Janae Marie Kroczaleski (born December 8, 1972 as Matthew Raymond Kroczaleski) is an American who previously competed as a professional

powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

and competitive

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...

. In regard to combined (squat, bench press, and deadlift) equipped powerlifting total, on April 25, 2009, in Iowa, Kroc set the male world record in the 220 lb. weight class with 2,551 lbs (composed of 738 pound

bench press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...

, 810 pound

deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exerci ...

and 1003 pound back squat), which at the time was also the fifth highest total for the 242 lb. male weight class. Kroczaleski no longer held the record as of August 21, 2010, when a 2,715 pound total was achieved by Shawn Frankl (the man who held the record prior to Kroczaleski) in Ohio. In 2015, Kroc came out as

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

and

genderfluid Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

, taking the name 'Janae' and adopting she/her pronouns. She uses the name 'Matt' and male pronouns when referring to the time before her transition.

Career

Military

Kroc served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

from 1991 to 1995 and was selected for presidential security duty serving under President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

. The tour of duty included time in Washington D.C., providing security for military officers at the Pentagon and for some of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

from 1992 to 1994. Assigned to security duty for

Warren Christopher Warren Minor Christopher (October 27, 1925March 18, 2011) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician. During Bill Clinton's first term as president, he served as the 63rd United States Secretary of State. Born in Scranton, North Dakota, ...

(then Secretary of State) during the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

conferences in 1993, Kroc was later assigned to the security force at the presidential retreat at

Camp David Camp David is the country retreat for the president of the United States of America. It is located in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, about north-northwest ...

from 1994 to 1995.

Powerlifting

Kroc began entering

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effo ...

contests after joining the Marines in 1991. In 2002, Matt graduated from college and bought a home prior to the 2002 USAPL Nationals. Later, Matt went to

London, Ohio London is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Ohio, United States. Located about southwest of the Ohio capital of Columbus, London was established in 1811 to serve as the county seat. The population was 10,279 at the 2020 census. ...

, to train at a compound with Dave Tate and Jim Wendler. Kroc also trained with Mountain Dog John Meadows,

Branch Warren Branch Warren is an American retired IFBB Pro League professional bodybuilder. Early life Warren was born in Tyler, Texas. He grew up on a cattle ranch and later moved to Fort Worth, Texas. Career Warren placed second at the 2009 Mr. Olympia, t ...

, and

Johnnie O. Jackson Johnnie Otis Jackson (born January 30, 1971, in Hammonton, New Jersey) is an American IFBB professional bodybuilder and powerlifter. Jackson has been said to have one of the best developed upper bodies in professional bodybuilding in the world. ...

. Kroc developed "kroc rows", or dumbbell rows performed with extremely heavy weight and many repetitions. One video of Kroc Rows showed 25 repetitions with 225 pounds, and has been known to perform kroc rows with 300-pound dumbbells. Kroc also described lifting 300 pounds for 13 repetitions using straps; and both 205 pounds for 30 repetitions, and 175 pounds for 40 repetitions, neither with straps. The 300x13 claim was verified at the 2010

Arnold Sports Festival The IFBB Arnold Sports Festival, also known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, is an annual multi-sport event consisting of professional bodybuilding (''Arnold Classic''), strongman ('' Arnold Strongman Classic''), fitness, figur ...

. In 2017, after 18 months on

estrogen Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogenous estrogens that have estrogenic hormonal ac ...

, Kroc's performance was reduced to 210 pounds for 10 repetitions and

ing 605 pounds. Kroc is a world champion, a world record holding powerlifter, and a

National Physique Committee The National Physique Committee (NPC) is the largest amateur bodybuilding organization in the United States. Amateur bodybuilders compete in competitions from local to national competitions sanctioned by the NPC. While the term "bodybuilding" is ...

bodybuilder.

Seminar speaking

In 2012, Kroc spoke at Learn To Train Seminar 4. Kroc then shared this online from December 2012 to March 2013.

Other

Kroc graduated from

Ferris State University Ferris State University (FSU or Ferris) is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan. It was founded in 1884 and became a public institution in 1950. Ferris is the ninth-largest institutions of higher education by enrol ...

in 2002 and is a registered

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

working in the specialty pharmacy division of

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...

. Kroc had careers as a sponsored athlete under contract with both EliteFTS and

MuscleTech MuscleTech is a brand of dietary supplements, marketed by Iovate Health Sciences Inc., which includes Hydroxycut. It was owned by Canadian company Kerr Holdings which was acquired by the Xiwang Foodstuffs Company, a Chinese company, for $584 mil ...

, and as an author and model, having appeared in and published articles in many magazines including

Men's Fitness ''Men's Fitness'' was a men's magazine published by American Media, Inc and founded in the United States in 1987. The premier issue featured Michael Pare from the television series '' The Greatest American Hero''. The magazine's slogan was "How ...

, ''

Powerlifting USA ''Powerlifting USA'' is an American international magazine covering the sport of powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the spor ...

'', ''

MuscleMag ''MuscleMag International'' or ''Musclemag'' was a Canadian bodybuilding, fitness and men's magazine, considered one of the top magazines in its field. It was established in Canada in 1974 by Robert Kennedy, an immigrant to Canada and leading expe ...

