Anyone that has met Yev knows that he deserves this award and may even be surprised to hear that he’s never been MOTM before.
Yev joined Croga just before SIP and has made amazing progress to all of his fitness and biceps since then. Yev can lift heavy weights but also can hit a Ring Muscle Up on any given day. He is also a Push Up master!
Yev will introduce himself to anyone he doesn’t know and has a way of making all newbies feel welcome at the gym. One of my favorite Yev quotes was spoken during a Sunday class; I asked everyone in class if they did anything fun over the weekend, and he responded with, “Coming here (Croga) is the fun thing I am doing this weekend.” This is a well deserved award for a great man.
When did you join Croga?
December 2019
What were you doing before for fitness?
Little bit of soccer, regular gym (pretty much just bodybuilding exercises and NO cardio)
What was your first workout? First reaction to your first workout?
First workout that I counted as the real workout was Helen (part of the intro). I thought I was in good shape before joining Croga, but boy was I wrong….after round 1, I looked at Cody and was – “You want me to go do 2 more rounds? Really???” Didn’t puke, but that definitely put things in perspective in terms of my fitness level…That workout haunted me until I redid it at the Helen for Hounds event, and improved my time by 4 or 5 minutes – progress!
What improvements have you seen in the way you look, feel and perform?
I see improvements everywhere – my body started looking better, my fitness performance increased to new levels I couldn’t even imagine and I feel great!
What days and times do you come to Croga?
My usual days are Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday (but sometimes it depends on work meetings – I hate when work gets in the way of my fitness). 4:30 is my personal favorite – enough time to recover until the next morning.
What’s your favorite WOD?
That is a really tough question…I recall I wanted to do Chief and then ended up hurting my back (bad technique). I do love workouts with pull-ups, some lifting, PUSH UPS, pretty much whatever coaches program, except for overhead squats, sorry Ari đ Bar muscle ups are cool, again, everything that Cody/Ari program (except for overhead squats, yes, again). Squat cleans, and bench press are awesome…oh and I also hate the assault bike.
What’s your least favorite WOD?
Anything that combines running, rowing, assault bike – I think Paula’s MOTM was the roughest one….and Steve’s 4X25, that was rough. Cannot really recall a workout that I strongly did not like (I mostly don’t like my performance in a workout, but that sounds like a personal issue, so I can’t blame a workout for that)
“The Yev” WOD! What would it be?
I thought a lot more about creating my own workout than you think (was preparing for this moment for a while). Below is the best I could come up…
15 min AMRAP
6 Chest to Bar Pull Ups (or close enough scaling option)
6 Power Cleans (135/95)
6 Burpees over the bar
Whatâs your favorite post-workout routine?
Food and then couch. I am getting old.
What’s been your favorite culinary discovery since joining Croga?
FITAID RX. Not even kidding here đ
What’s your biggest fitness goal for this year?
Get stronger! I feel like I can lift heavier weights, and should be getting more PRs. One thing I need to watch out for is technique – when going fast I tend to ignore the technical side of a particular exercise.
What do you love about this type of fitness?
Almost everything – lifting heavy things for a lot of reps, who doesn’t love that!
What words of advice do you have for new members or people considering joining Croga?
You have to try it out (for new members) – you will stay for the community, great coaches, fitness level will improve and lots of fun time during classes. Don’t quit if you feel that you can’t lift heavy things or too slow – everyone has their own pace, start light and then build up and you will improve and get better. Croga is a great place for competition – you’re competing with your old self, pushing for new limits, new weights, new skills and new friends.
Anything to add that we didn’t touch on yet?
I think that covers everything, but I couldn’t find cool pictures of me (I have a boring life). I attached some, one with my girlfriend that beat my ass in the Helen for Hounds by like a minute….shouldn’t have invited her đ
