Thank you for checking out the Community Conversation, brought to you by Prototype Training Systems, home of CrossFit Prototype! The Community Conversation highlights a different member of the Prototype Community each week and allows them to tell their story, share their life experience, and communicate their perspective on all things fitness.
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This is our 74th episode of The Community Conversation and today Marc and coach Mike are discussing Marc’s many hobbies!
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Mike Collette
All right, everyone. Welcome back to the community conversation excited for our guests this week. Marc Dobay aka big Marc, aka, probably the nicest car collection at Prototype. And there’s probably some more AKAs that we’ll throw in at the end of this conversation, but excited to have Marc on today. Marc, thanks for being with us.
Marc Dobay
Hey, Man, great to credit happy to be on in a lot of these. So yeah, finally, come around to me. I was like, Oh, I’d like to do one of those. And then you asked me, I’m like, do I really want to do one of those?
Mike Collette
Now you’re on the hot seat. First thing is that most people that may be listening right now maybe listening on Spotify, or Apple podcasts or whatnot, so they may not be seeing the YouTube video. But the first thing I noticed is amazing background that we got going on. There’s like all this stuff. So if you guys aren’t watching YouTube video, Marc’s got like three guitars in the background. He’s got like artwork, he’s got like an aquarium. He’s got like these leather bound chairs. He’s got like this digital clock. It’s like, it’s basically the perfect zoom setup. So instead of me starting the conversation with like, give us your fitness journey. Talk a little bit about the stuff in the back. So clearly, you’re a musician. You’re into the guitars, how long have you been playing?
Marc Dobay
So I was you I wouldn’t use the word musician. I would say that. They’re mostly wall art. If I would say I’ve been playing or trying to play, and that’s probably my biggest downfall. I’ve never really dedicated the cycles to really learning it. So I know a handful of riffs. I play the same thing over and over again for the last 20 something years. I’ve had the entire like, forever. I like I guess I could talk Trump they call it noodle. So I’ve been noodling around forever. I’m a lefty, which makes things super difficult. So in the Guitar World, if anybody if you know anything about guitars, like lefties are like unicorns, like a you know, a nice guitar and a left handed version is like very hard to find. So over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to afford some higher end guitars in there lefties so so that they’re more of a collection on the wall but yeah, I just kind of poke around you know, loosely even probably not even a campfire guy had a handful of songs here and there. I wish I could play better but I honestly just don’t dedicate the cycles to
Mike Collette
What are the riffs give me give me a song that you can play or your favorite.
Marc Dobay
I’ve been practicing a little bit of Metallica this is a really hardcore that I’ve been playing in a little time to play a little bit of Iron Maiden in the trooper
Mike Collette
like you are picking easy songs. Acoustic give yourself a little bit more credit you’re like What do you say like I’ve been like ripping I don’t really play I’m thinking okay, like I don’t know playing some basic like one couple a couple notes or whatever here and there but you’re playing like technically hard songs like
Marc Dobay
I can play some you know, I can do some of my acoustic I can play some you know some strumming you know, some pretty good with like with acoustic chords so I can do some strumming and stuff. So I never kind of follow it all the way through. You know, I know like the you know, I can play like half of like, Space Odyssey from from David Bowie. I can play a couple of chords is this a couple of chords of that that’s enough? I get into it. I play it for a little while to get into it. And then I’m like, Okay, that’s good.
Mike Collette
I like it. I didn’t know I was interesting. You mentioned the lefty I never even thought of that. Now that you bring it up because like the the strings would be the opposite. So it would totally change how you play the guitar. So your your guitars are set up like the strings are set up the opposite way. Is that basically how it is?
Marc Dobay
Oh, everything is opposite. So yeah, just it would be if you flipped it upside down like a Jimi Hendrix would be then yeah, you restring it. And the strings would be the other way around on the same on a right handed guitar. But lefty guitar, they make it so that everything’s left handed. So the whole shape. It’s all it looks, it looks the same as the right handed guitar just flipped upside.
Mike Collette
So that’s cool. I didn’t know that. Another thing so I know you’re a big car guy. Like I said before we get into the fitness. I’m just curious because I know you got like, like the vet you got the Jeep like I always been into cars. That seems like a passion of yours.
