Mooch Man – Member of the Month

IMG_3867 soccer pre-CrossFit

Muscle Up Mooch
Muscle Up Mooch

This has been a long time in the making.  Mooch broke his leg a while back and instead of using it as an excuse to feel bad for himself, he continued to hit the gym everyday in his cast… rowing, box jumping and burpee-ing all with one leg!!!!  Talk about dedication.

You can constantly find Mooch working mobility before and after WODs and chatting it up with newbies and veteran CrossFitters a like.  He even  got his younger brother involved in CFS.  More recently, Mooch has been bitten by the competitors bug and is throwing his hat in the ring for the Opens this year.  We are honored to have Mooch as a big part of our community and want to thank him for being our Member of the Month!  Now more from the Mooch Man himself…

How did you get involved in CrossFit? Well, it took some convincing as I was a big naysayer at first. Ashley and her roommate Jen aka JBo 1.0 had been doing Crossfit for a year or two and kept talking about it. I kept turning them down when they would ask me to try it. “I can do it on my own” was always the comment I gave them. Being a former college athlete, one thinks they are always at some level of “in shape”. But in reality, a flight of stairs winds us! And the only shape I was maintaining was a 35 inch waist.

As the post college years kept on rolling, I kept on eating, thinking I was still “in shape” while not doing a fraction of the hours working out/practicing that I did in college. I noticed I was getting slower on the field, my mind knew I could do certain things but my body just wouldn’t cooperate. Then some injuries started popping up, ankle, hamstring, groin…all downhill from there.

The final straw was when we returned from a long weekend on Nantucket where for four straight days I was putting down beer, burgers, hot dogs and chips. The burgers were incredible!! Come to find out they tasted so good because there was 32 grams of saturated fat per burger! Yeah, I had easily 20 burgers that weekend. Long story short, I ended up putting on 10+ pounds in four days. Ash and Jen did the math and I was putting on 2.6 pounds per day! Something had to change. I finally agreed to start Crossfit.

What was your first WOD/experience? I am not 100% certain what the WOD was. I think it may have been deadlifts and pull ups, 4 rounds for time. I collapsed after and didn’t move for 15 minutes. My body was in shock; I was in pain for two days! But one early experience that I always laugh about to this day was my first garage games competition, a mere 17 WODs/classes into my Crossfit experience. One of the later WODs in the competition was GI JOE aka GI YOU ARE DEAD, with a 95lb overhead squat, 20 reps midway through the WOD. I struggled with this like you wouldn’t believe; you could have used a sun dial to time me. I remember dropping the weight on rep 19 of 20 and Jay Dionne yelling at me for being a sally for dropping it before I hit 20. Then the next heat: TJ O’Neil stepped into the lane. I sat there watching, laughing to myself about how bad I was because TJ knocked out 20 reps of 95lb overhead squat before I finished tying my shoe!

When did you start coming to CrossFit Southie? I started August 2011.

Is this the first CrossFit you’ve worked out at / how long have you been CrossFitting for? I have been doing Crossfit for a year and a half. This is the first box I have worked out in but I have visited other boxes and they pale in comparison to Southie. We are pretty spoiled at Southie with all of the space, class times at top and bottom of the hour, great coaches, massages, yoga and the community.

When did you realize that CrossFit was right for you? I knew CF was for me immediately after my first WOD! Also the focus on mobility got me excited. I kick myself for being such a Debra about not getting into it sooner. If I knew about all this stuff in college, I would have been a machine!! Who knew foam rolling, ART and flossing could fix any and all body pain. Not one of my coaches or trainers ever mentioned this growing up. I would get yelled at for stretching too much!! Many thanks to Berretta and Goose for showing me how to loosen up my heel cords, calves and hamstrings; it helped me avoid another surgery.

What are you short-term and long-term CrossFit goals? Short-term goals are to hit a 165lb. squat snatch, get my Fran time under four minutes and master pistols. Long-term goals are to build my strength to TJ O’Neil warm up weight, get free standing HSPUs and maybe, just maybe earn a spot on a Southie team and a trip to regionals.

What is your biggest accomplishment? Biggest accomplishment so far is being able to do anything overhead as well has hold a solid front rack position. My overhead squat and thrusters are getting better every week. Coming into crossfit I was unable to do anything overhead with authority. All my baseball training stayed away from strength overhead, as we needed flexibility to throw. Before CF, I was never taught to combine the two.

What is your favorite / least favorite WOD/movement? My least favorite movement is high bar back squat. I just don’t enjoy it at all! My favorite, by far, is muscle ups.

What do you do for a profession outside of CrossFit? I work for Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management. We work with high net worth clients in all areas from estate planning, investment management, taxes, charitable giving, etc. I am also in the process of getting my CFP (certified financial planner).

What are your hobbies outside of CrossFit? I play a lot of sports still. I played soccer and baseball in college and still try to play whenever I can. I started skating again a couple times a week as well. Pretty much anything active I love.

Do you eat Paleo or Zone? What is your favorite paleo/non-paleo meal? I eat paleo. This is a huge change/improvement from what I was doing before. Most would call my previous diet AMFAP: As Much Food As Possible! Cleaning up the diet has helped me a lot with energy, mentally and physically. I do throw in a cheat snack once in a while.

One of my favorite paleo foods is Egg Muffins because they are so versatile. You can make a couple dozen of these things and you can have them for breakfast, lunch, pre/post workout snacks, etc.

My favorite non-paleo food has to be Mom and Pop’s homemade raviolis!!! Pair that with some homemade meatballs and it’s a party! 18 raviolis and 7 meatballs later I wish I never went to the party! Haha
Fun fact?

    1. The Notebook, love it!
    2. I broke both my arms, in a 72-hour period, playing soccer in college. Yes, soccer. I kept playing with the casts. It was a sight to see let me tell you!
    3. I use more facial moisturizers then most women.

Strength
Low Hang Power Clean (Full Stall)
3-3-3-3-3

WOD
15 Minute AMRAP
10 Kettlebell swings (2,1.5)
10 Box jumps (24,20)
10 Hand Release Pushups

L2 – (1.5/1)
L1 – (1.25/.75)