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Athlete of the Month: Dan Halioua

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Dan Halioua is overjoyed to be AOTM! 

Scheduling note: *There is No Active Recovery Tomorrow*

CFSBK Athlete of the Month: Dan Halioua

 

Fall is here and the new season announces a new CFSBK Athlete of the Month as well. It’s fitting that we chose Dan Halioua this month, since he’s a real sports fanatic and October has a lot to be happy about as a sports fan. The long wait for football is over, hockey is getting started, and of course Dan’s (and my own) favorite… October Yankee baseball! (sorry Sox fans, haha) We thought he was a great choice for a variety of reasons, but his commitment to improving his biggest weakness, mobility (or lack thereof), is the stand out. In addition to spending time in Active Recovery and DIYing mobility work for at least 15 minutes before and/or after classes, Dan has also really proven himself to be a heavier hitter than I had expected him to be. He’s been a great addition to the SBK Competition Team both in terms of performance and all around camaraderie. I got to interview Dan the day of the big fire down the block from the gym, let’s hope that’s not any kind of omen.

Fox – Hey, man…You’re the next athlete of the month!

DH3 – Wow, thanks man! That’s pretty awesome. I didn’t see that coming.

Fox – Well, here it is! Let’s get started? How did you first start CrossFit, and how did you come to CFSBK in particular?

DH3 – A buddy of mine, Guy, was training for the NYC Firefighters exam and had started doing CrossFit. I had joined him and some buddies in doing random hero WODs at the local NYSC. I had been working out for years doing the regular, you know bench, bis and tris, CrossFit was radically different. I liked it but then fell off the wagon for a while. Finally in August of 2010 Julia (Dan’s fiancee) and I signed up for Foundations and from then on I was hooked. I hadn’t intended on staying at the gym, I figured I’d do it on my own, but I decided to lay down the cash and join.

Fox – Cool, we’re glad you did! Why did you stay?

DH3 – It was a combination of things. The variety of the workouts, the competitiveness, the coaching, and the friendly people. The workouts weren’t the same old, same old I had been doing before. And the competitiveness was all around, from studs to pregnant moms-to-be! There’s a lot of levels of people here to chase, guys and gals who are beasts in their own right. I’m impressed by that. CFSBK has become the place in my life where I can come and unwind with cool people. People who are diverse but share a common goal to be healthy both physically and mentally. I really appreciate that part of it, aside from the physical benefits I get.

Fox – Well said, and we do have some baddass preggers working out in here from year to year! Tell me about some of the other benefits you’ve experienced since joining CFSBK.

DH3 – I play basketball and softball and I’ve noticed improvement in both sports I have some more ups on the court, I feel quicker all around, and I regained my stamina. I used to be able to play a few back-to-back games but had gotten really out of shape. Now I can do that again. Also, during the Paleo Challenge from last year, I severely cut back my coffee habit. I was hitting like 6 cups a day and they were more like sugar (up to 10 tsps, Dan told me) and cream with a little coffee. Now I have just a few cups a day and they’re black. I also learned that it was OK, even good, to enjoy red meat. I was in that Paleo Challenge to win it so I went hard at it. I was also pretty happy with the body composition changes that I made. (Dan is being modest. It was really hard to pick winners. If based solely on BC changes Dan would have been a clear winner). Doing the CrossFit Games Open Sectionals and Subway Series was pretty great also. I can’t wait until 2012. I just want to do better than 2011.

Fox – Let’s hear a bit about you outside of the fitness realm. What do you do?

DH3 – I currently work in online advertising where I basically sell sponsorship space for my company (Sorry, Dan gave the ‘non-basic’ version too, but I have no idea what half the words were). I went to school for TV production and worked in that industry for a few years, long enough to develop some unhealthy lifestyle habits. I don’t see going back to that again but I did meet Julia at SUNY so that makes it a worthwhile degree! In the future I’d actually like to do some kind of social work. I’d like to help under served people.

Fox – Any interesting hobbies?

DH3 – Well I’m a hip-hop junkee. The “Golden Era” of hip-hop from the early 90’s through the early 2000’s is my time. Outkast, Nas, Biggie, Jay-Z, East Coast and Southern hip-hop, that’s what I love. I contribute to my friends hip-hop blog from time to time as well. I learned about rock (and drinking) up at college at SUNY where I got really into Radiohead, and still love them. I’m also addicted to a few TV dramas. The Wire is the best thing that has ever been on television, hands down. Breaking Bad and First 48 are also pretty sick. As some folks know also I’m also a bit of a fantasy sports junkee. I started the CFSBK league and it’s been pretty fun so far. I don’t know when the heck Dan Evans* takes classes though, do you?