Marc Dobay
Yeah. I like to call it automotive ADD
Unknown Speaker
AAAD.
Marc Dobay
So yeah, you know, I’ve been so I grew up in the automotive field. So my father owned an automotive business. My brother still owns an automotive business. I grew up working in the automotive industry. So I spent the first half of my career 20 something years as a as an auto technician.
Mike Collette
Oh, that’s cool. I did not know that. So. So it’s been in your blood, basically. Yeah.
Marc Dobay
So I’ve been I’ve been around cars forever, and I, and I get bored of vehicles really quick. So every couple of years if it if I can even wait a couple years, I tend to get something new, which is not the greatest financial investments that
Mike Collette
well, those cars, I mean, the cars Yeah, hold their value, I would assume I mean, the jeeps hold their value is that I mean, the the, by the way that you have the one the newer That’s right, they’re like they’re sharp.
Marc Dobay
Yeah, that’s the C seven. So I just got that last year. But what I tend to do is I buy something, I help I work on it because I can fix it up. So I buy something, and I don’t buy things that are very expensive for the most part. So I buy things I fix them up, and then I sell them and I typically sell them for what I bought them for. So I just kind of roll the money over from one vehicle to the next vehicle tonight with the exception to that is the new that is the C seven Corvette and the Jeep was I typically leased vehicles so I go through them so fast but to tell you the truth, the Jeep is turned out to be one of my favorite vehicles and I’ve never owned a Jeep before but I cloudier so I’m in love with that thing. Do
Mike Collette
their cool, man. You do that rubber duck. Oh my God, I didn’t know that until you told me so well, where everyone listening. We’re not going to tell you the underground like Jeep like stuff. It’s just for the cool people that have Jeep so you have to get a jeep and they will tell you they tell you the secrets. Now that’s cool. I did not know that. Shifting gears. I know you’ve been at prototype for a little bit you were a few months ago our prototype of the month. And so anyway, I love for you to share kind of like your your fitness journey with us. Like how did you find prototype? How did you get into fitness? Like I know you have like, you know, you were working out before coming to prototype you have like a good story there. So, so sure.
Marc Dobay
Yeah. So. So what are we in 2023? Now, so about
Mike Collette
2022, Well, ever since COVID happened, we don’t know what year it is.
Marc Dobay
Maybe. So I guess 2010 is probably like, for me, I would say that was kind of the that’s like the stake in the ground that I could put so I’ve always been I’ve never been into real into organized sports because I never felt I was any good at being a lefty sometimes. It’s very, you know, you kind of awkward. So, you know, yeah, I would flat out with bat righty I would hold like hockey was like total a blur for me because like the curve of the stick and then a left feet and a righty and so I wasn’t good with the right handed stick and I wasn’t good with the left hand to stick and then in baseball trying to throw the ball and just was not my forte. So I wasn’t really into sports when I was younger, I did do some weight training when I was younger, not a whole lot, not religiously, but enough. Until around 2010 I had at that time, I’d pretty much switched careers from automotive industry into the computer side of the house into technical more of a white collar job. And I was getting you know, I was you know, putting on the pounds, right? So I can carry a pretty decent amount of weight as it is anyways, but I was I was probably almost 210 pounds, you know, in 2010 and I just was you know, there was other stuff going on in my life and I was just just fed up with like how I looked. So basically I said you know, I’m gonna do something right. Like everyone I’m gonna start dieting and start exercising more start going to the gym on a regular basis. So that’s kind of when it turned around for me so I just I started
Mike Collette
switch gears like literally you just made that decision and you’re like, yeah, just
Marc Dobay
