Hello, my name is Sean, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness! I am a Personal Trainer, Health and Wellness Coach, Nutritional Consultant and Strength and Conditioning Coach. I have been involved in fitness, nutrition, working out, staying active, and helping people achieve their goals for the majority of my life. I enjoy many things that come with living a healthy life style, most important, the feeling of overcoming obstacles and the sense of achievement that self-improvement can give. In my opinion, the sensation of fighting to achieve a victory over the odds is one of the best and most motivating things a person can feel. I want to give others the strength and knowledge to overcome the obstacles in their life and to be the best person they can be through physical activity, strength, health and a positive outlook.
Here is a quick list of a little bit about me and my back ground, what I like, why I’m a good trainer/coach:
- I have some education under my belt. Everything from dissecting human cadavers and observing the true anatomy of the human body to a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology.
- I’m certified. I have my CSCS (CERTIFIED STRENGTH AND CONDITION SPECIALIST) and USAW cert. (USA WEIGHTLIFTING).
- I am an extremely understanding and down to earth guy. I will always give people a chance to be heard and I don’t mind talking about oddball questions.
- I like to help people achieve their goals… I guess you could call me a “professional goal achievement consultant.”
- I like to question things. I will never settle for just one answer, I want more.
- I will help EVERYONE achieve their goals by utilizing fitness, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle coaching. Ranging from the remedial cases in which people need help rehabbing injuries…to the average person looking to lose a few pounds, adolescent young athlete, fitness models. Nothing makes me feel better; I will help you achieve your goals.
- I have a beautiful son in which I would do anything for.
- I like to workout, a lot. Lifting big heavy weights gives me a sense of victory and fulfillment. Other than spending time with my son, nothing makes me feel more alive.
- My favorite treats are French toast, Guinness, Mojitos, Ice Cream, and barbeque… and Sour Patch Kids.
- When I work out, I listen to punk rock, heavy metal, the most calming trance and piano tracks, beautiful girls singing, 8-bit video game soundtracks, and classic rock n’ roll.
- I enjoy watching Cartoons with my son, Football, MMA, and Food Network in my down time.
- I am a nerd that has been fused with a Personal Trainer. I like playing video games and watching nerdy Sci-Fi shows and going to all the cool comic book and RPG conventions. You might find me at your local LARP convention.
How my passion was found:
I was brought up in the small beautiful town of Napa, California. I don’t know if you’ve ever been here before, but Napa is gorgeous. You can go to the crappiest part of this city where there are people selling drugs and thugs hang out, and you would still be in awe of the natural scenery.
In my youth, I was an 11-year-old scrawny kid sitting all alone at home with nothing to do. I probably weighed around 50 lbs. soaking wet. I was also a punk as a kid. I got in what some people would call “trouble” and I found myself in some interesting scenarios. I could either drink like a fish and crawl like a rat and be angry about the cards that were dealt to me …or I could be strong and stand up against all that non-sense. As you can see and read more, I chose the latter. By tossing heavy weights around, enduring insane exercise routines my coaches put me through, and other off the wall exercise routines that came from my own imagination, I forged my body and mind to be able to withstand the struggles of life. If it wasn’t for sports, working out, and my thirst for knowledge of becoming physically and mentally strong through exercise, I would be a lazy and “victimized” slug. Nothing against slugs, I just don’t like the lazy ones. Someone once told me that you need to be successful to be free. I feel as if I found my freedom through being a gym rat, nutrition junkie, and advocate of physical activity. So, instead of hanging out inside and feeling sorry for myself, I made the gym my second home. If anything, those inanimate barbells and dumbbells in the weight room were always there for me when there wasn’t anyone else there for me. Working out has given me a true sense of security.
Anyway, enough of how it all started and some of that “interesting” back ground of mine. When I was in high school, I played football, baseball and I boxed a little bit too. I became infatuated with the combination of lifting weights and how it could increase my performance in these sports. Believe me, it did. Even though I may not have been lifting weights the correct way, I was an exceptionally strong teenage boy. I increased my performance in football and could hit the crap out of a baseball. All in the meantime, I found myself with a body equipped with lean muscle mass and injury free.
