Mark B. is the July Member Of The Month

Wow, what a great story and what an incredible shelter-in-place success, Mark is!

We met Mark in January and he had only about 10 weeks to get in the groove before we were all forced to stay home. As I watched him weekly on Zoom workouts for the first couple of months of SiP, I could tell he was not only losing weight consistently, but he was evolving as a human.

His answers to our questions are the best I have ever read and tell an amazing story, so I’m not going to say anything else besides I encourage you to read Marks’s whole story below.

We’re all extremely proud of you Mark and I enjoy every 6 am class that I get to coach you or join you for the workout during. You are an amazing example of where consistent effort and dedication will take you and I look forward to watching your journey continue for years to come. Let’s go get that pull-up!!!

When did you join Cróga?
January of 2020

What were you doing before for fitness?
Hardcore video games. (NOTHING!)

This isn’t entirely true. I had a decent start in January of 2019 with Crossfit at another gym when I got sidelined with an unrelated medical issue that left me unable to work out. While that took a while to resolve, it left me listless and unmotivated for almost 6 months before I got my act together to push myself again.

What was your first workout? First reaction to your first workout?
I am pretty sure my first workout was Jan 27th.

“Cali Bear”
1 Clean & Jerk every 30 seconds for 20 minutes

First reaction? Given how awkward I still am at Clean and Jerk I can only imagine that I felt like the biggest fish out of water flopping around :).

What improvements have you seen in the way you look, feel and perform?
The most immediate improvement for me was in my mood and productivity. Before any physical changes happened, starting my day with the crew had a MASSIVE impact at work. Everyone around me noticed that I seemed more attentive, mentally present, and higher energy.

As time went on I started relying on the Croga team and members as my lifeline during Shelter in Place. One of the most underrated things that we have in this community is just that: a sense of community. Almost every member at Croga that I have come to know and love has been through online interactions and Facebook posts while we have all been stuck apart from each other. These people welcomed me so warmly (even at a distance!) that while I was beginning this fitness journey I never once felt alone. It was really through them that I came to realize that having a high-quality support group around you is just as important as the quality of your workout.

Eventually, after stalling out after my first 10 pounds, I started to really notice the physical difference. I would prefer to take the stairs instead of the elevator just to “feel” like I was moving. My gorgeous fancy (EXPENSIVE) celebration jeans I bought for my 100+ pound loss? Yeah, those are too big now. The boyfriend tells me I am significantly less “cuddly” while also giggling when he pokes my arms.

But I think the biggest difference is how I feel about myself. I am overall happier, more active, and more aware. I just feel “good” more often, which is worth its weight in gold.

What days and times do you come to Cróga?
You will find me at 6am. My goal is always Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday… but if you see me on Saturday it means I slept in one of my days 😉

What’s your favorite WOD?
This one is hard! Shelter in Place started before I got a really broad exposure to lots of the WODs that I think I would love most. My gut says anything involving back squats. For some reason I love a barbell on my back. I can’t wait to have it there again!

What’s your least favorite WOD?
As any member who has ever worked out with me knows: ANYTHING … WITH … RUNNING. I will go out of my way to avoid running. I had a new football coach in high school that used to make us run until we puked up our lunch… and then run some more as a punishment when we screwed things up. When we all stopped eating lunch so we wouldn’t throw up in practice we all learned what dry heaving was.

… to his credit it was the best season of JV the school had ever seen and I loved that coach, but I absolutely blame him for making me hate running. (Well that and my weird mutant feet).

“The Mark” WOD! What would it be?
Back Squats + Rowing + Kettlebell swings + CJ Vincent in a Tutu + a country free playlist by David Musgrave where he sings along.

Perfection.

What’s your favorite post-workout routine?
My post-workout morning ritual includes browsing reddit and delicious delicious chocolate protein shake with avocado + macadamia vanilla nut butter from Perfect Keto.

