Name: Mark Z. Lanoue (we love the middle initial!)
Age: 47
Joined: November 2013
Occupation: Radiologist, currently stay-at-home dad
Favorite CrossFit exercises: Bodyweight exercises such as pull-ups, and benchmark workouts
Least favorite CrossFit exercise: Overhead squats
Juggling work and family life is never easy, but one day Mark Lanoue just had enough. He and his wife were both full-time doctors with three active kids, and there never seemed to be enough hours in the day. So Mark did what many of us dream of doing: he quit. Or, as he puts it, he reset his lifestyle. He used to spend 14 hours a day at a computer reading X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, and scrambled to make it to his kids’ games. Now he’s a stay-at-home dad, and he has plenty of time for all his kids’ activities. He also goes to the 8:15 AM EverProven class every day, right after he walks the dog. He says he feels like the luckiest person in the world.
Mark came to EverProven after another local group fitness gym closed. As a doctor, Mark is impressed with EverProven’s programming. “Some CrossFit gyms across the country aren’t as lucky as us,” he said. Instead of making us do chippers every day, for instance, Matt programs a mix of movements using different muscle groups. That variety reduces the chance of injury. Mark’s medical background also makes him appreciate how important stretching and mobility are to a well-balanced exercise regimen.” Instead of programming chippers every day, for instance, EverProven’s programming is based on 12 week cycles that provide a well rounded approach that increase strength, metabolic conditioning, endurance, and mobility.
In fact, mobility is the area whereMark has seen the most improvement. He used to suffer from chronic pain from running and his sedentary job at the hospital. Like many of our members, Mark’s a lifelong runner. He still runs, especially when he’s at the lake over the summer and can’t make it to Dover for a WOD. His knees, neck, and back all feel much better since he became a fixture of the 8:15 AM class at EverProven. He’s gotten more flexible, too.
Mark loves the sense of community among the 8:15 regulars and the broader EverProven family. The workouts bring everyone together: men and women, great athletes and beginners, UNH students and UNH professors, people about to start a family and people about to be empty nesters. “No one has an ego,” he says. “It’s really fun to be in that environment.” He jokes that when he sees a partner workout on the schedule, he thinks, “I have to go today, or Zach will be mad!”
At the box, Mark is continually working on technique. He has a few short-term goals, such as mastering double-unders. He says he is really glad that he finally got kipping pull-ups, because Christian was right: he can do a lot more kipping pull-ups than strict ones. His main long-term goal is to stay in overall good health. As for going back to work, Mark figures he’ll wait until the kids are out of the house. He’s not about to fix what isn’t broken.