Kenny Ochoa: Trusting the Process and Having a Plan
Interview by Invictus Athlete
Invictus Athlete Kenny Ochoa goes into the CrossFit Games Masters Qualifiers sitting in 1st place in th 40-44 age group. His Open performances are not only attributed to his hard work and determination but also his ability to trust the process and follow a plan.
The Open performances were the result of almost three years of hard work. Kenny became part of our online community in September of 2014. He came onboard with the goal of qualifying for the CrossFit Games Masters division in 2016.
How long have you been doing CrossFit? Â
Kenny: I took my first class on the 7th of May 2010. I remember it well as I felt like I was going to die!
How did you get into the sport? Â
Kenny: I had been going to Lifetime Fitness and also practicing Judo for a few years. My buddy, whose wife I trained with, bought him a gift certificate for a month of CrossFit classes for his Christmas present. He attended classes and as the month went on, I saw him less and less at the gym. From January 2010 to May of 2010 he tried to get me to join. I kept saying that it didn’t sound like something I would enjoy. Finally I agreed that if he went to a Judo class with me then I would go to a CF class with him. I went to one class and I was hooked!  A couple of months later I found myself only doing CrossFit.
What was your athletic background prior to CrossFit? Â
Kenny: I played varsity football, basketball and ran track all four years of high school. I was one of the top 300 meter hurdles in Texas my senior year. I had a couple of offers to play football at some smaller schools but in the end I decided to stay home. I was a stuntman for five years after college so I’ve always been active in some way or another.
How did you become a part of Invictus Athlete? Â
Kenny: I followed the online programming for a few months and really liked it. What I needed, though, was a coach to hold me accountable with every aspect of my training. I spoke with Nichole DeHart and she thought that I’d work really well with Tino. She was right!
You came to Invictus Athlete in 2014 with the goal of qualifying for Games as a Masters Athlete in 2016. That’s almost three years of work toward your goal. Was it hard to stay motivated over that time? Â
Kenny: I credit a lot of my success to not only Tino Marini but also my training partners. I have a core group of about five athletes that keep me on my toes. I can honestly say that I’ve never had a problem staying motivated. I always have something, whether it be an interim goal to achieve or a competition to prepare for. It helped doing a lot of team competitions as I always had something fun to prepare for.
How has training changed over the last three years? Â
Kenny: The volume that Tino has me doing has gone up this past year. In the beginning, I was really focused on becoming stronger and sacrificed a lot of my cardio and gymnastics skills for strength.
Your body composition has changed a lot over the last 6-8 months. What’s the secret? Â
Kenny: I’m not a tall guy by any means. I’m 5’6 and last year during the Open I was 190 lbs. I was strong but knew that I wasn’t moving around as fast as I should be. That weight put a lot of strain on my muscles and joints, particularly when I had to do muscle-ups and handstand push-ups. I knew then that something had to change. Â
Around September of 2015 I made a commitment to eat better, train harder and rest. Prior to that I was sleeping around 5 hours a night (on a good night) and eating pretty much whatever I wanted to eat. My biggest problem was getting up in the middle of the night and snacking on foods that weren’t exactly healthy, haha. I met with one of our athletes that was thinking about starting a business of making pre-made healthy meals. I told her that she could use our gym as a test model and see where it would go from there. Her food is amazing and has been a blessing for my busy lifestyle.
Were you surprised by your finish in the Open? Â
Kenny: I finished 36th last year in the Open. I made a custom leaderboard for athletes 39+ to see where I would have placed with athletes my age and was surprised to see that I would have finished 2nd or 3rd. So I knew that if I put in the hard work and stayed focused on my goal that I would finish in the top 10. This year I finished 41st in the Open and 1st for Masters 40-44. That was a big surprise to me. My goal was just to stay in the top 10. I think the workouts in this year’s Open played into my strengths.
What would you attribute your success to? Â
Kenny: Well first and foremost God. He’s blessed me with the health to do this. Then my family.  I couldn’t do any of this without the support of my wife and children. Of course my coach, Tino Marini…Tino was just what I needed when I started. He stays on me to do EVERY SINGLE THING he programs and will get on me if I slack here or there. He’s a great motivator and coach and I wouldn’t be where I am without him. Also, my gym athletes and my training partners whose support and push to be the best that I can be means the world to me.
What advice would you give to those who have a similar goal? Â
Kenny: Stay mentally tough. Have a goal and stick to it. You have to also find what works for you. I tried my own programming and followed numerous programs online. They all helped some but I knew something was missing. I found Invictus and the rest is history. But, most importantly…have fun!! CrossFit should be fun…not a stress in your life.
How do you manage having multiple gyms, a family and being a top level athlete? Â
Kenny: It was a bit overwhelming at first. Especially doing all of that with a full time job. I left my job almost two years ago and have dedicated all of my time to my family, gym and my training.  The support system that I have is my biggest blessing and without everyone that is part of that I don’t know what I’d do.
What would you like to see come out in the qualifiers? Â
Kenny: I’m down from 190 lbs to 167 lbs. So..my engine and gymnastics skills are right where they should be. I’m a fan of bodyweight movements so anything with that would be awesome.  I’d like to see a heavy lift in there too. I still have some of my strength left.
Outside of CrossFit what do you like to do for fun? Â
Kenny: I’m a homebody. I like to spend time with my family and just relax at home. But..when I’m out of the house I’m either at my gyms, shopping (bad shoe addiction) or at the movies.