Craig Capurso: Provide a Good Rep
September 7, 2018
Linebackers don’t often moonlight as kick returners, but Craig Capurso filled both roles at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. After graduation he played semi-pro and got some pro looks, but Capurso went on to even greater renown as what he modestly calls “a fitness person.” Translation: an international fitness celebrity whose chiseled torso earned him the nickname “The Abdominal Snowman.”The D10’s competitors and fans will be familiar with Capurso from his long-standing and high-profile role as The D10’s Head Judge. Many will be watching with heightened interest when Capurso takes the field in Houston this November as a D10 athlete in the team competition.
“It takes a special person to assume the role of Head Judge at The D10,” says D10 Founder Dave Maloney. “Tensions are high, stakes are high, and to do your best to enforce the rules under those conditions is tough. We are thankful that it’s something Craig does well, and willingly.
“I can’t wait to see Capurso compete again,” Maloney adds. “He gave us a shot when not many did. He believed that we were onto something, and he has stuck with us. I consider him part of the family. I would be remiss if I didn’t add that as a person, Craig is someone who has always given back, and given of himself, way more than our audience gets to see when he’s locked in on judging reps.”
Capurso spoke with us recently about his first D10 as a competitor in more than eight years.
You’ve earned - and I mean earned in the most positive sense - a reputation for strictness as a D10 judge. How do you approach judging the competitions?
I’m going to do everything I can to uphold the way I train. I want to even the playing field and provide a good experience. Everybody gets the same treatment, and everybody in my heat is held to the same standard that day.
I’m looking out for people trying to cheat, trying to use momentum instead of muscle. As an athlete, the only thing we can do is provide a good rep. You shouldn’t be trying to game The D10. If you have to game reps, you’re probably not going to win anyway. The athletes who win, they deal with it. They say, It is what it is.
Just do what you can do, call it a day, and if you want a better result, train harder in the offseason.
You’re going to be not just on The D10 field in Houston this November, but in it. Which events will you focus on in your training?
I need work everywhere. I’ve been injured on and off for the last year. I’ve been doing more Crossfit lately, so I’m more limber and flexible. But everything needs to be trained specifically and individually. Doing the team event, you should really cherrypick if you want to succeed, but I’m preparing myself for all ten events, just because it’ll be more fun.
As far as your event goals, what are you aiming to hit?
In the Bench, I’m anticipating hitting 40. The 400 Meter, my game is to break a minute. The 800, I have no guesses. Pull-Ups will be an enigma for me as well. My Vertical was 32, 33 the last time I tested. I ran a 4.59 40 in college, but I pulled my hamstring the last time I ran a 40, so we’ll see. My Broad Jump, I’ll be on the back side of nine feet. I’m a former football player, I’ve thrown a football, so I won’t embarrass myself there.
What about the Row?
I'm gonna go sub-1:20, for sure.
No wiggle room in that answer. Have to admire that. So how did you get linked up with The D10 years ago?
Dave [Maloney] reached out to me when I was a trader, and boxing on the Wall Street circuit. We kind of hit it off, and it turned out to be a long conversation. I believe it was year two or three when I competed as an athlete, and I finished top 10 despite blowing my hamstring out.
I was mad because I had watched a lot of piss-poor reps. Dave said there was a need for a judge who could set a really high standard, and I said, “Let me do it.”
How did this year’s Nutrabolt/Metron team come together?
I was working with Doss Cunningham [of Nutrabolt/Cellucor] throughout the year. He had put on his own mini-event after reading about The D10 in one of the fitness magazines. He wanted to prepare for it. I’d been judging so long, it was time for me to step back into the competition, so I said, at the end of the year, if you’re up for it, let’s do it. John Hardesty is the Chief Marketing Officer, and Doss is CEO.
And you had begun working with Doss in your capacity with Metron, so tell us about Metron.
We're an all-inclusive coaching suite that allows coaches to program their modalities online. Users put their data in and personalize their experience. As a user tracks and trains, it gets more personalized.
I was releasing e-books and different products after I got sponsored as a bodybuilder, and I was pitched by my current partner, Daniel Chen, to join his company. With some great engineers, he had built out the tech. I looked at how we could link up, and we did. My role as co-founder and VP of business development doesn't do it justice. I wear about 25 hats.
Donate to Craig and his Metron team here. All donations go directly to pediatric cancer research at The D10 Houston's beneficiary, MD Anderson Cancer Center.