosphere – from the coaches to the members to the facility. All around an amazing place to work on yourself, have awesome banter with the coaches & members and always wanting to come back for more each day your schedule/life allows.
Anything to add that we didn’t touch on yet?
Yes! I’ve been waiting to share this with Coach Cody & the coaching team at Croga, but I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate and I (or more like my mind, not my heart) felt ashamed to share it. Croga and my sister in law Cat (including my family (Jackie, Chris and all others in my family who cheer me on to continue getting better and getting back to my “normal”) have immensely helped me with the final piece I absolutely needed on my recovery journey from my most recent depression/anxiety episode (it hit me hard back in Oct 2023 and literally took me out until about Jun 2023, in mid-June my wife Jackie finally found a way to get me outside and do a light jog with her). When my depression/anxiety is at its worst, I could care less about the things I love (such as movement) so it’s important for me to have daily movement practice along with the rest of the pieces I need to manage my mental health. So being a student at Croga has ultimately led me to finding myself again. Today, I’m now proud to say that I’m a former engineer of 15 years (which I shared with Coach Nick the 1st time I took his class since he asked what I do for my job; I left engineering due to burnout/stress/depression/anxiety) and I’m also a Personal Trainer & Spartan Coach (Coach Nick asked me while I doing some heavy barbell squats in his class if I was a trainer since he said I “moved like butter”, but I was hesitant/ashamed to share it since I just wanted to be a student for once; I’m still on the tail end of my depression/anxiety recovery & did not want to be stressed/pressured by the fact that I’m actually a trainer/coach). Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart Croga for helping me fill the missing piece of my puzzle (my so-called life & what I personally battle), for helping me revisit/re-learn what I love (movement) and learn some new things about CrossFit-style training – I’m filled with gratitude for you all. Much love & even more respect!