looked in the mirror was just like, you know, you see a site you know, you see these pictures of yourself and there was this one picture of me at a conference and I was wearing like a polo shirt now that a conference and I was I was so heavy I was like oh my god who is that guy? So So that was it. So from then on I decided to start eating healthier, stopped eating a bunch of junk food and then started working out and then I started like running was like was like the big thing for me. And I tell this kind of this story about where like I used to go out of my I could couldn’t even run literally could not run to the mailbox without like dying in like we’re talking couple 100 yards. Yeah, but As I started eating healthy, like every night, I’d go out, I’d run to the mailbox, I’d run back, then I’d run past the mailbox, and I’d run back. And just like week after week, it would just be like and where I lived at the time, there was a circle that just kind of circled around the condos that I lived in. And four times around the condo was was a mile. So it was I’d run halfway around, and I’d walk and then I’d run off. Finally, I got all the way around, and then finally got one mile and I got two miles and then I got three miles then so. So that helped. And then I started using I did a, I did insanity, I did p90x Those were Those were tough programs, no doubt, like so then, I was also going to also go into the gym, in Westborough, kind of where prototype is, across the Boston sports club, whatever. So I go there. And that was pretty much it. So those for many years, I just kind of did my own thing. I did a lot of running, which was to the detriment of some of my body. So I loved it, I did a lot of running, and never quite got into the marathon. I had gotten into the Chicago Marathon one year, but then started having some band issues that I couldn’t, you know, there was no way I was going to run a mile run the marathon at that point with the activity will be an issue. So and then I’ve done a lot of, I’ve done a bunch of half marathons 10ks 5ks, I got a ton of metals downstairs in my in my thing. And that helped me I dropped the weight that I used a program called stronger you were it was the kind of like Jon does with with dieting and nutrition and helps you kind of start eating healthy and I’m just counting carbs, calories. And in that stuff, I did that for a while. Got way down got down to like, you know, people say like, you know, like six or 7% body fat 145 pounds completely shredded.
Mike Collette
Oh, my gosh. So you went from 210 to one to 145? In how and how long was that? I was to that one,
Marc Dobay
probably two years.
Mike Collette
Wow. That’s impressive. The one thing that just just stuck out to me I had to mention is like that I think is an important lesson, like for people that are listening is like, how how like you kind of like first of all, you had this realization that you had to make a change, then you mentioned like this picture at a conference, you probably were feeling more tired. And there’s a lot of other stuff that probably contributed to that. But like, you’re like how you your approach to making a change wasn’t okay, I need to go run a marathon it was let me run back and forth from my mailbox. And it was just you gradually just built up and built up and built up and then started making all these changes. What’s so impressive is the fact that sounds like you did this like just you by yourself like in like you are just motivated to just do it. And then it sounds like you’ve like you did these races, almost as little mini goals like that kind of kept you going along. And then you change as you kind of grew and like got more fit, you’ve started to make increase the challenge a bit by adding in these more difficult programs. Like, it’s really interesting. Like, what I don’t know if that was the deliberate?
Marc Dobay
I mean, that’s yeah, I mean, that’s kind of in a nutshell, I think, you know, with running particular. I’m into cycling now. So now I do a lot of cycling. But so with running in particular, there’s like this for me, there was a there was like that one point where it just clicked right where you were stopped being out of breath. And trying, you know, and really being really being out of breath and sort of I can’t run anymore to this point where you kind of hit this level where, okay, I made you know, I’m on three miles and I’m not breathing heavy anymore. I feel like I can just go you know, I think runners they call it the runner’s high. I don’t know if I’ve ever got like the runner’s high, but I do I did recognize that like at a certain mileage after a certain mileage, it wasn’t such a chore anymore. It was just like, hey, I’m just gonna keep going because it feels okay my body feels okay and I’m just enjoying it my head and clearing my head. I’m looking at you know, for me it kind of like it just like being outside in nature on the trails were really nice are on the road and just kind of just being out there listening to music and just running. So that was that was kind of like my, my mental place to go after a while. And now it’s maybe now it’s more like more bicycling than it is running because it’s just my body now it just it’s gone the other way.