What’s been your favorite culinary discovery since joining Cróga?
Realgood products. Keto doesn’t work well for everyone, but for some reason, it works REALLY well for me. For those of you who are trying to cut the carbs out there, there are tons of products that purport themself to limit sugar and refined carbohydrates, but do a terrible job of it. Companies are adding cauliflower to regular pizza dough and calling it healthy. A couple months ago I discovered Realgood products, and my god when you don’t want to fix dinner/lunch for yourself they have some awesome stuff. I have always enjoyed cooking, but when SiP happened and I had to start cooking lunches, I really wanted something I could just throw in the oven that would be delicious. If you haven’t tried their frozen stuffed chicken breasts (raw chicken wrapped in bacon and filled with cheese and super awesome fillings … not precooked … has to be cooked in the oven) … my god man, that saved my weekday lunches. I eat one every day. (Except Tuesday … Tuesdays are for tacos.)

My second favorite is cauliflower. Man, I had no idea how versatile cauliflower rice was, but I keep a bunch of seasoning mixes around that I do myself, and holy hell does that make a good side dish with just about any cuisine. The pre-riced stuff from the store is in larger chunks and you can make kind of a hash with it with all of the veggies you desire while throwing it in your own blender yields tiny little kernels that soak up flavor like nobodies business. I recently did mashed cauliflower and I had no idea how close it came to a potato puree … that scratched an itch I didn’t even realize I had. Absolutely delicious.

What’s your biggest fitness goal for this year?
Part of my shift in thinking now that I have been rolling along is a changing mindset over what goals look like. When I was morbidly obese the number on the scale meant everything. This severely distorted my view of my progress early on at Croga, as the way I felt (AWESOME) didn’t match up with rewarding numbers on the scale (didn’t move for a month!). This disconnect was confirmed when I started taking measurements and realized that my body was changing DRASTICALLY even if the numbers on the scale weren’t moving much.

This caused me to reconsider how I think about goals. I know I lost a lot of weight during shelter in place, but the weird thing is I was most proud of getting my first double under. I had wanted them so badly that Annie loaned me her jump rope (which is the only one I still use!) the day after the SiP announcement and I started working on them several times a week. I am still not great at them, but I get more every time! The sense of accomplishment when I got my first one (some of you were there on Zoom at 7 am when it happened) … I was giddy. I had to stop in the middle of the workout because I was giggling like a 10-year-old boy who just got his dream toy at Christmas.

I think this is a better way to think. Set a movement goal for myself and fitness will be achieved as a result of aiming for it. What I want MORE THEN ANYTHING next is a pull-up. Just one. I haven’t done one since high school. This is the biggest reason I can’t wait for the gym to open again.

After that is a handstand pushup. That one will take a while … but I WANT it!

What do you love about this type of fitness?
The people. I introduced myself to all of them by telling them they were in a brainwashed cult, and instead of chasing me out of the room, they insisted on indoctrinating me and becoming my friend. Can’t get much better than that!

What words of advice do you have for new members or people considering joining Cróga?

Start small and celebrate EVERY victory. Habits are formed over time. For me it looks like this:

I want to start working out. The only time I can do this is before work early in the morning.

– Gotta start with waking up early enough and not hitting my snooze button.
– Then I have to MAKE it to the gym(on time).
– Now I need to find a way to speed up my recovery so I can attend more classes.
– Now I need to make sure I do laundry frequently enough that I can attend more than twice a week.
– Now I need to figure out how to eat so I can perform better.

Notice how many of these things happen outside of the gym. Each of these is a goal that contributes to something bigger … and each of these completed successfully is a victory that should be celebrated. Breaking down your path into tiny achievable increments and then building and building and building becomes a habit. That is when you look back 6 months and realized you have changed your life and you didn’t even know it. You just wanted to get out of bed when the alarm goes off and now your clothes are too big!

Start small. Celebrate EVERY victory. If you don’t feel like you have something worth celebrating, re-examine your goals.

Anything to add that we didn’t touch on yet?