Fox – Dan, I’m not positive but I think you’re the first born and bred New Yorker to be an AOM. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only native New Yorker in Park Slope! Tell me about growing up here in BK.

DH3 – Yeah, man, I grew up right here in Park Slope on 6th street between 5th and 6th avenues. I’m the product of a Brooklyn mom, a Moroccan dad, and a working class neighborhood. I grew up playing wiffle ball, hanging out with friends in the streets, spending time in Prospect Park…I’ve seen that park and the neighborhood as a whole go through some changes. There was a time when 5th avenue was not a cool place to be and if you were going to Mr Video it wasn’t to rent a movie if you know what I mean. I’d have to say that the park is my favorite thing about where I live and grew up. From concerts, BBQs, little league, it’s an amazingly diverse park populated by amazingly diverse people. I love that I can go there and feel like I’m away from everything, too.

Fox – I love that place too and it’s a big reason Jess and I moved to the nabe. Alright, last question. Tell me what we should look for in a future Athlete of the Month.

DH3 – Someone who is true to their goals, sets a goal and attacks it. That goal board is one of the best things in this gym. And any athlete of the month should also be someone who has fun and smiles. It’s nice to workout in a place where so may people are smiling at any given moment.

Thanks to Dan for sitting in traffic to meet with me in the smokey confines of the CFSBK office, and for being a great addition to the community. It’s been nice getting to know him and it’s nice to be able to acknowledge the hard work he has put in in order to get better. We look forward to having you here with us.

*Note – If you see Dan standing by watching Dan Evans or another member of the gym clean up his weights it’s not that he’s gone bizarro, it’s just that he won that week in the gym fantasy football league. Spoils to the victor, and all.

 

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Dan thinks future AOTMs should be people who set and then attack their goals.  So what goals are you going to achieve in October?
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Paleo Diet Gains Traction Despite Controversies NY Daily News
Robb Wolf on The Discovery Channel’s Curiosity:I, Caveman Youtube

Comments

  2. Yesterdays WOD
    155Rx
    1.) 5 rds + 1 Push Press
    2.) 4 rds + 6 Squats
    3.) 4 rds
    Shout out to Josh M. for calling "No Rep" on the last round and letting a few of those "Jerks" slide. I appreciate that.
    Conrgrats Dan on AOTM!
    Nice to know there's still native Slope heads around. Continue with your progress and being a positive element to us all.
    My goal for this October is just to get back to being consistent. Took too much time off so its time to get focused.

  4. Congratulations Dan! Well done. You've definitely beasted out since joining.

    I told Margie yesterday about an amazing lucid dream I had on Wednesday afternoon (yeah, I was napping!) in which she and you both featured; I'll tell you about it when I see you next. It was genuinely mindbending stuff.

  6. Awesome Dan, i literally LOL'd at the Dan Evans part… Good stuff… Seriously at this point i should have a whole month without putting away weights. Just saying.

  7. Ohh sorry, so my personal goal is to finally nail DU's. That seems to be my goal every month, but this time i'm working on it everyday….

  10. YEAH DH3! Perfect choice for AotM. Dan is the bomb (dot com).

    From yesterday:
    3+3
    3+3+4
    3+3
    At 37#, went light, but still felt really sluggish throughout, yet am very sore today, so I guess alls well that ends well. Plus a super helpful rowing tip from Shane during the warm up.

    And I second (third?) Tom's comment from yesterday. Such an insightful post from Billy, as always.

  11. Congratulations Dan! It's been a pleasure getting to know you and all of your hard work is very inspiring. Glad you stuck it out at the gym.

  12. Congrats DH3!

    From yesterday in my garage

    3 Rounds
    3 Rounds
    2 Rounds

    @110
    6 Strict PU

    Went too heavy on the Push Presses
    Hands are RAW!!! from 50 Strict PU from Tues night and then 48 yesterday.

  14. Congrats DH3!! I'm so proud of your accomplishments at the gym. I'm very impressed with the diet adjustments you made during last years paleo challenge. We were the typical carb loving couple before and now 'eating paleo' definitely continues to influence the way we eat and think about food (I even like red meat now!!). Nice interview Chris, I think you might be the first person he's allowed to publish the term "sports fanatic" about him…

  15. Congratulations to Dan H3! Great stuff. I want to be in the league next year, I somehow missed it, I am in 3 and commission two.

    I agree with setting goals and attacking them! Here are my October goals (I actually spent a fair amount of time on this)

    1. Top goal is to get back into shape for sparring. That's what I am chasing, and I have laid out a plan to get there.

    I've been doing nothing really but the lifts, and a little metcon after, so there's plenty of work to do.

