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).