Don’t I talk too much already? We will end up with my life story here 🙂

Tara and Matt Are The June Members Of The Month

Kal and Ann-Marie Are The May Members Of The Month

Sticking with our theme of honoring multiple individuals for Member(s) of the Month during Shelter in Place, this month we've chosen the awesome couple, Kal and Ann-Marie. These two have been coming to Croga for awhile now, but where they live, traffic and their work schedules really only let them come to the gym once during the week and on the weekends. Once Shelter in Place hit though and they had nowhere to go and full access to Croga via Zoom, they both took it up a notch and started joining in Croga classes and working out together 6-7 days a week! To go along with that, the extra time spent training with their friends and working on their skills has delivered a laundry list of PRs and athletic firsts. Your hard work and dedication to improving your fitness during this Shelter in Place has been extremely motivating, Kal and AM! We can't wait to see you back at Croga so you can show off all your new skills and increased fitness. When did you each join Cróga? Kal: CJ brought me to a few partner workouts in 2018 and early 2019, and I had a great time. During the 2019 Open season, CJ convinced me to come to a Friday night lights and do 19.5 as my first workout, under the guise that he would do it with me. Then the big jerk went to China, so we FaceTimed him in and he was whispering in my ear to stop staring at it and pick up the bar while I basically died. The energy and the camaraderie from that night instantly hooked me, so we signed up not long after that. AM: CJ also brought me to a partner WOD as a gateway drug to Croga. It was pretty fun, but super tough. I really liked the competitive aspect as that is something that really motivates me in fitness. I love competing with the big dogs, even though I’m the tiny dachshund nipping at their heels. When we went to 19.5 I really loved the community and didn’t really want to leave. We signed up shortly after to do Saturdays since the commute during the week didn’t seem possible and we’ve been hooked since. What were you doing before for fitness? Kal: As you know, I come from a very fit family, so fitness has been an integral part of my life. As a child I played hockey (A Canadian playing hockey? Shocking!) and my family would go for long bike rides or rollerblading. I got big into weightlifting in my early 20’s and did it casually until I hurt my back pretty badly, then I swam a mile every day as part of the rehab. Before joining Croga I was coming off the back injury and feeling much stronger, so I was getting more seriously into powerlifting. That’s part of what drew Me to Croga, actually, was the fact that everyone I saw was more fit than me on things like running and the rowing machine, but they were actually slinging pretty big weights around too. I thought “maybe I can be super strong but ALSO fast!” So far the fast part hasn’t come yet, but I’m hoping one day it will. AM: Growing up for me was a stark contrast to Kal’s family. As a kid I hated bikes so I roller bladed around the neighborhood and my family played badminton. The only sports I did we’re in school, but I tore a ligament in my ankle early in high school and that was the end of it till late college. I did a bit of working out then but mostly cardio and continued that trend when I started working. I’ve had a lot of injuries to my joints so I never really got momentum working out until I moved in with Kal. Kal taught me some weight lifting and I did a minor amount of weights, but not too much. Minor squats, shoulder presses, curls. I got a bit stronger, but no where near where I’m at now. Now I’m so much more comfortable with weights and have a much better fitness tool belt. What improvements have you seen in the way you look, feel and perform? Kal: I am basically an entirely new person. When I joined Croga I was about 5 months into a massive weight loss journey where I lost over 55lbs, I had terrible cardio, no gymnastic skills to speak of, and was still very limited in my mobility and strength. If you ever get a chance, look at my sign-in photo; when I took that photo I was almost 200lbs! Imagine a pudgy little pug trying to run with a bunch of dobermans and greyhounds, and you have a pretty close approximation of my first few months at Croga. Now I’m more like a sleek dachshund running with the dobermans and greyhounds. I’m not very big and I’m not very fast, but I can work my little legs to keep up and sometimes even get on the board! Actually though, the way I feel and perform has drastically improved. Shortly before I joined Croga I was diagnosed with a rare bone disease that results in chronic joint pain and severely limits mobility and flexibility. My hips had started to fuse together. There were a lot of movements I never thought I’d be able to do: squatting more than 100lbs was impossible, sit-ups, toes to bar, even burpees were a struggle. The awesome coaches helped me scale movements and worked with me to slowly progress, and the improvements have been almost unbelievable. At my first bourbon and barbells I was able to squat 225lbs, which was more than I’d ever thought possible. More importantly, at my follow-up MRI in October, I was told that I had actually reversed the fusion in my hips. The doctor specifically said “Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it forever.” I have good days and bad days still, but Croga has helped me turn my bad days from “I can’t walk unassisted” to “Maybe I’ll only squat 185lbs today”. AM: My phone thinks I’m a different person! I was just coming off a big 30 lb weight loss when we started but I didn’t have much muscle or definition. Between Croga and Invisalign, my face shape has thinned out and changed, I’m also WAY more jacked. I’m starting to have resting definition in my