Transformation Tuesday: Patchen Noelke

Patchen Noelke admits to not exercising much since college, and once he hit his mid-40s with his wife starting a new journey by going to grad school, certain parts of his life were starting to feel stagnant. Before starting at Seattle Kettlebell Club, Noelke was purchasing new clothes for a back-packing trip, when realized he wanted to slim down versus buying bigger sized clothing.

“From the dressing room, I called Nikolai to schedule some personal training,” Noelke said. “He just happened to be doing kettlebells.”

When he first started at SKC, his main goal was to get in better shape, but now he loves the club and usually comes to SKC five times a week.

“I was willing to do the work, but I really needed the structure,” Noelke said. “I needed someone to tell me what to do.”

“The mindset of the people is right. Everyone seems down to earth. Everyone’s kind of an analytics nerds, so there is this whole math part of the workout that you get to track.” -Patchen Noelke

Noelke works at the software company Apptio, and compares his job to kettlebell training because it’s intense, goal oriented, and there is always room for improvement. He even believes that kettlebell training has contributed greatly to his work performance.

“I’ve been doing kettlebells for not even three years; I’ve been promoted twice, and I would directly attribute it to getting a cleaner and healthier mindset that has made me more confident and relaxed at work,” Noelke said.

Born in California, Noelke has lived in Seattle since 1995, and he enjoys backpacking, hiking, and having game nights with friends. He also wants to set a good fitness example for his 12 and 15-year-old sons who enjoy soccer and hip-hop dance.

“As they’ve grown and gotten bigger, it’s been important that I can keep up with them,” Noelke said.

Noelke said he has stayed with the club because he loves the social aspects of the classes and how the trainers use kettlebells as a fitness tool. He’s even the president of SKC’s Sport team, The Kettlebears.

“I wouldn’t have picked it as a sport to do. I kind of picked it as a last-ditch effort to get in shape and not die,” Noelke said. “Nikolai’s style just sucks you into it. Right now, I’m clearly addicted. I love the club.”

In the last year Noelke has really cleaned up his diet, and he’s mostly cut out added sugars, wheat and dairy, and he tries get a lot of protein in his diet. He’s lost 15 pounds and is down a pant size since training at SKC.

“A lot of the weight sort of just moved around,” Noelke said.  “My shoulders got big, and my legs got stronger,” Noelke said.

He also comments on how he works with a lot of people he sees only a couple of times a year because they work all over the country and when he sees them, they comment on his noticeable physical changes. He too is often sent to travel for work as well, and he enjoys checking out different kettlebell gyms around the world.

As for SKC, Noelke loves the community of the club, and the accessibility of kettlebell training.

“You don’t always know who’s going to show up. There are so many classes, and so many cool people,” Noelke said. “You get to see people have little breakthroughs all the time.”

-Camille Borodey