    1. 1-2 days a week for starters in the boxing room doing all of the things that we do in there, which is metcon and skill-based.

    2. rather than run the loop in the park, I am going to run for 25 minutes, once a week, and keep trying to bite off more, until that's a full loop. Then, I will just attack that and get it lower. This is going to be a lot of work for me.

    3. One bike ride a week, hilly, all that stuff, just for fun and some wind. I got this awesome Karate Monkey built at 718cyclery, Justin Levinson's old frame and fork, and it's great. will be a fun thing to do as well.

    4. Two days in CSFBK wendler 5/3/1 with chins, ab and lower back work, as well as some prowler nastiness, etc.

    5. Instead of just working the rope the way I did for years, actually dig into some double unders.

    These are some pretty dramatic changes for me and it's a lot to tackle, so I understand that at first there will be a lot of soreness and fatigue.

    Oh, and lastly, again, my biggest nemesis, the sauce. I just plan to continue the success that I had this month. I can't believe how well it's gone and plan to continue.

    I figure that I need to get to 190 pounds or so, that's probably the right size for me in terms of going up against guys. It's funny, for the last couple of years I went by the whole Rippetoe "the universe doesn't care how big you are" and just tried to get big and strong, but now, I need to get lighter, and I think, as Coach Fox said the other day, that it's a better number for me.

    There it is, in writing, and here it comes. In honor of Dan H3's love of hiphop, "Don't sweat the technique!"

  16. NOT Moroccan, mohawk-an! Congrats brother, has been great having you at CFSBK!

    Have been bad about posting to the blog; notes from yesterday:

    Warmup
    2 laps around the block
    Mobility work with Shane
    Some overhead mobility work with band distraction.
    Pushpress movement prep.

    Workout
    4/4/4@155

    Notes
    The run around the block felt surprisingly good — maybe I'm finally growing a set of lungs.

    Felt consistent on the movements in the WOD, went metronome style on this one. Took ~7 seconds between ending the squats and cleaning the bar, and then all unbroken in movements from there.

    Yes, there's room in there to go faster, but being hyper mobile around T12/L1 makes heavy overhead movements something I consciously slow down with to maintain good position. Otherwise I hyperextend/hinge and there's a painful sheering force which makes me miserable for days.

    Despite the solid movements, am experience some soreness around T12. Wish I kept my foam roller in the office, was silly to bring it home.

  18. Nice interview! Congrats Dan!!

    …speaking of the goal board, someone leaned on it 🙁 and now my goals are gone! Luckily I wrote them in my notebook too.

    Status of September's goals:
    30 Day Paleo Challenge – still going strong! Will be over on Oct 8th (though I'm just going to do it another month because I like it). I did eat one "I'm feeling awkward" cracker at a wedding shower… but, ONLY ONE!

    Low/No Booze: I believe I had a total of 6 drinks in the month. This is good for me! Also, this includes my best friend's bachelorette party where I limited myself to a single glass of wine and watched all my friends get trashed (That was rough)

    5 Strict Push Ups: I'm officially off my knees on the way down, which is exciting! I can do one strict, but not 5. I am happy to be up a modification though. Maybe by the end of October I will have the strict push ups. I slacked a little on this goal.

  20. Yesterday's WOD: 3 rounds, 2 rounds, 3 rounds. 115#

    This was the first time I really tried kipping pull ups in a wod. I pretty much got through them in the first round, but they completely fell apart in the second. Partner Dmak had me start scaling at some point, which was wise. By the third round I was down to jumping chins with a negative.

    Segue to October goals: master the kipping pull up. Lengthen hamstrings.

    Congrats Dan. We go head to head next week and since we're both 6 pm class guys, one of us will be cleaning up some weights that week. Most likely you.

    Ben W.

  22. Congrats Dan. And as another native New Yorker, and one raised in Park Slope, I totally get what Fox is saying about feeling like the only person from New York in the slope.

    My October goals are to finally get my shoulder feeling well enough to get back into the gym. With my new job I just haven't been able to devote the time I need to do what I need to for my body. Now that I'm settling into the new routine I will be able to devote more time to my physical health in October instead of just my financial health.

    /rant on
    And does anyone else get driven crazy by people totally misinterpreting the meaning of life expectancy? A professor in nutrition at NYU should know better. Citing life expectancy to indicate that people didn't live to old age in paleolithic times immediately makes me dismiss everything else the person said. And on top of that, the 25 years number is for neolithic(the period of the rise of agriculture until the bronze age) life expectancy not paleolithic life expectancy. The more criticism of paleo I read, the more I feel like the nutrition community is clinging to the low fat, high carb mantra and trying to make every study fit that mold.