arms which is just crazy and super cool. I also think I look way more proportional to my frame than I did which is very nice. Performance wise is like night and day, especially after increasing workouts during the quarantine. Even though old joint injuries are haunting me a bit, I’m much faster, much stronger, and my WOD scores show it. I’m finding that a lot of the movements that seemed impossible a year ago are now just in need of a bit of work. I’m a much different athlete than I was and feel way more like I’m actually competing with the guys than I did before. My doctor was also super impressed during my physical this year. Last year my blood work was all “just ok” this year he said “I wish my numbers were this good! What are you doing?!” What days and times do you usually join a Cróga OTB class? Kal: Before the quarantine, we were die-hard Saturday morning partner WOD people. AM and I would show up at 7:30AM and get in a quick bench with the boys, then crush the partner workout, then hang around for a little to do some mobility and have a nice chill Saturday with the lovely Croga community, then go home and I’d eat a 1000 calorie brunch before starting our day. We’d also go to the Wednesday powerlifting class, which was always a testosterone and pre-workout fueled blast of slinging big weights and making fun of Richard’s music choices. Since the quarantine, I’ve fallen into a pretty good routine for OTB: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I get up at the ungodly hour of 6:30AM, smash the 7:00AM crossfit class, eat a protein bar, and go back to sleep until 10:30AM or so, depending on when my first morning meeting started. Then I’d sign on to the 5:00PM class with AM and have a nice pick-me-up workout before making dinner and starting my evening conference calls. Tuesdays and Thursdays used to be 7:00AM crossfit, turn off my camera for my morning meetings because I’d still be shirtless and sweaty, then onto the 9:00AM ignite with Joy, but now it’s 7:00AM crossfit and then the Noon Ignite. If it’s a particularly fun one, I might also hop on the 5:00PM and do three-a-day. I’m definitely not addicted. I can stop whenever I want, ok?! Saturdays are ferda boys, so AM and I do a partner workout at 8:00AM, an ignite workout with Joy at 9:00AM, and I’m loving the new mobility workout at 10AM. Then I eat a 1000 calorie brunch and have a nap before starting my day. Sunday we’ll usually take some rest and do skill drills on a gymnastic skill I don’t have for 30 minutes to an hour. I’m hoping to have Double Unders before the quarantine ends! AM: The beginning of quarantine was really hard and I only really made it out to Saturdays. I felt like garbage and really only perked up when Kal dragged me to work out. Once things got a bit better work wise (I had been working China hours and was basically a walking zombie), I’ve been trying to make it out to 5pm (or noon if meetings get in the way) and get at least 4/5 weekdays in. As Kal said, the weekend is a team sport and we try to workout together. Saturday is such a marathon that my nutritionist had me add re-feeds on the weekend! By the way, it is super fun to finally have a skill I can crush Kal at (DUs) every Sunday on our “rest day”. That said, I did embrace the Croga spirit and give him some of the tips you guys gave me to help him along. What's your favorite WOD or CrossFit movement? Kal: My favorite crossfit movement is definitely dramatically taking off your shirt in the middle of a WOD to get that extra energy boost. But actually, one of my favorite WODs I’ve ever done was a simple 20 minute AMRAP partner workout of each partner trades rounds on a barbell complex: 3 deadlifts - 3 power cleans - 3 push jerks. The complex goes VERY fast and the movements aren’t particularly tough for that low rep scheme, but it gets real spicy real quick. I did it with Kenny and he obliterated me. My favorite movement is anything that involves a barbell. Except thrusters. Thrusters and I are not friends. Thrusters can be replaced with kettlebell swings and Farmer Carries on my list of things I like. Oh! I also REALLY loved 1776. That was probably one of my favorite Hero WODs, because there’s a lot of teamwork and communication, and variation in the movements. Also hearing Richard say “guys I think we’re done” every 5 minutes was pretty great. AM: I really dig DB snatches, most of the other skills I like are ones I’m still working on so I love/hate them (DUs and HSPUs). I agree with Kal though 1776 was the most fun ever! I also love when Brett comes to town and we do one “stupid and long” workout, something like 100 Curtis P’s for time, or the 1000 rep challenge. It’s not the workouts themselves that I’m overly crazy about, more just the ridiculousness and the fun of suffering with friends. What's your least favorite WOD or CrossFit movement? Kal: Honestly running. I hate running, which is sad because I used to love it. One of the side effects of my previous hip fusion is that the impact of running and having my center of gravity shifted forward like that is that it really lights up my lower back and deep in my hips after a while, so sustained running isn’t something I can do. Even worse is wall-ball runs. I’m getting much better at it, but I will always hate it. I also hate Double Unders. Actually, no, scratch that, I like Double Unders. I hate FAILING double-unders. I’ve been using the quarantine to work on getting them in the hopes that I will be a DU champ when we come back to the gym, and I look like a bad 50 Shades of Grey novel. I somehow managed to whip myself across the nose the other day. HOW?! I’m just waiting for the day I accidentally get my rope caught and it dramatically flings off my balcony down to the street 5 floors below. That will be fun to explain. AM: I’m not super crazy about push ups, probably because I’m bad at them, though I’m starting to improve a lot