From the Vaults: The Long Lost Alex Nettey Interview
About a year and three months ago I had an idea to make a brand new online magazine that was going to cover fitness, CrossFit, life, a mini Chess guide to become a grandmaster etc. Needless to say we were a little too ambitious. The name of the magazine was 3 Pood Cat.
The result was a fun, behemoth of a project. In the end, it quickly turned into a disaster and a failure of the magazine. The magazine had heart, but due to bad timing and overall being unorganized by myself it never saw the light of day.
To read the interview follow me after the jump.
The Genesis of the Project: I had big dreams so after the CrossFit Games Regionals in 2013 I started calling boxes in order to get interviews by some of the athletes that were going to the Games. I tried to call some boxes, got into some strange convos and at the end of the day I called Alex Nettey's box and I got in touch with him. A few conversations later he emailed me back responses to my questions. Real nice guy. He really didn't have to do this interview but in the end, I think he felt sorry for me.
Quick Bio on Alex Nettey:
A great human being that is the most fashionable CrossFit athlete you'll see and 2X CrossFit Games Competitor.
Here is the full unedited interview we had for 3 Pood Cat. For authentic reasons, I didn't change a thing from the email down to the caps locks he didn't to use.
You
have put some serious work in to it to the CrossFit Games this
year. How did you stay focused each year? I HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY CLOSE
TO QUALIFYING FOR THE GAMES THE PAST FEW YEARS SO THE FACT THAT I
CONTINUED TO BE IN THE TOP 5 OR 10 AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL SHOWED THAT I
WAS CONSISTENT WHICH MOTIVATED ME TO KEEP TRYING AND THAT WITH MORE HARD
WORK ON MY WEAKNESSES I MIGHT BE ABLE TO BREAK THRU AND REACH THE NEXT
LEVEL. EVERY WORKOUT THROUGHOUT THE YEAR COUNTED FOR ME AND IN THE END
MY PREPARATION THIS YEAR RESULTED IN A GAMES SPOT WHICH I HOPE TO BE AN
ANNUAL OCCURRENCE HEREAFTER
What
first attracted you to CrossFit? THE MENTAL CHALLENGE OF BEING ABLE TO
OVERCOME THE PAIN IN WORKOUTS AND THE FACT THAT YOU CAN GET A VERY
DIFFICULT WORKOUT IN, GET STRONGER, LEANER, AND IN BETTER CONDITION AND
NOT HAVE TO BE AT THE GYM FOR 2 HOURS TO DO IT
Do
you watch videos of other CrossFit athletes or do you focus on training
with athletes from your local box? YES & YES. I'M A FAN OF THE
SPORT SO I SEE VIDS OF OTHER ATHLETES AND HAVE FUN WODDING WITH MEMBERS
OF CROSSFIT CHICAGO AS WELL ALL THE TIME
Name
one amazing experience while coaching at your box. I'M GOING TO COP OUT
AND SAY THAT ANYTIME I'M ABLE TO FIGURE OUT A SPECIFIC CUE THAT TURNS
THE LIGHT BULB ON FOR A MEMBER WHEN THEY ARE STRUGGLING WITH A MOVEMENT
LIKE A SNATCH, MUSCLE UP, OR HANDSTAND PUSHUP, ETC AND THEY PR ON IT OR
FINALLY FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THE MOVEMENT THAT'S THE MOST GRATIFYING
PART OF COACHING. AND WHEN THEY GIVE YOU A SINCERE THANK YOU IT'S A VERY
EMPOWERING FEELING THAT YOU WANT TO DUPLICATE EACH TIME YOU COACH A
CLASS BECAUSE YOU HAVE JUST OPENED UP A NEW WORLD OF POSSIBILITY FOR
THEM AND THAT IS PRETTY COOL
What
was your favorite Cartoon growing up? TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
PROBABLY IS MY #1. VERY TOUGH TO JUST NARROW IT DOWN BUT I LOVE TO WATCH
CARTOONS TO THIS DAY SO THE LIST OF FAVORITES IS LONG
What
have you learned about yourself over the years while progressing in
CrossFit? THAT I CAN BE AS GOOD AS I WANT TO BE IN THE SPORT AND THRU
LONG HOURS OF DEDICATION AND HARD WORK THE POSSIBILITIES ARE LIMITLESS.
THIS IDEAL TRANSLATES TO OTHER AREAS OF LIFE AS WELL WHICH IS A GREAT
CONSEQUENCE
Finish the sentence. If I saw a 3-poodcat I would_MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T EAT ME AND STAY OUT OF ITS WAY_____
Thanks Alex! We wish you all the best for the coming season!
Funny Fact: While posting this interview I found a partially written blog post about the same topic!!!! Here is an excerpt of this dumb magazine idea:
One of our experiments that never got off the ground totally was 3
Pood Cat. An online magazine we were putting together for random
thoughts on functional fitness, interviewing athletes. Wellll trying to
juggle that with having a competition at our facility and also working
on trainer's manual didn't materialize as one would hope.
Hopefully
3 Pood will be back up and running by the end of the summer of '13
realistically but until then I didn't want this short but fun interview
with Alex Nettey to go to waste. Awesome dude who jumped on to do the
interview after I just called CrossFit Chicago on a whim. Love these
guys. Real nice to give us the opportunity to get involved in the
community. We might not make all our goals but we continue to strive
to an entity that's not afraid to go out and try something new. 3 Pood
was one of those endeavors. Here's the interview
To read more about Alex Nettey check out the interview from the CrossFit Games from last year. Click here.
