Meet Joey Cardwell (Crescent City Corporate Wellness @ Palmisano)

Athlete Spotlight: Joey Cardwell

 

 

How long have you been with Palmisano Contractors?

A year and a half

 

What’s your position within the company?

I’m Vice President of operations. In a nutshell I oversee all project management, HR, hiring, writing protocols and programs.

 

What were your initial thoughts when you heard Crescent City CrossFit was bringing a corporate wellness program to Palmisano Contractors?

How can I get out of this one… *Laughs* But really, I knew I would give it a shot, but had no Idea I’d stick with it this long.

 

How do you like the corporate wellness classes so far?

It has been great. Its funny, but I didn’t really know what being sore meant. I came into the office two days after the first workout and told someone I felt like I had been beaten up, they said its just muscle soreness.

 

What did you do to stay in shape before CCC Corporate Wellness?

Nothing really, I used to run daily about two and a half years ago. I had never lifted weights before.

 

How difficult do you find it to learn the technique for weight training in your classes?

It’s been easier than expected. It’s a challenge to figure out how much weight to train with so I’ve been taking it slow, knowing that I have time to get stronger and lift heavier in the future.

 

I saw you lifting the 53lb kettlebell today. Have you surprised yourself with how much you can handle with good technique?

Definitely. I’m only 135lbs so I keep that in mind when I pick stuff up.

 

Have you made any changes to your daily routine since beginning the program?

Yea so I used to not eat lunch, just a snack for lunch and big dinner after work. Now I make sure to eat lunch every day so that I have more energy for the workout.

Also, I used to only drink about 18 oz of water throughout the day. Now I’m up to around 64 oz today so far. The coach recommended I keep track and that’s helped me to feel better for the workouts.

I have to go to the bathroom more often but its worth it.

 

Has the new wellness program given you any new perspectives?

One big thing, and I thought you were full of it, when you said working out gives you more energy. After the first workout I went home and found myself bouncing off the walls. I was helping out around the house with a lot of energy thinking ‘what the heck?’ I really thought I’d be worn out if anything.

           

It got me thinking that I should probably get moving more in the morning to jump start my day.

 

Right now, you’re working out 2x per week. Do you feel like you can handle more?

I feel like I could maybe handle one more workout per week, but I definitely like the day off in between to recover. I’m thinking about picking up running on the weekends again.

 

How do you like your Coach, Kelsey?

She’s a pusher. She does it in a way that doesn’t offend you but still gets you to your limit. I was telling my wife this the other day. Kelsey pushes us in a way that’s nothing like the “Drill Sargent” way I thought it would be. She’s never in our face. It’s more like she’s saying “I’m in this with you, come on let’s keep going”.