and I’ll probably feel better about them over time. I think my real disdain though is for wall walks. The huge push to learn HSPUs is to not have to scale to wall walks anymore. Also not a great fan of wall balls (as I’m sure is common in the tiny people club), mostly because to get it high enough I have to jump every time. EVERY time. They make me feel extra tiny. Any tips are appreciated (to preempt it: “Be taller” is not helpful. Looking at you, CJ.) "The Kal" WOD! What would it be? Oh, easy. I wrote this WOD for the WOD-writing contest and I’m still mad we haven’t done it. I call this one “The Filthy Pump”: 15 minute AMRAP: Max pushups - you can rest in yoga position, but every time you break and your quads touch the ground, do barbell complex: - 5 deadlift (135/95) - 5 power clean (135/95) - 5 front squat (135/95) Score is # of total pushups completed. I did a variation of this WOD with CJ and Brett a while back, and it is true to it’s name; you get the filthiest of pumps. It’s also absolutely gutting and a super fun challenge, and there are a few strategies involved: do I want to go for more pushups earlier and take it easy on the complex? Or stop the pushups before I fail and go hard on the complex? The combo of mental and physical aspects of Crossfit are fun to me, and this really covers both. "The Ann-Marie" WOD! What would it be? One that I like and do very often is: AMRAP 14 mins: 30 DUs 20 Alt. DB Snatches 10 Situps I used to scale this to single ropes, but I’m amped to try again with DUs. For me the snatches have to be at around 25lbs, but I’m hoping to pull that up over time. I think at this point I just need to do a little bit of form work. This workout though is why I held on with Dave so well during that one workout in the open. What’s your favorite post-workout routine? AM: Kal just looked over at me and raised his eyebrows suggestively. Maybe we’ll leave that part off. Kal: There’s no better feeling than a nice, warm post-workout shower. We generally like to have a big meal afterwards too, so going out for bagel sandwiches with the bench crew is always good, or going home and cooking some really good protein waffles and eggs. If the weather is nice, we also love to go chill in a hot tub for a while and stretch out. Oh, also, bicep curls. That’s immediately post-workout before any of that happens. What are your biggest fitness goals for the rest of this year? AM: probably HSPUs and kipping/higher volume pull-ups. The HSPUs to avoid wall walks and cause circus tricks are fun. The pull-ups to try and have for Murph next year. Oh! And 100lb bench. Ever since Dave mentioned on the podcast that he thought I’d get it, I’ve wanted it so badly. Only 5lbs to go. Kal: I really really really really really want to get a muscle-up. I can do weighted dips forever, I can do butterfly pull-ups, I just can’t seem to connect the two together. Also I’d like to make sure I continue to beat Mark G and CJ at workouts. Actually yeah, I’d take that over muscle-ups. Other than that, I’d love to get a 275lb bench, a 315lb squat, something more than 315lb deadlift, a 135lb snatch, and a 185lb Clean & Jerk. Those are very lofty goals, considering I don’t have a rack at home and I only recently got more than 100lbs for my bar, but I’d love it. What do you love about CrossFit? Kal: The community and the support is great. When I was just doing powerlifting on my own, I would enjoy putting on the music and just zoning out. Doing workouts at Croga where we come in early, hang out with the crew for a bit, then hit the workout hard and seeing everyone else working just as hard is such a great motivational drive to push myself. This shelter-in-place has been stressful for a social butterfly like me, and being able to log into the 7AM class, or 5PM class, and see a bunch of my friends ready to attack the day with me has been so uplifting. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the highlight of every day is logging in and throwing down with my crew, or hearing Cody say “What’s up guys”. AM: Of course the community, whenever I really don’t feel like working out I have this pull to go anyway to see my friends! I also really enjoy that the workouts are an hour max. One of the big barriers to entry I usually have is time and I can make an hour work. Plus that hour is so crammed full of movements and activity, it’s like two non-crossfit workouts. Which is just awesome! What words of advice do you have for people considering joining a CrógaOTB class? Kal: Just do it! Find a time that works for you and log in. Don’t worry about whether you can do the movements, or whether you’ll perform well. Everyone is there for fitness, fun, and friends. You will be welcomed in and the great coaches will find a modification for you that works, if needed. It’s a ton of fun, and it should be the best hour of your day. AM: It might seem insurmountable to commit. So just log in once to start. Pick one day and see how it goes. Once you get moving and laughing with everyone you’ll be energized to keep going with it, so don’t think about that, just one step at a time. Also, don’t look at the workout ahead of time or you’ll talk yourself out of it. Just go and everyone will take care of you. Anything to add that we didn't touch on yet? Kal: Honestly if you’re still here, I’m amazed. This was a lot of words that I wrote. Congratulations for making it this far! I really want to thank Croga for everything coach Dave, Cody, Jill, and all the wonderful coaches have done through this difficult time. The world is going crazy around us right now, and I’m so thankful to have a great community to support each other through this. I am so excited to get back in the gym soon. The first WOD we do will be a 10 minute AMRAP hugs. AM: Agreed! AMRAP hugs when we’re back! Thanks so much to all the coaches for laughing with us and helping us stay fit! You guys are the best!