After my high school career, I got involved in Martial Arts and dabbled a little in the Jiu Jitsu and MMA scene. After participating in that and overcoming a life changing injury while being a single dad of a 1 year-old baby boy, I decided it might be a good idea to get a college degree. So I enrolled in Sonoma State’s Kinesiology program and acquired my Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology.
All in the mean time I was a bartender… joy. Here I was with a degree in Kinesiology working late nights with a bunch of drunken people and doing personal training on the side. It was a bit of a contradiction for my goals in life. I decided that this scene was not for me. I had to do something different and follow the passion that once drove me to the gym. So I decided to become a Strength and Conditioning Coach and Health and Wellness Consultant.
After figuring out that being the only sober person at my place of employment was not the right fit for me, I picked up a job as a Personal Trainer at a local gym and started to acquire clients privately as well. I learned through time how to guide people to lose weight and gain lean muscle mass. I started to acquire clients that were MMA fighters, football players, weekend warriors and average newbies who just want to lose some weight and look good. It didn’t matter who they were or what goals they wanted to achieve, I knew that my knowledge and passion could help them reach any level of fitness. Most importantly, by surrounding myself with what I had a true passion for; I knew I had a gift that could change people’s lives.
Fast forward to the present! Why am I here?
I aquired my Master’s Degree in Kinesiology 2 years ago. I have learned over time that there are certain people who are just wired to be workers. I think I am one of those people who just need to keep working until I get the job done. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I know that all these years of hard work in school will pay off in the long run.
So, why am I here? Why did I start this website and why am I telling you guys about my journey about how I got here and why I work as a Coach, Personal Trainer and Health and Wellness Consultant?
Well, after working various jobs that were basically space and time fillers in exchange for a pay check, I had a lot of time to think. I thought about how many of my peers, friends, family and co-workers came to me for help on how to improve their lives through fitness, what supplements to take and not to take, how to eat properly and what they could do to get rid of their aches and pains throughout their body. I thought about the times where people would actually tell me, “You help people succeed”… “A lot of people tell me that you have helped them achieve their goals and pull through tough times in life”… “You really love what you do.” So, I thought to myself, “This is my mission.” This is what I am good at. The skills and knowledge I possess are only shared by a few other individuals in this world… I need to put them to good use!
If you have read this far, I thank you and really appreciate it. And now to conclude my introduction and quick Bio about me and why I am expressing to you why I am here.
I am here to help you to succeed.
I am here to assist you as you break through and overcome the barriers that hold you back.
I am here to offer and share my expertise in constructing your human body to be strong physically, psychologically and physiologically.
I want you to grow!
I want you to succeed!
I want to give you strength.
This is my mission.
This is my passion, and I want to use it to help you.
Hi, my name is Jesse Creitz. I am a NASM certified personal trainer, strength advocate, and outdoor adventure enthusiast. I am a lover of challenges, food and dogs. It is my belief that curating strength can lead an individual down the path to a healthier and happier future.
I grew up a scrawny lad with low self-esteem and equally low confidence. Growing up in the farming heart of Pennsylvania, I utilized my natural strength to stack hay and tend to farm chores but had never purposely tried to make myself stronger. My fitness journey began when I was a teenager with a universal cable machine, a pull-up bar and two punching bags. I devoted my efforts into becoming big and strong like my favorite heroes: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Liddell and Mariusz Pudzianowski. Every day after school I would come home and work myself into the ground trying to get better and craft a stronger me. This pattern of hard training in the name of self-betterment outlasted high school and is something that I have carried with me to this day.
After graduating high school, I enrolled in two National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) courses. Taking place in the backcountry of Wyoming and Chilean Patagonia, these courses served to expose me to a whole new definition of strength, resiliency and leadership. Whether it was on a sheer rock face in Wyoming or on a glacier in Patagonia I learned that my body was capable of doing much more than I thought was possible.
