He is from Bergamo, born in 98 and has participated (and won) very important races in the CrossFit® panorama: at the age of 23 Enrico Zenoni is proving what he's made of.
We had already spotted it a few years ago, when in'Italian Showdown 2018 ranked first among the Junior with high level performances.
Now, together with his coach Benedetto Salvo, of the CrossFit® Adamantio box, has just returned from the legendary Wodapalooza 2022, one of the most important races of the season!
And we have interviewed them both in preview for you!
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Boys! What an honor to be able to do this interview! We leave the introductions to you!
Enrico, tell us about yourself, how long have you been training? And coach Benny, how long have you been training and following Zeno?
Enrico: Hi everyone! So, as you said, I'm Enrico Zenoni, I'm 23 and I've been training for just over 5 years. I started in August 2016 after seeing some Froning videos on youtube.
benny: Hi guys! I'm Benedetto Salvo, owner / head coach of CrossFit® Adamantio and I'm almost 38 years old (in a month!)
I have been training specifically for CF for about 7 years, but I have been involved in athletic training and preparation for more than 12 years. I started following Zeno for about 4 years with the aim of preparing the Fall series of 2019 where he participated in the Under 21 Category.
On that occasion he reached the top step of the podium thus starting his series of successes in the various events in which he participated.
In fact we have seen excellent results in recent years! And how did the idea of competing at Wodapalooza come about?
Enrico: I thought I'd try qualifying after the disappointment at the last Italian Showdowns, to redeem myself and, if I qualified, start the year with a great international experience!
benny: It had been a while that we wanted to try a high-level event to test our skills and evaluate if the path we have done so far would bear fruit even on a difficult race ground just like the Wodapalooza, so we decided to take part in this event in the Individual Category.
Really mythical! Can you tell us how the preparation for the race was?
Enrico: Well… it started quite badly, because I got sick and for more than a month I was unable to follow the program consistently! But after the Cross Challenge in December (a team race in the Czech Republic) I recovered and the last few weeks I managed to train well, in fact the days before the race I felt fit and ready to sell my skin dearly 😉
benny: Let's say that we did not specifically prepare the Wodapalooza, but in the same period in which the qualifications would take place, Zeno had some races planned and therefore we knew that he was in a physical condition in which he could carry out the qualifications of the WZA, which they did. understand immediately what kind of race it would be.
As for nutrition… Enrico, do you follow a specific diet? Do you take supplements?
Enrico: I don't follow a specific diet, I try to eat as much as possible to recover energy, but I don't look at calories, types of foods and the like.
As an integration I use i Foodspring products; there is never a lack of vitamins, omega 3, protein vegan, creatine, zmg and, when I feel particularly tired, the energy aminos (pre workout).
Lately I've also been adding recoverycbd_ita CBD oil, which helps me fall asleep right away and I noticed that it increases the deep sleep phase!
Let's go back to the WDZ: qWhat was the most complicated wod? And which one did you like the most?
Enrico: The hardest wod was the MIA bar complex! It was the first, so there was the pressure to start on the right foot and plus the short bar I had never used!
After missing the jerk it was hard to know I lost the chance to do good damage control on a heavy barbell event, but I still ran out of wod in cap time.
My favorite was the celebrate ten: hspu, overhead squat and ring muscle up; they are all movements in my ropes, so I was confident and ready to play it to win!
benny: When they published the various events we knew right away that the most complicated wod would be the first, that is the MIA Bar Complex, because considering the level of the athletes on the competition field, most would have had less difficulty than us in managing this sprint of the race. BB Complex; so the goal was to limit the damage.
When we found ourselves on the competition field, surely the excitement of the first event and the short bar further complicated the situation, but in the end Zeno managed to manage the workout just the same, closing in a position that allowed him not to lose too many points compared to. to the former.
As for the event that I liked the most, I agree with what Zeno said, but personally I also preferred the Dale, the event with the elimination phases where basically you had to perform the all out sequence, that is to say at maximum intensity, considering the Time Cap which was equal to 3 minutes. Zeno, in the final phase, practically ran on his hands during thehandstand walk detaching his opponents a lot and also closing this event in first place!
From your story you can perceive all the emotion and determination that you have put into it, but we know that there have been problems in the leaderboard and Zeno finished in 6th place. Can you explain what happened?
Both of them: In the row swim run event the chips of some athletes did not register the time of the workout, so only part of the leaderboard was updated; a few days later they fixed the points because luckily at the finish line there was also a judje who was marking the placings with a pen!
Many readers have asked us how do you recover between one test and another, given that in the race there are 2 wods a day, for 4 days in a row?
Enrico: Usually recovery eating immediately after the event, then I take a nap and finally do 10/15 minutes of stretching/foam roller.
In the first days, however, I gave up the routine a bit and went to see the other athletes compete; it's not every day that you can see Froning, Vellner, Ohlsen and all the other top athletes in action!
benny: As Zeno replied, immediately after the wod, deload work is always carried out with rower or bike, after work on myofascial relaxation with foam roller or treatment with the massage gun to work on those points where there is a risk of accumulating more. tension and thus limit the full extent of movements in subsequent events.
The next step is to try to rest to try to optimize recovery.
In this case, however, let's say that the process we carry out at each race has failed precisely because the curiosity and desire to see elite athletes of the level of the Games live was too high.
I personally have seen all the events of the elite both individual and team to try to understand the real gap that can exist between the Top Athletes and us who want to reach that level!
Let's talk about moments of relaxation off the floor: what did you do? How was the atmosphere in Miami?
Enrico: In the days of competition there weren't many moments of relaxation ... but in the days before we took the opportunity to stay on the beach and visit some of the most famous neighborhoods!
Miami is a truly spectacular city! Too bad we left immediately on Monday, but next time we will definitely stay a few more days!
benny: Miami is almost Surreal, when you see films shot in this location on TV, they seem to be places created ad hoc for the film set and instead once there you realize that it is all real and on a human scale, very livable.
The first few days we first visited the beach and all of Oceans Dv, one of the most famous streets in Miami Beach.
We also went to train at Reebok CrossFit Miami beach for the last training sessions where we met Rich Froning with all his team; beautiful and exciting at the same time!
Can you tell us the unforgettable and / or funny moments?
Enrico: The race afterparty! We went to a club in Wynwood and saw staff and athletes getting drunk and dancing like there's no tomorrow hahaha
benny: Unforgettable moments… For me, seeing Zeno close 2 events in first place with all the public cheering and cheering him on was priceless! It was also cool to hear the speaker almost cheering on him especially in the hswalk event where he shocked everyone with the speed and ease with which he finished the 15m!
Great guys… just to close we want to know what Enrico's next challenge will be?
Both of them: Now in a couple of weeks Zeno will participate in the Modena Challenge, Team race, but the real goal is the Open!
This year we want to qualify for the Semifinals thus consolidating the level we have reached in this last period and actually test with respect to the elites how far we are in order to dream of reaching the much coveted Games.
And all of us at CrossMAG wish you the best of luck! Good luck Zeno and Benny!