The Okumura Family – April Members Of The Month

It is with great pleasure that I get to announce our first multi-person Member of the Month award, as we chose to honor the entire Okamura Family! Shawn has been a stalwart of the 6 am class for years now and is a model athlete when it comes to consistency, focus, and hard work. We have watched Shawn make consistent progress month over month and year over year and with the current Shelter in Place order, he was able to convince his family to join him daily at noon for our Zoom workouts. There's nothing we love more than watching our athlete's significant others and children join them on their health and fitness journey and having the entire Okamura fam in class every day is as good as it gets. Congratulations on an awesome month Shawn, Dori, Joey, Jack, Jayden, and Jessie! What are the names of each family member? Dori (my wife), Joey (18 & senior at WGHS), Jack and Jayden (13 & 8th grade at WGMS), Jessie (11 & 5th grade at Booksin Elementary). What's the order of family in height, tallest to shortest? I am the tallest (barely), then my son Jack (I pray he keeps growing... he sleeps so much lately that he had better be going through a growth spurt!), then Dori (barely) over middle daughter, Jayden, then Joey (our oldest daughter who hasn't grown since her freshman year) and then Jessie. What days and times do you usually join a Cróga OTB class? Noon class, try to make it 2x/week. Aside from me, no one in our house is an early riser by choice. Noontime works best. We get a great workout in together and then enjoy lunch as a family. The 6 am class would be my first choice, but given we do it outside in our backyard, I don't want to disturb our neighbors. What is each kid's favorite exercise? It wouldn't be accurate to describe any of the exercises as their "favorite". However, they prefer the workouts with ab exercises. Mainly because they are not disciplined to do them on their own. Jayden (my middle daughter) struggled with situps in the beginning and is now proud that she can do a few good ones in a row ? Oh... and they like happy penguins. For whatever reason, they amuse themselves by creating their own version of "happy penguins". What is each kid's least favorite exercise? Joey and I were literally stiff-legged walking after the 1st week. One of the 1st classes w/ them was something like 50 burpees and 100 air squats. After that, they tell me "no leg workouts Dad, I want to be able to go for runs". Has anyone learned any new skills or gotten better at something during the Cróga OTB classes? In all seriousness, I really appreciate the stretching before and after each workout. It has helped with their overall flexibility. 3 of the 4 play basketball and I believe the workouts are helping them tone and their increased flexibility and strength will help their game. What are your biggest fitness goals for the rest of this year? Hah! Like everyone else, we are just trying to get through the shelter in place! Ironically, the stay at home order has helped bring me back to Croga. I was on a 5-month "vacation" from Croga prior to April. Honestly, doing the Ignite workouts has already helped me achieve some goals: spending quality time together as a family and getting back into shape. What’s your family's favorite post-workout routine? I'm not sure what my family's favorite routine is, but I know mine is eating the lunch that my oldest, Joey, prepares for me after each workout! Which family member is the funniest? It depends on who is in the most pain during the workout. We tend to keep our Zoom attendance on mute. We don't want everyone else to hear our groaning and (sometimes) the kids complaining. The kids do seem to get a kick out of me when I am really struggling... somehow they find it very amusing when I am in pain and struggling through the workout. That's love for you, right? What is each person's favorite pizza topping? Jessie loves artichokes on her pizza. All of them enjoy loading up on veggie (arugula and spinach) and meat toppings when we hit MOD pizza. What words of advice do you have for people considering joining a CrógaOTB class? Just show up... through all this craziness, it doesn't matter as much how hard you go. What matters is that you show up, get some endorphins flowing, maintain some semblance of normalcy with a good workout, and connect with everyone else on the call. Anything to add that we didn't touch on yet? I'm grateful to the Croga coaches and how they are showing up. Hailey and Cody have been awesome. While I am familiar with the exercises, my family is not. They take the time to demonstrate the moves and continue to encourage us (just like how it was in the actual class).

