by Dan Hupke, Head Coach, Krave Gym Waukee
Phi Dang is an athlete at Krave Gym Waukee and has been a member since opening January 2019. Phi grew up here in Iowa after quote, “his family swam here from Vietnam when he was just 2 years old.” Phi grew into a bit of a troublemaker though, and as a result moved around quite a bit, attending 5 different high schools. He cleaned up his act and went on to college at Iowa State, and now works as an “Inside Sales Executive” at Arthur Gallagher, one of the largest insurance brokers in the world. To Phi, family is everything and he just recently became a father after his wife, Lannie, brought their baby boy, Tai, into the world.
As part of this athlete shout out process, I asked Phi to answer some questions for me and provided some loose criteria to help answer said questions. When asking about his background I used “currently living” as one of those criteria for the question, operating under the assumption that any reasonable person would ascertain that I was referring to where he was currently living. But good ole Phi, being the sassy comedian that he is, responded by stating, “currently living – yes”. What a funny guy.
The hilarity continues, as I asked Phi what sports he has played, if he had any athletic experience at all, exercising experience, etc. etc. you get the idea. And Phi responded with, “Sports I’ve Played – NBA 2K, League of Legends, Mario Tennis”. And if that wasn’t a snarky enough answer, it gets better, “Favorite exercise – long walks on the beach”. As you can tell, we have a real comedian over here at Krave Waukee.
When asked about the changes he has made since joining Krave, Phi reported that he has gained 15 lbs since joining, but admits that it would have been 40 lbs if it wasn’t for the Krave Gym program (according to Phi, the new dad life is rough). I also asked Phi if he had experienced any emotional or attitude changes since joining Krave and Phi responded by stating that he now cries during his bubble baths and he “vigorously pursues a neutral mindset”. He also added that Coach Eddie taught him how to do a muscle up, which he admitted was pretty cool.
And finally, I asked Phi what he recommends about Krave Gym and these answers seemed a little more genuine and heartfelt than the previous ones. Phi stated that, “People are nice. It’s fun.” and “there’s only 6 minutes of cardio each session” (Hate to break it to ya Phi, but next season is cardio season) Phi finished his answer by stating, “It is easier to commit to 3 times per week for an hour vs. those people that workout for 2 hours a day, everyday.” And I could not agree with him more!
As you could probably guess, Phi is indeed a unique character, but I love having him as an athlete here at Krave Gym Waukee. Even though he gave me smart ass answers and he always bitches about running I wouldn’t want him training anywhere else in the world but here. Phi also won the last season championship for our Make A Move Season, and he is coming back this season ready to take it again!! Thank you for being a part of our T.E.A.M at Krave Gym Waukee, Phi!!