Mike Collette
So that was 2010 to two that to you said two years. So like 2012 ish. And then like so then when did you like what made? What brighter the decision of like? Because you’re doing everything kind of on your own? What made you kind of move to the decision to go into like, training? Like how did that what was that transition like,
Marc Dobay
so I was going to the gym a lot going to the gym a lot. But it’s funny because I was talking to BZ about this the other day, Brian in I was going a lot but it didn’t have any real, any real structure. So you know, you do the gym thing you go there, you end up spending a couple of hours at the gym, but it’s not really getting a good workout because you like I’m doing a couple, you know, I’m gonna go and do some, some curls, then I’m gonna do some bench presses, then I’m gonna walk around a little bit, and I’m gonna do a couple pull ups. And then I’m gonna go over the treadmill. And then you’re just kind of like wandering around doing,
Mike Collette
like a buffet, yes, like, or whatever you feel like he’s trying to get structured.
Marc Dobay
Trying to look at workout programs, the you know, the 3,2,1 or the, you know, there’s a bunch of different like versions of it, you go there with a plan in your head, like, I’m gonna do this and then do that. But honestly, it just didn’t have the discipline. So I would go, I would do running, I’d be on the treadmill, I do the workout. But I was bored there and just didn’t know what to do. And, you know, there was always coaches it not really, I guess not, I don’t know, if there are coaches, and some of them were coaches, and some of them were just workers, but you know, you hear them in, in back talking about, you know, oh, CrossFit, this process that and great if you want to go get hurt, and this and that. And so that kind of deters you a little bit from from going, but I started, there was a there was one coach, this definitely, who was really good. And she said, Hey, I’ve got this program that I want to try. And it was kind of like a high intensity, but we do all these different things. And it was a lot. It was a lot like insanity. Or like p90x where it kind of, and I liked that structured, where I just went in a new light didn’t have to worry about what I was going to do. The coach is gonna say, you got to do this, you got to do this, we’re going to do this. And then you know, you get a good 45 minute, 15 minute workout. And then. So that was great. And I said, Well, you know, that I said, Well, let me start looking into CrossFit. Because it’s more of a structured workout. We’ll give that a try. And that’s kind of that’s what drove me to the next level and said, alright, well, you know, I’ll go in you guys right across the street. I’m like, Okay, well, hey, there’s a place right across the street. Let me poke at it and see what’s happening. And rest is history I guess.
Mike Collette
Cool. Yeah. So he kind of like just just shifted a little bit to wanting to like level, level it up. Like, again, just add to that gradual progression in terms of your terms of your journey. So one question I always like to ask people that come on here is like, your favorite favorite memories, like at the gym, like favorite movements, favorite workouts? Like what are the things that kind of come to mind? Like, when we start when, you know, maybe you started talking about prototype, maybe to other people or whatnot? What are those?
Marc Dobay
So, um, well, again, just in general, right, just the camaraderie, the coaches, the atmosphere with inside your gym, box, however you want to call it is, I think is one of them. Probably the greatest thing there is just like, like people come in, everyone’s friendly, it’s a great place to work out. It’s it’s low key, there’s not a lot of pressure, but you’ve got all of the support from all the coaches, you get the support from the other people working out. So I love that about it. I love the fact that I can come in, I know that it just, you know, it’s an hour workout to show up. They’re going to tell me what to do. If I’m not feeling something, I can find some alternatives to what I was working, if I’m hurt or not feeling great. I’m sore. You know, there’s always these alternatives. And then for workouts for me. It’s like the Murph workout without I forget what they call it without the run. Right. So Cindy, Cindy, to me, that’s like one of my favorites. I love the the I do the 5,10,15 right, five pull ups 10 Push ups, 15 squats and just bang it out in. I think my I think I hit 20 rounds last time.
Mike Collette
So that’s pretty good. It’s a round a minute, dude. Yeah, so that’s pretty good.
Marc Dobay
That’s pretty good. The run takes jobs, but there was Yeah, that’s one of my favorite workouts. I like that. I love the jump around double unders, always good time. And then the rest of the stuff. I just, I mean, I’d love to do more. Yeah, I do. But it’s, you know, it’s just again, it’s the dedication and time but yeah, it’s probably no workouts that I hate, I guess. Burpees I guess.