Rocky Q. Is The March Member Of The Month

Since Rocky showed up at Croga late last year, he has been Mr. Consistent and has been an incredibly positive force on our 7 am class that has helped take everyone that attends that class time to a whole new level. Rocky walks in the door every day with a big smile on his face, something fun to laugh about during the warm-up and then when it's time to hit the WOD he's all business. Then, when the workout is complete, he's back to his fun-loving and hilarious self. And since we were all forced to shelter in place this last month, he has only taken his positivity and hard work to another level with his 7 am crew becoming even more consistent and crushing it daily with CJ and Annie on video.

Thanks for always working hard and having fun Rocky! We can't wait to see you back at the box at 7 am in May!!!

When did you join Cróga? Oct 2019

What were you doing before for fitness? Bro workouts. Mostly weights, no cardio, no mobility. Chest day was the best day.

What was your first workout? First reaction to your first workout? The first session had a load of wall balls. I thought I waited long enough between lunch and gym time. I thought wrong...anyhow, post-workout was great, the atmosphere was good, and I wanted more.

What improvements have you seen in the way you look, feel and perform? Morning workouts @ Cróga are what sets the tone for the day, be it weekday or weekend. I look leaner, feel stronger, and come back wanting to get better each time. I've chosen to eat cleaner and reduce alcohol intake, mainly so I don't feel so sluggish for the workouts. It's been small habits that I've been changing for the long-term.

What days and times do you come to Cróga? Most Days minus Sunday @ 7am. 7am solidarity crew.

What's your favorite WOD? DT, so far.

What's your least favorite WOD? WODs that contain wall balls and thrusters!

"The Rocky" WOD! What would it be? Cal Rowing, Clean & Jerk and... I ran out of ideas.

What’s your favorite post-workout routine? 1. Drink protein shake 2. Drink some coffee 3. Probably not in that order. If it's the weekend, I like getting the outside chores done immediately after coming back from the workout(s).

What's been your favorite culinary discovery since joining Cróga? I've relied on eggs, every which way, for meals throughout the day. The ease of making them and adding whatever I need, greens, other proteins, etc. Oh, and the air fryer is so useful!

