Athlete of the Month

Congratulations Patrick (aka Silver Fox, aka Gandoff)

Hometown: Bensalem, PA 

Current Location: Malvern, PA 

Age: 49 (3 months to the big "50" - August 1st)       

Occupation: President of an Electronics Company       

College:  BS LaSalle University / MBA Villanova      

How long have you been a CrossFitter?  Coming up on 4 years

Did you ever play sports?   Have always been active and involved in sports and outdoor activities (Soccer, Basketball, Track, Tennis).  I have a hard time sitting still and fortunately ADD/ADHD was not well known when I was a kid.  Had they been I would have likely been drugged up my entire childhood.     Fortunately, that was not the case and I was allowed to run free and be wild. 

       

Got some cool (or uncool) hobbies you'd like to share?  Avid skier and traveler.  Love to explore and try new things.  Moved around quite a bit with my career and have always enjoyed traveling with my wife and 3 daughters.

What is your biggest achievement at CrossFit?  Honestly, I think my biggest achievement at CrossFit is learning to take it less seriously.  Initially, I was intense about the WOD's and more focused on how much weight I could lift, how many reps I could do or how fast I could do a WOD.  I've learned (and this took some time) to focus more on the basics and less on the results.  I am no longer interested in my one rep maxes and have learned to scale when needed to focus more on form.  Don't get me wrong, I am intense by nature and love a good workout, but I've definitely turned a corner here and have lightened up a bit.        

What do you feel that you still need to work on?   LOL - this could take some time.  Flexibility/Mobility for sure as I still cannot front rack and have little to no shoulder mobility.  Not a good thing when you spend more on your chiropractor than you do on your membership.  Also need to work on cardio/endurance so should be hooking up with Coach Tim and participating in the Thursday endurance sessions.  Squats are an issue as well.  I've had numerous knee surgeries and have a tough time squatting.  I think this is more in my head though and if I work at it I will become more comfortable with the movement.   I have been trying to do more WOD's involving squats and scaling the weight and this has helped.  I also need to work on technique/form when taking the bar from the ground.  I continue to use my strength and am not popping at the hip to generate momentum.  Pull ups need work as well.  I'm stuck between a kip and a butterfly and too quickly move to singles when I get tired.

Goals for the rest of this year?   Happy to be turning 50 this year and happy to still be working out and active.  My goals for the rest of the year are to focus on the areas above and to continue to focus on my work/life balance.  I view life as having 3 primary components that need to be equally balanced.  Work life, Home Life (spouse, partner, family) and Personal/Yourself.   There are obviously times in life where these 3 components rightfully get out of balance but I believe it is good to find a healthy balance.

What's your favorite WOD? I love the longer chipper WOD's - Eva, Filthy 50, etc.  With the shorter, high-intensity workouts I like Isabel & Grace      

How about your favorite food/snacks? From a liquid perspective, I love my Kettel One Vodka & Club.    On the food front, my vice is salt.  I can live without sugar, candy, etc but love my chips, cashews or anything salty.  Also, love a great steak with a great bottle of wine.

What is the craziest workout outside of CF you have ever done?   We do some pretty crazy stuff at CrossFit and I can honestly say there is nothing outside of CF that comes close.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed I'd be doing Olympic lifts, rope climbs, wall ascents, handstand pushups, tire rolls, double unders, farmer carries, etc at this stage of my life.   

What’s your least favorite WOD?  FRAN!!!!   This is absolutely the most miserable and difficult WOD for me.  While I don't mind the pull ups, thrusters destroy me.  Not having a front rack I carry the bar in front of me when I squat.  With the bar not resting on my shoulder I cannot generate any upward momentum when thrusting upward.  The result is two moves instead of one.  A thruster for me is a front squat followed by a shoulder press.      

Favorite lift/movement?      Pretty comfortable in a handstand and like handstand push ups and handstand walks.  Also like to Snatch.   My form still needs work as I pull too early and don't generate enough momentum popping at the hip.

What’s your least favorite lift/movement? THRUSTER!!!! - This move sucks!  See comments under least favorite WOD above. 

What skill are you planning working on in the new year 2015 the most ?  Mobility.  I cant focus on form improvements and skills until I improve my mobility and flexibility.       

Whats your favorite piece of workout "gear"?   Not a big "gear" guy.  Love my Rouge jump rope though.      

What would you say is your biggest improvement since starting CF?  I've always enjoyed working out, but fell out of shape for a while raising kids and focusing on my career.  Since starting CrossFit I now weigh what I weighed in college and can arguably say that I am in better shape than I was then.  I also have developed a mental toughness or attitude that allows me to do things or push through things that I would not have in the past.        

Who is your favorite coach?   This is a tough question as there is great diversity amongst the coaches and you all have different strengths.  I have definitely learned something from all of you.  Doing the evening WOD's I have more exposure to some coaches over others.  Having said that, and not knowing exactly why, I find Jason pushes me in a way that motivates me and pushes me through the pain.   

PR's to mention? Goals Reached? Nutrition highlights?..   PR's in 2015 include Diane (9:01), Grace (3:21) and Isabel (3:01).

I've enjoyed getting to know the coaches and athletes at the Box.  I love the diversity and camaraderie and have a great time working out with you all.