August Athlete of the Month: Jason Cerny
Congratulations, Jason! You are our August Athlete of the Month!!!
We would like to formally introduce Jason to our NoCoast community as our newest Coach! Jason has been working hard over the past month getting ready to jump into a coaching role here at the gym; you can expect to see him coaching early mornings on Mondays and in the evenings on Thursdays starting the first week of August.
Outside of all the coaches prep, Jason has also been super dedicated to the gym, personally, over the past several months. He has been pushing our workouts hard, coming super consistently, and putting in the extra time and effort working on his mobility, refining his Oly and gymnastics skills, and getting the extra Black Track work completed. He is beyond deserving of our athlete of the month recognition.
We are excited to have Jason on our Coaching team and can’t wait to see him leading our classes!
Quotes from Jason:
“I think that more than anything, CrossFit has really helped me with stress management. No matter what sort of day I am having, I know that I can always go to the gym for an hour, and leave feeling better than when I walked in.”
“Nutrition plays a huge role in my fitness and recovery. I eat a fairly clean, mostly Paleo diet. I can notice almost immediately when I start working out, if I have not been properly fueling my body.”
Age/Weight:
33/180
Athletic/Sports history/highlights:
Growing up, I was always an active child. I basically lived outside, and never really understood my friend’s obsession with video games. I played football through high school, and through that, developed a love for weight training. I remained somewhat active through college and the years following, but as work became more and more stressful, my health and fitness seemed to become less and less important, until my friend finally convinced me to try a CrossFit class.
How long have you been CrossFitting?
I have been actively CrossFitting for a total of about 2 1/2 years.
How did you get into CrossFit?
After probably about a year or two of trying, one of my good friends convinced me to try a class at a box near my work. Between my competitiveness, my need for some sort of a stress release, and the fact that CrossFit challenges you in ways that you would have never even imagined, I think that he knew that I would love it.
What is your favorite WOD/CrossFit movement?
My favorite CrossFit movements are probably Cleans, Snatches, and HSPUs
What is your least favorite WOD/CrossFit movement?
This has changed from when I first started CrossFit, but currently, probably Burpees and Box Jumps………. So Burpee Box Jumps.
What is your most memorable CrossFit moment?
My most memorable CrossFit moment was probably participating in an event at my previous gym, which was very accurately named 24 Hours of Fitness, and included a Hero WOD every hour, on the hour, for 24 hours. I was able to convince the restaurant that I was managing at the time to be one of the event sponsors, and we were able to raise a bunch of money and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project in the process.
How does nutrition play a role in your fitness and recovery?
As it should, nutrition plays a huge role in my fitness and recovery. I eat a fairly clean, mostly Paleo diet. I can notice almost immediately when I start working out, if I have not been properly fueling my body. I have recently signed up for a nutrition course through Precision Nutrition, in hopes of adding to what I already know about nutrition, as well as really dialing in what exactly my body needs to perform.
How has CrossFit improved your overall wellness?
I think that more than anything, CrossFit has really helped me with stress management. No matter what sort of day I am having, I know that I can always go to the gym for an hour, and leave feeling better than when I walked in.
What do you enjoy about coaching? And how do you hope to help/lead our members as a coach?
I think that the thing that I enjoy the most about coaching is helping an athlete learn a new skill, or improve on a skill that they already have. I know that for me, learning something new always gives me such a sense of accomplishment, and I really enjoy helping others to get that same feeling. I hope to lead by example, and am really looking forward to getting to know all of the members that do not normally see while working out at the gym. I am an open book, so feel free to come up and chat with me or ask me about anything, especially if you have some recipes that you think that I absolutely need to try.
Advice to new people:
I think that the best advice that I could offer to athletes who are new to CrossFit, is to be patient, and that frustration is the enemy. Learning a new skill takes time, and learning to perform that skill effectively takes a lot of practice. Letting yourself become frustrated only makes that learning process more difficult. This is something that I struggled with when I first started CrossFit, and I’m sure that I am not alone.