Mike Fina is our September Athlete of the Month. This comes one year after he joined us, and that is coincidental. It’s been awesome to see Mike’s progress over the last year and his shift in confidence in here. I would like to commend him on his patience and trust with not only the program and our staff, but with his personal progress. His prior experience in different areas of fitness definitely have contributed to that but he has played his cards right so far and I only see his progress in strength and skill continue. He said his favorite moment in the gym was RXing “Jackie” and that is definitely my favorite for him. He kept a good pace on the row, moved through his thusters and was about half way through 30 pull-ups when I saw him make his way to ring rows. His hard work through strict pull-ups and training the kip set him up well to secure this girl benchmark as written. I wanted him to see it through so I stopped him and told him to keep with the pull-ups and battle through the rest of them. He then continued hitting 2-3 at a time and finished. It was a cool moment to see Mike realize he is able to do more than he initially set his standard to be. His discipline, consistency and coachability will continue to help him achieve his goals. I’m happy to help along the way.
Written by: Coach Rob Moloney
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Q&A
Why did you start functional fitness cross-training?
After trying many different programs over the years with varying results, I wanted to focus on strength and building muscle. I wanted to get much stronger.
What’s your background? (Athletic)
I’ve tried everything from traditional gyms to home videos such as Insanity and P90X, and F45 most recently. I enjoyed all of them at different times in my life, but at 45+ years old, I wanted something significantly more challenging.
How long have you been a member and how long have you been doing functional fitness?
I joined in September, 2022.
What is your favorite thing about the gym?
The consistent challenge! I generally like doing really hard things and then feeling the sense of accomplishment. It feels great when you complete a workout that sounds shockingly tough.
What is the biggest challenge you have overcome since joining the gym?
Completing all 4 hero workouts over July 4th weekend, shortly after doing the Casey workout. After that weekend my confidence increased greatly and my mindset completely shifted from showing up to “get through” a workout, to showing up to push myself as hard as a can each time.
What is your favorite moment at the gym so far?
RX’ing “Jackie”
What’s your favorite “cheat” food?
Donuts – boring, I know
What would you say to someone who is thinking about starting?
You will overestimate what you can do in 3-4 months, and underestimate what you can accomplish in a year.
What drives you?
I’m fortunate to have a pretty disciplined personality, so I am driven by consistency and progress.
What is your biggest fitness goal right now? Muscle-ups, for sure.