February 2023--Joseph Toenjes

1.Tell us about yourself, your family, your occupation, hobbies/interests.
I am married to Angel (AKA Angeline) and we live in Paxico with our eight children. We homeschool which is insane, but we do it. My main occupation is that of an importer: I import beer from Europe and soon mezcal from Mexico. As far as hobbies I love fencing, horseback riding, sailing, and reading. I also run a discussion group of the great books out of my home and I’m looking into starting a youth or boys good books discussion group shortly.
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2. When do you start CrossFitting? Why did you start? Why do you continue now?
I have been CrossFitting for about a year and a half. Dr Carroll mentioned it to me several years ago but I just thought the distance was too much. But then Ben Cleveland came along and said: “I go to CrossFit why can’t you?” so I thought I’d give it a try and here I am still plugging away. As to why I’m still coming, because I’ve never felt better in many years.


3. Do you remember your first WOD? What were your thoughts after your first WOD?
​ My first WOD—-it’s just a blur but I do remember the first workouts and how embarrassed I felt with my total lack of athletic abilities. What amazed me always is how patient and helpful not only the coaches are but also the other guys doing the workouts.


4. What do you enjoy most about CrossFit?
I love the challenge that it presents to me at every single WOD. I never feel like I’m wasting my time since there is indefinite room for improvement.


5. What is your proudest CrossFit moment?
​ My proudest CrossFit moment was when I was finally able to do a kipping pull up! That took well over a year to finally get that somewhat down and, and it definitely shows the amazing talent of the coaches in the class if they could get even me to do one of those pull ups


6. What is your favorite movement or lift? What is your least favorite?
I love anything that requires a lot of core strength, such as jerks, or even wall balls. What I hate are overhead squats


7. Have you had one or two challenging CrossFit goals that you've achieved recently? What are your current goals and how close are you to reaching them?
​The biggest goal that I’ve achieved has been to do a kipping pull up. My goal this year is to get to where I can do 10 in a row.



8. What makes CrossFit different from other fitness programs that you might have tried in the past?
​I have never been in a fitness program in the past, so this is all new to me and I doubt there’s anything better out there


9. What impact has CrossFit Benedictus had on your life, in and out of the gym?
​ By being in fit for probably the first time in my life, I’ve noticed that my sleep is much better and sounder, and my appetite is more consistent. I also think it has helped my will to become stronger. As far as in the box, I really love the camaraderie with the guys


10. Tell us about your nutrition and how it has changed, if any, since starting CrossFit?
​ I tend to eat fairly healthy, but not because I look for healthy options because I look for the best tasting options and that typically is the healthiest option. Most everything that we eat at home is made from scratch, for example. I also love good beer and drink it every day, as well as wine occasionally and spirits.


11. If you could write a WOD for the classes to do, what would it look like?
​ It would include a lot of push-ups, pull ups, and running



12. What advice do you have for others about the importance of the dedication of taking care of yourself, of investing in yourself?
Taking care of oneself is the only way to be happy, and if one takes care of oneself physically for the right reasons, then that will also spill over into the spiritual life. I remember someone once complimented me on keeping my car clean and they mentioned that someone who takes care of the exterior is probably also paying attention to the interior. Ultimately, we are body and soul, and it’s up to us to take care of both.


13. What advice would you give to someone new to CrossFit or who is thinking about giving it a try?
I would say jump in and do it! The WOD buddies will keep you going in a way that you will never get going by yourself in a gym. And also, the coaches are invaluable, making CrossFit Benedictus incredibly reasonably priced. I cannot imagine anybody regretting a commitment to CrossFit.
Something I would recommend is doing some sort of a workout outside of the box: bicycling, running, push-ups, etc. it really helps to build on what you get in the Box.