Meet Coach Nathanial

You come from a pretty athletic background. Would you mind filling us in on what that consisted of?
Absolutely. When I was 5, I started with tee-ball and eventually worked my way into Little League…. Just kidding, I won’t bore you with that. I played tennis in high school and started coaching that when I was 16. I kept playing (and coaching) in college on the club team (NOT D1, I’m not that good). I also played every intramural sport that Iowa offered including basketball, football, volleyball, billiards, darts, soccer, etc. The list goes on. You name it, I played it. I guess I didn’t wrestle or swim… But yeah, it was a lot of sports. Now, I play in tennis, basketball, and soccer leagues.

What does your current workout routine look like (both here and outside the gym)?
As it stands, I try to get to TwinTown 5x a week for workouts and sometimes yoga. I also play tennis about once a week and then basketball once or twice a week. Nia asks me to run everyday. Someday I’ll say yes.

You have one minute to build a workout that YOU would love. What’s it gonna be?
Oh man, I’ve already spent more than a minute thinking about this… This is a sketch, but something like this:

10min AMRAP
5 power cleans
10 burpees
5 MUs
10 box jumps

What are some non-gym hobbies that you’re passionate about?
I love to cook and explore new restaurants. Nia and I have always said that if all else fails, we’ll open a coffee/breakfast joint. I also enjoy going to events around the cities like concerts and Wolves/Twins/Gopher (when they play Iowa) games. Minneapolis is a great city worthy of exploration every weekend.

I also forgot beer: there are breweries galore in NE where we live and it’s great.

What does a perfect weekend look like to you?
Friday: Post-work dinner at Brasa and drinks at any brewery
Saturday: Partner WOD, brunch at French Meadow, Hawks game of any type, cook something delicious for dinner, hang with friends
Sunday: WOD, do some meal prep, relax, then have someone explain all of my reading to me without actually having to read it

What are you looking to personally improve on in your CrossFit skills in the next year?
Given that my ankles are stickier than a second grader’s hands after eating cotton candy (I used to teach second grade), I hope to continue improving mobility there and in my hips. I think that will also help with the overhead stuff I want to improve like snatching and OH squats. Also, I want to learn how to hate rowing and wall balls less.

Does you and Nia both coaching officially qualify you two as a power couple?
You say that as if it wasn’t official before…

Anything else you’d like to tell the people?
Can’t wait to get started with the incredible TwinTown community!

GIVE US YOUR FAVORITE YOUTUBE CLIP!
The Jimmy Fallon/JGL/Stephen Merchant Lip Sync Battle is no longer on YouTube… So I leave you with this. #GOAT