September 2018 – Len Catling

Our Member of The Month for September 2018 is Len Catling. Len joined Contenders in December last year because he had always wanted to try boxing. “It’s a great combination of strength training and cardio. It’s also a very complex sport that challenges your mind as well as your endurance. I followed Kevin Reynolds’ pro boxing career and saw him fight live a couple times, so I knew the coaching and instruction at Contenders would be excellent.”

Having played soccer, basketball and softball competitively, Len’s goal was to take on a contact sport. Now that he is boxing, and has started sparring, his next goals are to build up lean muscles, improve his endurance, and continue to improve his sparring. As to his weaknesses, he says he would like to work on his footwork, head movement and the habit of telegraphing his punches, especially his right hand.

When asked who inspires him to continue training, Len says “I find all the instructors at Contenders very inspiring and they always strike the right balance between encouragement and ‘tough love’. By ‘tough love’ I mean they aren’t afraid to be honest with me when my technique is off or I’m not giving maximum effort. Johnny has been a great help with my technique in the personal training sessions we have done.”

Len does media relations for the Federal Government. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, watching movies, and attending live sporting events and concerts.

His advice to anyone thinking of joining Contenders or taking up boxing is “JUST DO IT! You’ll be in the best shape of your life, you’ll improve your self-confidence and meet a bunch of really cool people, who are awesome to train with.”

Thank you, Len, for always coming to the gym with a positive attitude! Keep up the great work!