We are pumped to announce Levi Weinhagen as our member of the month for September!! What a true gem Levi is!
Coach Garrett H says, “Omg Levi. First off, he’s funny AF, so that’s always welcome energy. Levi cares deeply for the communities to which he belongs and shows that through genuine engagement and investing time and energy in learning about people and building relationships. He is so fun to have in class – he challenges himself while listening to his body and making the workouts work for him.”
Levi started coming to Solcana because he spent years putting in tons of miles running and had a desire to get stronger and challenge myself in a different way but didn’t feel comfortable going to most gyms due to a fairly robust toxic masculinity. He says, “I never feel that at Solcana.” His biggest benefit, and the thing that has surprised him the most, is the community of folks who want to do values-aligned fitness.
His favorite thing to do outside of Solcana is to make and perform live comedy with his wife and daughter, as well as with many of his longtime comedy-creating pals.
Coach Max says, “Levi is always an optimistic voice in class, with his ‘thanks, coach’ mentality. He is always willing to be a helping hand.” Coach KK also adds, “Levi is a great cheerleader!!! He’s fun to have in class, a great motivator and I appreciate his thoughtfulness.”
Coach Hannah has some pretty great things to say, “Levi came to us looking for a place where he could really be himself and not have to put on a front of toxic maleness to be safe in the space. He has completely embodied that since the day he walked in. He is so genuinely himself, and is super aware of moments where he might be “trying on” someone else’s expectations. He catches himself really quickly when he jumps into hyper-competitive mode, because he knows that doesn’t serve him and he is really fast to jump out and acknowledge it. The goal of coaching is really to help someone learn how to coach themselves, and Levi is on that path to being his own best coach. He is so positive, supportive, and notices the people around him in really thoughtful ways.
Levi has also been training the Gyms For Justice team for the last 15 months, helping us identify the ways that white dominant culture shows up in the fitness world, and what we can do to combat that. He is so good at balancing the art of being part of Solcana and also challenging us to be better. I really appreciate the work he does and how well he balances it. I have learned so much from him. We’ve also all had the pleasure of watching him parent his daughter Irene, who is a member with us as well. He is a gentle and encouraging parent and he has spent a lot of time figuring out how to be an awesome Dad who helps their kid thrive. BONUS, outside of the gym he is a comedian and does all sort of really amazing work, from puppet shows to podcasts. I really admire Levi and I am so grateful he is a member!”
We will end this post with some wise words from Levi himself,
“The thing that matters most to me in the world right now is that everyone gets the space to understand that they are worthwhile exactly as they are. So I would love it if anyone reading this just paused for a moment to know that they are enough regardless of what they say, do, or produce. Also, I think farts are really funny.”