    /rant off

  23. got my knee looked at by the *excellent* Dr Cardone at NYU. highly recommend this guy-didn't display any of the kind of conventional wisdom BS I was afraid of.

    no ligament or cartilage damage; xray shows a small patellar spur and a case of long-ago diagnosed patello-femoral syndrome. he prescribed some corrective work and when I showed him what Deb and Alec already have me do, he said Exactly.

    def recommend this guy for any orthopedic issues.

  24. Congrats, Dan! That is a totally bad ass photo.

    It’s hard to set goals when all I can think about is getting stronger and better at everything in every way. How do I nail down the specifics within the confines of one month? Here goes a try:

    I’d like to move heavier weights and get more confident under the bar. I want my squats to get up to around 200. Jeeze that sounds crazy. Not sure how I came up with that number, it just sounds solid, and slightly possible. It may not happen in October, but it’s exciting to imagine!

    I’ve been running and sprinting 3+ times a week and think that should definitely continue. I want a super strong heart that can get me through met cons without having to stop and suck in air.

    I want to stay injury free. Stretching (but not too much :), mobility work, fish oil, proper rest, hydration, etc.–I’ve got a good routine going and just need to stick to it. This isn’t a goal so much as a lifestyle I want to maintain. Oh, and joy. There needs to be joy involved in the process. When I get burned out, my goal is to rest as needed and be ok with it.

    So did I actually set a specific goal? Ah yes, squats at 200, as soon as possible. Eeeek!

  25. cool interview bro. congrats, dan! i always love being reminded that some people are actually FROM park slope, which seems like such a great place to grow up.

    october goal — i'd like a 225lb squat. i'm projected to hit that on 10/24 if my linear progression continues (i'll hit 175 today). i imagine soon it will stop going so smoothly, but this is what i'm aiming for.

    btw — hope this isn't tacky — but since we're sort of on the subject of fantasy sports, i figured i'd plug a site i just designed: http://www.footballverdict.com/. it's a question-and-answer platform for making decisions about your fantasy lineup. give it a try and let me know if you have any feedback.

  27. Huge congrats Dan!!! You've really worked hard over the past several months and it shows. It's also been great to get to know you on a more personal level. You are one funny dude!

    At last count we have about 18 ladies signed up for tomorrow's self defense class. I just sent an email to everyone who rsvp'd so if you didn't get it, please let me know. Also, we still have room for more ladies so contact me at Jessica(at)crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com if you're interested or if you have any questions!

  29. Congrats Dan!

    Wow is it October already? Haven't thought too much about goals. However one goal for sure is more time running. Trail running preferably. I fell in love with it out in Colorado and want to continue. So to that end i signed up for a race in PA…

    http://www.trimaxendurancesports.com/MediaMudStain.html

    It's in a park about 5 minutes from where I grew up. Any takers?

    Another goal is more consistent saturday classes.

  30. Congrats, Dan! I was thinking you were due for AOTM. I remember when you couldn't kip and that's just one of the challenges that you continue to mow down. You're a solid guy to have in the gym and it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Keep it up!

  31. Seems there's a no boys policy at the self-defense training tomorrow — guys, any interest in getting together to chill while our significant others learn to bust some heads?

  32. Congrats, Dan! Awesome job hitting your areas for improvement, especially mobility (to some – the not so sexy thing to work on).

    Shane was a kind man and let me squat before my flight to ATL this afternoon. Thanks, Shane!

    245x3x5

    These went up slower than I would've liked. I probably could've used a rest day today, but I'll get a few this weekend while out of town for a friend's commitment ceremony. I'll do my best to not let all the festivities negate the benefits of the rest.

    As for goals – I'll post mine next week..promise!

  33. EMS is having a 2-day sale today & tomorrow. 20% off all stuff, 25% all EMS-branded stuff. In order to qualify, you need to be a member of a "outdoors organization" — I convinced the store on corner of Broadway & Spring that CrossFit counts.

  35. Halioueezy!

    A great AOM pick for October with Dan H. He's a top notch fellow, has incredible team spirit and possesses the mindset of a true athlete. Way to go, Dan!

    Active Recovery fans:
    You may or may not have noticed an edit to the blog today, there is No Active Recovery class tomorrow. I will however point out that many of you own a lacrosse ball, floor and at least one wall which makes a little DIY A/R excuse proof! Otherwise, they're http://www.mobilitywod.com.

