Nate is PUSH511's April Member of the Month!
Nate has been a dedicated member of PUSH511 for nearly a year and is now a regular part of our early morning CrossFit group class crew. He not only shows up consistently but also embraces coaching feedback with a great attitude. Beyond his own progress, Nate is always cheering on others and contributing to the supportive, inclusive vibe that makes our community special. That’s exactly why our coaching team loves having Nate in class:
Nate is part of the bro 6 am morning group, but like a more, stealth, quiet, athlete. He isn't loud or flashy, but you definitely see him in the corner of your eye in the workout staying right with you or pulling ahead of you. He is a great all around athlete - has a great engine, awesome strength, and is supportive of all his fellow 6 am members! He is also a super interesting dude - has lived in many different places, has an interesting job and is super down to earth!
Nate is a powerhouse in the gym. While he may be quiet, he’s got grit and determination to get through workouts. He’s a coachable athlete, which is awesome, and he’s been someone that others have looked up to with his strength. He’s been a fellow 6am’er that will suffer, moan, and groan with us, then be around for the high fives. Now if he could just wake up on Monday mornings to hang out with us. :)
Nate is a strong, fit athlete. Love that he’s super coachable and willing to get better at anything so he’s always willing to receive feedback. It’s always fun seeing him crush workouts during any hour of the day.
Now, let's get to know our April Member of the Month!
When did you start CrossFit? I did CrossFit for a couple of years back in 2016-2017 when I lived in Nebraska. Then I moved out east and didn't pick it back up until September of last year (when I joined PUSH511!).
What's your fitness background? I played sports up through high school (football, basketball) and did the standard intramurals in college. After that, I've always pretty consistently gone to the gym (but not in an "organized sports" sense).
What’s your favorite CrossFit movement? Oh that's a hard one! I like rope climbs because they're novel (but then when more than 4-5 get thrown into a workout, it quickly loses its fun. Most broadly, I think deadlifts are probably my favorite (in all ways: high reps/low weight, low reps/high weight).
What’s your least favorite movement? Anything that involves a pull-up bar. I hate pull-ups, toes to bars, knees to elbow, dead hangs... all of it.
What do you do for work? I work with power companies to help get more energy-efficient equipment and appliances adopted. It's a pretty wonky job. If you've ever gotten a rebate for buying an efficient refrigerator or a home energy audit from BG&E, my job is the technical work that supports those programs.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family. My family is spread all over the Western Hemisphere. I was raised in the western US, and I have a couple siblings still out there (L.A. and Nevada), but my parents and other siblings are currently living in South America (my parents are in Brasil, and my sister and her family are in Peru). They work in the natural resource industry, and their jobs took them down there, so they live in some pretty beautiful places!
Tell us something we don't know about you! Beyond what's above....hmm. I lived about a third of my life in Canada! Not Canadian, but I used to live in northern Ontario and British Columbia.
What do you enjoy most about PUSH? The motivation that PUSH provides is so great! I came back to Crossfit because I was struggling to motivate myself to exercise, and the workouts and community are so helpful in staying committed.
What tips would you offer someone who is just getting started with working out? Write down your workouts. We recently re-tested some workouts that we did in early fall right when I started and being able to see my progress has been great!
What's your favorite song to work out to? Any fast-paced song (most genres apart from rap)
What's your favorite restaurant? Sally O's in Highlandtown. Great burger and great drinks.
What does your frequently used emoji tab look like? (That lobster can convey a myriad of emotions).
Words to live by or favorite quote? "Shy kids don't get ice cream". This is something a college professor used to say to remind people that you have to ask for what you need or you're never going to get it. If you don't ask, you probably won't get it.
What's your favorite travel spot? Too many to count. I've been on a National Parks kick recently, and Acadia NP in Maine is my most recent favorite.
If you could win an Olympic gold medal for any sport, real or fake, what would it be? Nothing. I'm not good enough at anything to be Olympic caliber (apart from maybe ham and cheese croissant eating; shout out to Ovenbird, it's top notch!)
What's your hidden talent? I am really good at Microsoft Excel. It's not something that usually comes up between double-unders.
What are your top five favorite movies? This is hard, and very dependent on the day. I can give you 5 of my favorite movies right now:
- The Commitments
- Dune 2
- Tropic Thunder
- Predator
- U.S. Marshals