Mike Collette
Yeah. All right. Yeah, you and everyone else. Yeah. So one other thing. Another question I have is like, I know you You, you did the lift off, I think you won, like the benchpress. A lot of folks that come into the gym like, you know, they’ll come into you have, you know, get get fit, etc, etc. And then like you start getting kind of into this groove of like, you know, wanting to do workouts as prescribed and do certain movements, like what are the things that are on your bucket list? What are the goals that you have, or things that you’re trying to accomplish now?
Marc Dobay
Yes, so, yeah, lift up was great. And, you know, I, you know, I’ve always been feeling strong benchpress I was definitely surprised I got that high of that bench off
Mike Collette
was like three, was it 300? Something 300
Marc Dobay
It was a lot wasn’t three, it wasn’t 295 Or
Mike Collette
that was around. So that was high. It was like that was around 300.
Marc Dobay
Yeah, somewhere around I think just under 300. But it was. Yeah,
Mike Collette
that’s heavy. Yeah, that’s awesome. Yeah.
Marc Dobay
So double unders was like, for double unders took me a while to get so I was happy when I finally got double unders. And then muscle up is another one that I’ve worked on a little bit, haven’t quite got it. I got one or two off, and then haven’t really progressed so far. And I think that’s, that’s an odd one. Because it’s that once it gets tough, because it’s such a, like, such a tough movement between the mechanics of it, and then just the sheer power that it takes. And then me being a little heavier than I like, I’d like to be just, you know, it’s just a lot of weight and weight, you know, and on my shoulder. I’m trying not to I’m trying to stay un-injured.
Mike Collette
Yeah, don’t hurt yourself. Yeah, you got it, though. I mean, you got the movement. So you can check it off the list. If you see any type of guy like when you want to do something you do it? Like, which is pretty cool.
Marc Dobay
Yeah. So yeah, I don’t know. So in my head, I’ve got strict muscle up at some point. Just to really, in free standing in the free handstand. I’ve been doing practicing a lot I really love to get into that could just be able to get up into a free handstand. I don’t know why. It just
Mike Collette
cool. It’s a cool party trick. It’s like It’s like riffing on the guitar, man. I’m curious, do you go to Jack’s Super Sunday sessions?
Marc Dobay
I haven’t because I’ve been doing. So I saw Brian, a few months ago, doing some Moy tie with one of the guys like, Oh, you guys, do you have you know, are you doing a class? He said this or that? And he’s like, No. And he goes, No, just a personal training. And then he sent me a text and said, Hey, if you’re interested in doing a little training, you know, we can set up some one on one sessions. And that’s what I’ve done with him on Sunday.
Mike Collette
That’s cool.
Marc Dobay
So Jack’s stuff looks cool, too. And I would I would do that too. I already get quite a bit of flack from my better half that I overachiever at the gym Do you can wet so I’ve got to I would I would do Brian I would do the boxing with Brian on Sunday hang out for the hangout for the you know for the mobility and then jump right into another class. So I’m not sure when you’re
Mike Collette
when you’re afternoon and Sunday is is yeah, I you you don’t have to say anymore. The I totally I totally get it. Now it’s it’s all about priorities. Now this is cool, man. Yeah, the once you start putting in the work into the strict muscle up and the practice and the handstand, I’m sure you’ll get it. jack and jack and John and the gear guys right there if you want any help on the on those things. So
Marc Dobay
yeah, I think got a heal my shoulder a little bit more first. That’s,
Mike Collette
and then we can work on that. That’s cool. So Mark, I want to get into our our final question round here. This little fun game that we’ve been doing at the end of these community conversations. Two Truths and a Lie, and I prepped you a little bit beforehand. I know you’ve listened to some of these, you know, but basically, for you guys that are listening right now, Mark is gonna say three statements. Two of them are true. One of them’s a lie. And then I have to guess which one is the lie right now? I’m bad and below 500 to two and three, I think is my record. So you know, just saying like, I’d like to get back up to 500. So with that being don’t make it too easy for me, Mark, but what do you got?
Marc Dobay
Okay, so rattle off all three at
Mike Collette
first. Yeah, just Yeah. Don’t tell me what you want is the lie. Gotcha.
Marc Dobay
So I once went on a date and got so drunk, that I lost the date and have never talked to that person or seen that for wasn’t ever again. Okay. My second one is I worked for a local radio station as a promotions coordinator. And then the third one is, I’m an avid flyer so I have my pilot’s license.
