09/16/2026
⭐ Member Highlight: Juan Villasenor ⭐
🔷 How long have you been coming to Manic?
For nearly five years. I started in December 2022.
🔷 What made you decide to join?
My good friend, Paul Maes, had told me about it. He had great things to say about the workouts, and he was in great shape. While he “warned” me about the intensity of the workouts, that didn’t deter me. In fact, I looked forward to the challenge.
When I joined, I didn’t have a gym and was feeling out at sea when it came to my fitness. When I worked in Denver, I had worked out at a gym there and when I became a judge here, I could no longer do that. I started working out at a neighbor’s “garage gym” and the workouts were decent. They weren’t the most challenging, but they got the job done. But then Covid hit and he shut that down. I put off joining because of life events and being busy with work. I also bought app-based workout subscriptions but had mixed results. One of them got me injured.
Finally, shortly after Christmas in 2022, I went to my first class, and it was the best decision I made!
🔷 How has your experience compared to your expectations?
I didn’t really have any expectations. All I knew was that I wanted to get back in shape and Manic offered classes at times that I could go—typically early in the morning.
I still recall my first workout—it’s one we’ve done over the years: we did thrusters and something else on the ski erg. I remember feeling woefully out of shape, but glad that I was back in a fitness outline.
🔷 How is Manic different from other gyms you’ve been to?
Well, it’s the only gym that’s named a warm-up after me. LOL [J-U-A-Ns]
Aside from that, it’s very different. The community is great. If you come to a specific class at a specific time, that’s a great place to make friends and feel at your “gym home.” You make friends easily here and everyone is always willing to help.
The workouts, which are, of course, the star of the show, are also very different. They’re challenging, both physically and mentally. But there’s something for everyone in them.
🔷 What has changed the most about you over time here?
My fitness has greatly improved but so has my mental stamina. I treat the workouts as misogi rituals: tests of endurance and challenges to my comfort zones. For example, if I hadn’t joined, I don’t think I would’ve ever had the desire to do a GoRuck Tough event with other members. (That’s the all-night rucking event with multiple physical and mental challenges.) Or to carry over 90 pounds of animal meat during a hunt and hike it back up and down hills. Or to soak in the Poudre River in the dead of winter.
🔷 What are your goals?
My goals are to keep moving, maintain my physical shape, not injure myself, reduce my chances of getting dementia, lift heavy things, continue challenging myself with more misogi rituals, have fun, and make friends.
🔷 Do you have any advice for someone considering trying out at Manic?
I agree with what most people say in response to this question: if you join, stick with it. Stay consistent, ask for help, and enjoy yourself. Oh, and make friends!