What's your biggest fitness goal for this year? There's a lot of goals, but one my bigger ones that I've focused on was getting under the bar for my Oly lifts. I realized I can't power everything and avoid my weakness lol

What do you love about CrossFit? 1. Albeit, Cróga is my first CF gym, the camaraderie and sense of community is unreal. Iron sharpens iron. 2. The variety of workouts. If you have a strength, good. If you have a weakness, good. You're in good company.

What words of advice do you have for new members or people considering joining Cróga? Commit. Commit to showing up, and do the work. Your mind and body will appreciate it in the long run. Some days will be bad, some days will be good. Keep it positive.

Anything to add that we didn't touch on yet? During this shelter-in-place, I've seen the leadership of Cróga shine, from coaches to members. From Cróga adapting all workouts to virtual to the members loaning gear to one another and organizing workouts with others to keep each other motivated, these are the moments that I'll remember for a long time. Proud to be part of this group of amazing people. Thank you to the Cróga coaches and members, current and former, and I look forward to our next workouts together.

There is no quit in this group, and I'm happy to have found Cróga.

Annie S. Is The February Member Of The Month

Annie came to us about 6 months ago as an experienced CrossFitter and every single day she's in class at 7 am is an absolute pleasure. Despite years of experience, she listens intently, is open to feedback, and makes the necessary adjustments and because of this we've really seen her take her CrossFit game to a new level. And, on top of that, she started with us as a Croga Nutrition client a few months ago and has been absolutely killing it on her macros and in the gym because of it. A few weeks ago she told me that she hasn't slept this soundly in years and she has a whole new level of energy in the mornings and throughout her day now that she's being fueled correctly and I couldn't be happier. Annie is a wonderful athlete to honor as our Member of the Month because she is an incredible person to strive to be more like. She's kind, fun, thoughtful, and dedicated to improving as a human daily. Congrats on your success so far at Croga, Annie! We can't wait to see what the next 6 months and beyond hold for you. When did you join Cróga? September 2019, after almost 2 and a half years at another box. What were you doing before for fitness? 16 years as a swimmer. And then quite a few more attempting to recover from that post-retirement 🙂 What was your first workout? First reaction to your first workout? At Croga? I dropped into one of Coach Hailey's classes for a DT like WOD. Think my feelings were something along the lines of "Yes, I'd like all of the barbell please...crap, that got heavy." First ever Crossfit WOD? I definitely remember doing Fran for the first time during my on-ramp classes. "Well that was awful...When can we do it again?" What improvements have you seen in the way you look, feel and perform? The biggest improvement I've seen is in my general confidence, in and out of the gym. Not being afraid to get outside of my comfort zone (embracing it, actually). The PR's along the way are a fun bonus too 🙂 What days and times do you come to Cróga? Every weekday at 7am and Sundays! What's your favorite WOD? Crossfit Total is fun. Or maybe DT. Who doesn't love to lift all of the heavy things? What's your least favorite WOD? Tommy Mac stole part of my soul. "The Annie" WOD! What would it be? Probably something with a gross amount of rowing or bike. Maybe a shoulder to overhead situation. Or a kettlebell. And not a burpee to be found. What’s your favorite post-workout routine? Sundays! Post-fitness coffee/breakfast bestie catch-up. What's been your favorite culinary discovery since joining Cróga? It's not exciting, but blending protein into my coffee in the morning before coming into the gym has been a game-changer. I'm also having fun experimenting with whatever I've got in my refrigerator. What's your biggest fitness goal for this year? Gah! There are so many! All of the gymnastics, continuing to improve and get consistent with my double unders, I'd love to deadlift 300# (that's probably more than a year goal...) Maybe the biggest one though is to refine my clean/snatch technique, especially squat cleans/snatches. I want to be more comfortable getting under a bar quickly. What do you love about CrossFit? The challenge!! Every day I know I'm going to do something that pushes me outside of my comfort zone either physically or mentally (most of the time, both). That is so empowering. What words of advice do you have for new members or people considering joining Cróga? Show up! ESPECIALLY on the days that you don't want to and for the workouts that scare you. You'll never regret it. Be prepared to try things that intimidate you, to fail, and to get back up when you do. And on the days that you're not physically at your best, immerse yourself in lifting up someone else. You'll be amazed at what it does for your mood (and your fitness!)