Upon completing the Patagonia course, I began searching out places where I could continue to hone my body and mind. This brought me to Prescott College in Arizona. I enrolled in their Adventure Education program and set about trying to have as many adventures as possible. Here I found a group of likeminded individuals that wanted to go outside and “Get After It” every single day. In fact, some of the most important lessons I learned during my time in college weren’t in the classroom but in a sea kayak in the Sea of Cortez or 500 feet up a granite face in Leavenworth, WA. Throughout my time in Prescott I continued to train in various disciplines like mountain biking albeit without any real structure or guidance.
My time with NOLS and at Prescott College took me from climbing rock faces in Wyoming to traversing glaciers in Patagonia to circumnavigating islands in the Sea of Cortez. It exposed me to a whole new definition of strength, resiliency and leadership. Above all, I learned that my body is capable of doing much more than I thought was possible. This grew the fire inside of me to continue to get stronger and more competent as a leader.
After graduating from Prescott college, my wife and I moved to New Mexico where I began training with my first real coach and strength mentor. He owned a strength-based gym specializing in powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, strongman, MMA conditioning and Bodybuilding. It was here that I learned the importance of proper form, the value of discipline and was where I was finally able to crack the 200-pound bodyweight ceiling I had struggled to overcome and achieved a 440-pound deadlift.
From New Mexico we moved to Juneau, Alaska where there were no gyms like the one I had just been lucky enough to train at. This added fuel to the fire of wanting to learn as much as possible as far as strength and conditioning was concerned. I took to the internet and spent countless hours (I still do to this day) watching videos from some of the top strength athletes and coaches trying to soak up as much knowledge as I could. In Alaska, I guided canoeing tours to a glacier and commercially fished during the summer and worked at a gym and as a substitute teacher during the winter. Being a substitute teacher rekindled my passion for the art of teaching. I had taken a ton of teaching and leadership classes as part of my degree from Prescott but I had forgotten just how much fun it was and the satisfaction I got from the “a ha!” moments of a student grasping a concept. This renewed passion along with the knowledge I was gaining in strength and conditioning got the wheels turning for what I might want to do as a career. My work in Alaska brought together many of the key attributes of strength, resilience, and guidance that I use when coaching my clients at Napa Tenacious Fitness.
My reason for becoming a personal trainer is because I believe I can help make the world a better place by helping people become their strongest versions of themselves. The stronger we are as individuals, the stronger we are as a society want grandparents to be able to pick up their grandkids without hurting their backs, young people that can help move couches without the limitations of being too weak or uncoordinated and for everyone to have the body that they love and can be proud of.
Garrett Wachendorfer!Good Morning-Afternoon! My name is Garrett Wachendorfer. I may not be a certified personal trainer with any degrees, I am an intern at Napa Tenacious Fitness! As an advocator of hard work, sweating, a and challenges, it is my firm belief that dedication and hard work towards a worthy cause is the recipe for success! There is never anything wrong with help crossing the finish line. CHOOSING to keep oneself healthy is the first step to creating a better lifestyle.
As a Senior attending Napa High School (Go Grizzlies), I am applying to various Military Academies around the country. I am still growing up and developing as a young little lad whose able to crank out over 70 pushups in about 2 minutes and 15 consecutive pull ups (on a good day), all because of Napa Tenacious Fitness’ dedication and training in helping me become a better athlete. As part of my high school athletics, I swim and play Water Polo. Additionally, I swim for Napa Valley Swim Team over at the Napa Junior College. Currently, I don’t have any confidence issues. However, back in grade school I was pushed around and made fun of for being scrawny and not to sporty. Things have changed for the better! The story of my fitness began in the school yard of an elementary school all those years ago and fueled the fire for me to have success.
I have taken many rigorous biology and physics courses. Currently, I am training to better understand the mind and body, and master the art of Mind Over Matter, to push myself past my limits. Due to my plan to attend one of the Military Academy, I must keep my body in peak physical condition and my mind sharp enough to cut glass.
I work with and for Napa Tenacious Fitness to help myself achieve these goals. With these experiences at Tenacious, I will be available to assist you in the same task. My tasks are to organize and provide the best experience possible to anyone involved with Napa Tenacious Fitness. Hope to see ya over here!