    Moving Boxes
    Is anyone moving soon or know someone who is? I've still got a ton of moving boxes in my hallway that I'd rather donate to someone else than discard. Mel is picking some up today.

  37. Do you guys have trouble with the revise comment option? I find that it never works for me, I see Nick is having similar issues.

  38. I am really humbled by all these comments. It just goes to show how awesome this place is. I want to thank all the coaches for their time and energy into helping me, and i want to thank eveyone at the CFSBK for being supportive.

    My goals for the month of October are to not make any MORE fun of Boston fans. (Not sure this will be an accomplishment)

    Seriously, my goal for this month is to able to do 3 sets of 5 hspu, no ab mats.

    Thanks again for your comments.

  39. My mom is coming to visit Mon-Wed and the accomodations I tried to arrange have all fallen through.

    If anyone knows of any apartment ( with private entrance ) – type options in the nabe, I would be very grateful. Happy to pay for the use of the space.

    Email me at mignyc at gmail.com.

    Thanks !

  40. today just trying to get in and move these couple of weeks as i get closer to the wedding
    Squat w/ pause at bottom
    225x5x3
    Deadlift
    365×5
    Bench
    225x10x3
    then some farmers walks…whoo those cans are heavy. i am gonna keep working on those.

  42. Funniest comment in all of these posts – "Maybe I'm finally growing a set of lungs" Dan Rx. Seriously. Does he mean a second set because his first set have achieved maximum efficiency?

  44. @Jess Fox: Don't want to drink alone at 2:30PM on a Saturday — I'm just saying… 😉

    @David Mak: You're too kind. Has been good seeing you more often, hope we continue to make those 5PM classes!

    Part of my goals are to do one benchmark WOD a week, but will get into the details in another post.

    Today's lady was Jackie!
    7:41 (PR)

    Breakdown:
    1000m in 3:45
    Thrusters: 25/10/5/10
    Pullups: 5/5/5/5/5/5

    Rowing felt good, started with a power 10, then fell into a rhythm ~1:50, then another power 10 at the 500m mark. Splits dropped to ~2:00. Would love to be able to maintain a 1:40 for the first 500m and then allow a little degradation to 1:50 for the final 500m.

    Felt awesome going into the thrusters, was hoping to go 25/25, using the break to recover enough to attack the pullups, but taking the break wasn't helpful at all. Going to fun for unbroken thrusters in future attempts.

    Made a bad choice to set up Pullups towards the middle of the bar in roll-up gate, the whole bar shook with each rep. Had to do them in sets of 5.

    Stoked with my performance on this one, which is only 1 minute slower than my double-half jackie time 6:43, and 33 seconds faster than my best Jackie time.

  46. WANTED: missing gray Pendlay DO-WIN Weightlifting Shoes

    Anyone see my lifting shoes? They went missing from the changeroom sometime between Thursday evening (9/15) and Tuesday evening (9/20). New condition with no markings and always in the inside shoe case in the coat room. It's been a couple weeks but I'm still hoping to get them back.

    Thanks, guys!

    Antoine

  47. Came in and did the workout from Thursday.. Man, open gym is totally a big CFBSK party. =)

    Warmed up w/practicing my DU, stretched hip flexors, hammies, laxed my front hip and rolled out IT band, used pvc to limber shoulders.

    I'm still being cautious about my back, because it was just a week ago that it was tweaked pretty good. I've been a monster about icing it all week, (5x/day) the workout on Wed went really well, and I took David's advice about dropping weight off the bar and doing the box squats at just 45lbs, 4-5 every minute. [btw, Bear crawls are a lot of fun. Especially backwards.]

    I warmed up my pushpress to 85#, which seemed to be fine. I dropped it down to 75# after that first round though, because it just felt like I was going too heavy for my back. I kipped the pullups with the thin green band. I think I'm getting stronger there, but my forearms were blown by the end of the workout, I could hardly close my hand over the bar to pushpress. Overall, it went well, I think I was at 80% and I'm going to give it another week or so of being cautious before I go back into lifting heavy. I also iced immediately following the workout for 10 min. My lats are what are really sore today.

    R1: 3 R2: 2+press+pullups R3: 2+press+4pullups

    I'm extra pleased that I've taken no meds this week for my back and managed to rehab it w/ice and careful working out. Active recovery!

  48. Oh, and Oct. goals:
    Whole 30/paleo for October. I need to clean my act up and stop being 80% Paleo.

    I'd like to have 10 pretty pushups without stopping.
    Lax my forearms 2x/week to try and breakup the problems I have so I can chase that elusive pullup.

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