Athlete of the Month: Sean Monga

It’ll be tough to find him without a barbell in his hands, but it was CrossFit that fired up his passion for weightlifting. We’re excited to feature Sean Monga as our next Athlete of the Month.

One day in the summer of 2015, my brother told me about a CrossFit trial class he had taken and encouraged me to try one out. At that point, I hadn’t even heard of CrossFit because clearly, I lived under a rock. After two years of no exercise, I finally made it to a trial class in September, and vividly remember how sore I was the following day from all those wall-balls.

A year and half later, I wouldn’t want to imagine a day without that feeling of accomplishment.

Quite simply, I’m stronger and more powerful. And if there is a WOD which has everything I am terrible at, I sure as hell know I’m now tougher.

Pull-ups. Strict and controlled. While I could manage to do some questionable kipping pull-ups when I first started, I could barely get a strict, controlled pull up – even with that huge black band! Today, I can do unassisted eight strict pull-ups, but I’m still not satisfied. My goal is to nail fifteen strict chest to bar pull ups before the end of the. Unbroken, of course. As a corollary to pull-ups, the other day I did rope climbs in a WOD, and that was pretty cool. Never did that before!

While I used to be able to pull-ups when I was younger, I never in my life have been able to do any type of handstand push up. A year ago, Gino made this double green band contraption that got me going, and just a few weeks ago I nailed three handstand pushups against the wall! I’d like to continue working on this, and take it further to handstand walking and handstand push ups without the wall.

I’ve noticed increased definition in two areas: in my quads and in my traps/upper back muscles. Gaining mass on my upper back has always been a challenge for me, so I am happy with that.

Ironically, in my long distance running days (and sedentary days thereafter, ha), I used to battle with high cholesterol.

I describe CrossFit first as a sport, and then in further detail as a mix between weightlifting, gymnastics, and cardio. Surprisingly, the most common responses I hear are something along the lines of, “Wait, CrossFit is a sport?” or “CrossFit is so dangerous.”

More interestingly, when I describe weightlifting, I have to first explain the difference between powerlifting, bodybuilding, and then Olympic weightlifting, or simply, weightlifting. Many of my friends haven’t heard of snatching, but are vaguely familiar with cleans. I have actually gotten them excited to try the movements out in the gym.

As basic as it seems, I can sum it up in one word:

I love CrossFit and weightlifting, and all that goes into it.

That’s like asking who’s your favorite child! If I had to decide, I’d go with the snatch in weightlifting, although I love clean and jerks just as much, really.

In CrossFit , I’d go with the cluster!

I trust most new members will listen to the coaches with respect to technique, and also try to push themselves in trying to get a good workout. Therefore, I think it’s really important to breathe.

This is my least favorite question! I have over twenty goals, and for me they are all as equally important!
In weightlifting, it would be to achieve a 160 kilo (70/90) total by the end of September.
In CrossFit, perform one (and even a few) muscle ups before the end of the year. And those damn double unders. I have to finally nail them.

I love the long epic partner WODs. It would go something like this:

100 Turkish Get Ups 53#/35#
100 Deadlifts
100 Overhead Squats
100 Bench Press
100 Clusters
100 Kettlebell Swings
100 Pull Ups
100 Box Jump Overs
100 Sit Ups
1800 meter run

Teams of 3. 135#/95# for Barbell movements. 70#/53# for KB.

Favorite healthy dish: this is always changing, but right now it’s a paleo slow cooked jalapeño pork ramen with zoodles

Favorite cheat meal: A porterhouse (bone in) with creamed spinach and lobster truffle mac and cheese. And like a bottle of wine. (For myself, haha)

I have always loved griffins, a mythological animal that is a mix between a lion and an eagle. Griffins represent intelligence, courage, and strength.

But a quote I like is by Tommy Lasorda:

There’s no replacement for hard work.

A bunch of us are competing on August 26th in the Brooklyn Barbell Open. I’d encourage everyone to come out to cheer the team! I can’t wait.

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