'', and ''

Muscle & Fitness ''Muscle & Fitness'' is an American fitness and bodybuilding magazine founded in 1935 by Canadian entrepreneur Joe Weider. It was originally published under the title ''Your Physique'', before being renamed to ''Muscle Builder'' in 1954, and acq ...

''. Kroc is also a featured author for T-Nation. Kroc created a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

account in 2006.

Personal life

In interviews, Kroc has described growing up in a trailer in a rural conservative area. Kroc started working out with cement-filled

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

weights at six years old, including doing 100 reps on a 10-pound dumbbell, and at 8 years old constructed a

weight bench A weight training bench is a piece of exercise equipment used for weight training. Weight training benches may be of various designs: fixed horizontal, fixed inclined, fixed in a folded position, with one adjustable portion, with two or mor ...

out of a 2x4 or 2x12 on cement blocks and made a

barbell A barbell is a piece of exercise equipment used in weight training, bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerlifting and strongman, consisting of a long bar, usually with weights attached at each end. Barbells range in length from to above , alth ...

out of milk jugs filled with sand hung on a stick. Kroc weighed 118 pounds as a high school freshman, and, after graduating from high school at Standish-Sterling Central. After wedding Patty Stoll in 1996, four years into their marriage Patty gave birth to their middle son Garrett John Kroczaleski on 15 May 2000. In 2006 they divorced. Lauren Starky married Kroc in 2010 but they divorced in 2012. In 2004, Kroc was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Kroc had three children with a woman named Patty; they split up in 2006. Kroc also married a woman named Lauren. Kroc self-described as "Manliest of the Manly Men", known as an "Ultimate Alpha Male" before transitioning. Kroc came out as

to friends and relatives (including three sons) around 2005. (50 seconds in .. 16 minutes in) In April 2015, Kroc legally changed forenames from Matthew Raymond to Janae Marie, a name chosen by Kroc's mother, a name she would have chosen for a biologically female daughter. In July of that year, Kroc came out as both transgender and

. Kroc is living as both genders, saying she often feels like two completely different people trying to share a body, fighting for control. Kroc uses female pronouns and prefers them. Kroc uses masculine pronouns when referring to the Matt era. In December 2015, Kroc's was the first featured among the top 63 most powerful comings-out of 2015. ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' described an

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

post where Kroc described undergoing

facial feminization surgery Facial feminization surgery (FFS) is a set of reconstructive surgical procedures that alter typically male facial features to bring them closer in shape and size to typical female facial features. FFS can include various bony and soft tissue proced ...

more than one year before she publicly came out. Earlier articles state similarly. After an August interview by

Dave Palumbo David Christopher Palumbo (born February 17, 1968) is a retired American bodybuilder. He competed in his first bodybuilding competition in 1990, an NPC national competition in New York City, where he placed 6th place weighing in at 168 lbs. In ...

, in September Kroc announced the start of a full gender transition, starting both

surgical Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

and

hormonal A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required f ...

treatments, and stopping career lifting. In an interview from October 2015, Janae mentioned being four weeks into

estrogen therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. These symptoms can include hot flashes, vaginal ...

and taking a testosterone blocker. 24 minutes in: "I've been on a full dose estrogen therapy the last four weeks, and a testosterone blocker." That same month, Kroc was mentioned on the cover of ''

'' which featured an interview and a photo shoot. Kroc was formerly on the advisory board for the magazine. This was the longest (highest word-count) story published to date in ''Muscle & Fitness'', and the first to feature a transgender athlete. A 2017 facial feminization surgery was delayed due to an infection from a cat bite. Kroc is the subject of the 2017 documentary film ''

Transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

''.Peter Knegt
"What's queer at Hot Docs? A guide to everything LGBTQ at North America's biggest documentary event"

CBC Arts CBC Arts (french: Radio-Canada Arts) is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's div ...

, April 25, 2018. Kroc's middle son Garrett John Kroczaleski died August 1, 2022 at 22 years old.

Awards

*2006

Arnold Classic The IFBB Arnold Sports Festival, also known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, is an annual multi-sport event consisting of professional bodybuilding (''Arnold Classic''), strongman ('' Arnold Strongman Classic''), fitness, figure ...

WPO Powerlifting Middle Weight Champion *2009 All-Time World Record setter in the 220lb class (surpassed in 2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kroc, Janae 1972 births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American writers Advisors American bodybuilders American consultants American female bodybuilders American female models American LGBT military personnel American magazine writers American people of Polish descent American powerlifters American strength athletes Bisexual military personnel Bisexual non-binary people Bodyguards Clinton administration personnel Female United States Marine Corps personnel Ferris State University alumni Genderqueer people LGBT bodybuilders LGBT people from Michigan LGBT powerlifters American LGBT sportspeople Living people Military personnel from Michigan Non-binary models Non-binary sportspeople Non-binary writers Pharmacists from Michigan Presidential advisors Sportspeople from Ann Arbor, Michigan Transgender female models Transgender military personnel Transgender models Transgender sportswomen Transgender women United States Marines United States Secret Service agents Writers from Michigan