Mike Collette
All right. I feel like I could have gotten that third one out of you by asking about those paintings in the back because you have planes in the background. That feel like that may be true, but then I’m like, when would you fly? Like, that’s a question I have in my mind is like you do so many things. Like when would you actually go and fly but that’s I’m running right? I’m talking to myself right now. The drunk. You got so drunk that? What was it? You got so drunk that you just let lost your date off the date? Then the radio station promoted? This is hard. And now you said you’re in the auto industry then went into corporate? You didn’t mention anything about radio station. Maybe that was in between there. A date thing? I guess I could
I go to the radio station. is a lie.
Marc Dobay
No, that’s true.
Mike Collette
Dammit. Dammit. All right. All right. So what’s the lie?
Marc Dobay
The lie is the pilot’s license.
Mike Collette
God, you know, other thing in my head. I’m like, you know, I think he was trying to trick me with his paintings in the background. Damn it. Okay. All right. So, alright, so now you gotta tell me the story. So I’ll start with my guests. So the radio station thing. So what was that? Was that in between? Because you said you went from the auto? Yeah.
Marc Dobay
So I spent? Yeah. So in between my a while I was still working in the automotive industry. I actually did part time. So I went to I went to Columbia School of broadcasting when I was younger, was going to be a radio DJ guy. So I, I went through, I went to went to school for that, and then got an internship at wa F. And then worked for WA F, which is, you know, people don’t know, a Boston local Boston radio station no longer around and worked my way into a job there as a promotions coordinator and in what do they call now? Promotions coordinator, and show prep guy for one afternoon, guys.
Mike Collette
And then now you gotta tell me number one. So number one, the drunken date, like, what? When was that? Well, are you here?
Marc Dobay
I was, I was young, probably just, you know, early 20s. I think. Well, let’s
Mike Collette
paint a picture for
Marc Dobay
a friend of mine was like, hey, so and so wants to know if you want to go out on a date, and I’m like, oh, yeah, sure. Let’s go out and like, alright, well, we’re gonna go. We’re like, Hey, let’s go into Boston. You know, big shot. Let’s go into Boston. So I picked her up in my car. I picked her up my car
Mike Collette
drives while he’s driving that you steal your car guy will be driving that. Oh, back then.
Marc Dobay
Probably. A two eight. Nissan 280 Z. Yeah, it
Mike Collette
was a red. No, it
Marc Dobay
was like silver. I was poor back then. So
Mike Collette
to 280Z though, that’s still not a bad car. My dad was that one of those.
Marc Dobay
It was fun. But the T tops so. So we drove into Boston, I think we were at like the cast and flag and back then or whatever it was called up by Fenway. We went in, I got a drink. She got a drink. And I don’t know if I was roofie or not. But that was the last thing I remember. I got like a margarita. The last thing I remember was getting the margarita The next thing I remember I was in my car in the parking lot. And it was like two o’clock in the morning. I finally sobered up enough. I drove home. I never heard from her. I don’t know what happened. Everything was closed down. I was just in the parking lot. The parking lot just like going what just happened? So
Mike Collette
we’ll never know the rest of that story. My memory of it. But that’s a good that is a good story. That is a good story that yeah, you may have gotten something put in your drink, though. But that’s yeah,
Marc Dobay
maybe they were trying to get her and ended up giving it to me, but it was yeah,
Mike Collette
it was I don’t know, you took that you took that one for the for the team. Let’s put it that way. If that’s the case, this is the this is why I love the two truths and a lie because you end up finding out some other cool, fun, fun facts that I would never have known if unless we went into it. But, but But Mark, I really appreciate you being on the committee conversation today. This is awesome. A lot of fun stuff. We talked about everyone that’s listening right now. Thank you so much for tuning in. Remember, every Monday we bring the community conversation to you first thing so make sure you check on that daily brief. You guys can listen to this on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Also have this on YouTube and on our blog. But with that being said, Mark, thanks so much for coming on, man. Awesome. Thanks, Mike. You got it. All right.