Athlete of the MonthNovember
How old / young are you? I am 42 years old…much younger than John Hand. What is your occupation? Managing Director at Riveron. I do accounting and finance consulting. I shuffle numbers around until you like them. When did you join Widespread CrossFit? I joined WSCF in May 2017. Why did you decide to give CrossFit a try? I had been intrigued by CrossFit for several years before actually joining. I’ve always enjoyed working out as part of a team / group. I tried Orange Theory before coming over to WSCF but found that even though it was a group environment, there was very little interaction between people working out. I appreciate the chance to interact and have fun (different definition than Matt for “fun”, but I digress…) while working out. What was your athletic background before starting CrossFit? I used to be a pretty decent tennis player (way) back in the day, but since then I have generally remained active through various races, triathlons and random gym classes. What changes in your health, physique, and overall performance have you seen since starting CrossFit? I am completely ripped now…kidding. I have gotten much stronger in both my upper and lower body and my aerobic WOD times have consistently improved so I must be in better cardiovascular shape. Also, I did the nutrition program for only one month and the physical changes during that short time were pretty amazing for me…now if I could just do that every month, but that’s another story. What advice would you give to someone with regards to starting CrossFit? Yes, even you can do it. There is a scale option for everyone. Give it a try…you might just like it! Also, I would encourage someone just starting to take the care to learn proper form. What is your favorite and least favorite CrossFit exercises / movement? My favorite CrossFit exercises are the Olympic lifts. I really enjoy the full body lifts that require strong technical form to do properly. I especially like it when we have 1 rep max days with the Olympic lifts as it’s fun to see how I’ve progressed. My least favorite exercise is anything with the word “sled” in the description. These get my heart rate so high so fast. A year ago, I would have said burpees but I think I’ve improved with these so maybe someday I will say the same for sled pulls and pushes. What is your most memorable CrossFit moment so far? I have had many CrossFit moments that I look back fondly on, including competing in the Open, completing my first Murph (no matter how scaled it was), the marathon row event and even struggling mightily with the Karen WOD (not all memorable moments are moments of greatness!). However, my favorite moment would probably be knocking out my first kipping pull-up then learning to link them together. I was pretty proud of myself for knocking out something that had been on my goals list for quite a while. What do you like to do outside of CrossFit? Hang with the fam and neighbors, play the occasional round of golf, skiing. What is your favorite “cheat” food or meal? A good IPA. What is something people would be surprised to know about you? That I am the athlete of the month. Who or what inspires you the most? I am inspired by family to stay healthy so that we can always do the things together that we want to do. What is one goal you would like to accomplish through CrossFit One goal…yeah right! If I had to narrow it down to one goal it would be to stick with it. I really enjoy CrossFit and it has had a positive impact on my health and life.
