August marks the 5 year anniversary of High Function Fitness. 5 years — wow! This is a big milestone for HFF. We new very excited to be celebrating with our HFF crew. High Function Fitness is our entire life. We had a dream of creating a community of kick-ass people who work hard, support each other, and know how to have a good time. The past five years have been full of sweaty selfies, polar plunges, charity workouts, obstacle courses, and more. We are incredibly grateful for the people that make HFF what it is. Special shoutout to our Five Year Club of founding members that have been training with us from the beginning!
Hear from a few of them below…
Richard & Kathy P
What is your motivation for working out?
Richard: I started for the health benefits so we could continue to do the things we do, such as Rock Climbing, Jet Skiing, Parachuting, etc. But now half of it is the social aspect – Great crew!!!
Kathy: Number 1 is to get healthy and fit for my heart and the rest of my body. I always feel better after working out. I too enjoy the camaraderie of the classes – we have made a lot of new friends.
Favorite HFF memory:
Richard: Watching MIke Fitzsimmons almost knock himself out with a Med Ball. We also thought he knocked out his tooth, but it was just a piece of gum. It is really funny until someone gets hurt, then it’s hilarious! Actually, Emily and Jeremy’s engagement party.
Kathy: I was going to say the same two things. But I would say also when Mike Fitzsimmons had his heart attack at the gym and his 18 year-old daughter Shannon saved his life by performing CPR. Great girl! Also enjoyed the day you brought Peanut to the gym and kicked Shadow to the curb!
Any advice for someone nervous to start at HFF?
Richard: Everybody new thinks everyone is watching them. No one watches anyone, we are all too busy trying to catch our breath.
Kathy: I remember my first day at the gym, the next day I was so sore I couldn’t sit down and then get up! Just take it slow and don’t overdo it. It’s also good to get into a scheduled routine for going to the gym, 3 or 5 or 6 days a week and just do it. Get into the habit and you are less likely to blow it off. They say after doing something for 21 days, anything becomes a habit.
What are you most proud of accomplishing?
Richard: That I’m still going and doing it after 5 years. (Really 15 years)
Kathy: Changing my eating habits when we did the Nutritional Challenges.
Linda C
What keeps you motivated?
Two things:
- My husband, Billy. Having a dedicated workout partner certainly helps
- As a competitive ballroom dancer I can see the difference it has made in my dancing. Stronger core and increased stamina. I work out to be a better dancer.
What is your favorite HFF memory in the last 5 years?
I love the HFF community. Everyone is friendly and encouraging. One of my favorite memories is the first 5k I ever entered knowing running is not my thing.
What are you most proud of accomplishing?
Being one of the oldest in the gym. I would hope that a newbie who may be intimidated sees me doing the work out and says “If she can do it, I certainly can!”
Craig F
What is your motivation for working out?
I am not a spring chicken and working out allows me to maintain some sort of mobility even with all my joints falling apart. I have really beaten myself up playing sports over the years and I would be in big trouble if I didn’t have you guys training us and giving us options to make our workout worthwhile. I love the group workouts because they hold me accountable to show up and actually push 100% harder than I would doing my own thing at some random gym like Planet Fitness. I have always had a hard time sitting still and I am always on the go and working out allows me to blow off some energy and stress.
What is your favorite HFF memory in the last 5 years?
I have a lot of great memories from HFF but I guess the most fun I had was doing the Spartan Race at Fenway last fall with everyone. It was my 3rd Spartan and I honestly thought I was done ever doing these races again but because we did it as a group, I decided to do it one more time. Meeting up with everyone beforehand, goofing around before the race, completing it and then going out afterwards was so much fun. A close second was the Jolly Jaunt last year!!!!
Any advice for someone nervous to start at High Function Fitness? Or nervous about working out in general?
So many people are wary of gyms and working out with people in general if they are not familiar with working out. One of the reasons is they think they might be judged but that is the farthest from the truth at HFF. First of all, everyone is working hard individually and trying to finish the workout and everyone is too busy concentrating on what they need to accomplish at that class and catching their breath!!!
No one is judging anyone so just come in with a positive attitude or allow the the staff at HFF help you create a positive attitude to do the hard work because if the positive attitude is not there it is soooooooooo much harder to attain your goals. You are obviously there because you want a change in your life, so lean on the staff and other people in the group workout to help you attain those goals. Everyone here is at a different level so there is always someone willing to help out and encourage you whether it is before or after class or even during it.
What are you most proud of accomplishing (so far)?
It would be easy at my age to step away from this kind of workout and even though I can’t do some things like I used to, I am still here and will stay here until I retire in a few years. There aren’t too many people my age that could do most of these workouts and the ones that can are here at this gym!! (Except of course, Bill C. But he is waaaaay older than me and in waaaay better shape!!) B-)
Lucas M
What is your motivation for working out?
I’ve been working out for as long as I can remember and always liked being physical and wouldn’t want to see a worse version of myself
What is your favorite HFF memory in the last 5 years?
The outing we all had at boda borg. Overall that whole day was great especially when we left to go to the bar across the street, had a couple drinks, then snuck back in to boda borg and thought we could do better but that didn’t happen
Any advice for someone nervous to start at High Function Fitness? Or nervous about working out in general?
To not get discouraged that you can’t do what some other people can do right away and it takes time and patience… The bigger part being patient
What are you most proud of accomplishing (so far)?
Competing in an Olympic weightlifting competition. If it wasn’t for working at hff with Emily and Jeremy I never would’ve had the knowledge to sign up for something like that and receive the discipline in the specific moves the competition called for
Caroline S
What is your motivation for working out? What keeps you dedicated or what is your “why”?
I was never a gym rat. If I was, I would’ve been much better about keeping a workout routine during quarantine haha For me, workouts have been a great stress reliever after a long day at work. It allows me to get my frustrations out (even if that usually results in me waddling around work the next day in pain). But mostly, my motivation for staying dedicated is the community. I’ve made some incredible friendships at the gym and nothing motivates me more than seeing my friends succeed. I’m that crazy person drenched in sweat and barely breathing but all the same loudly cheering on my partners during workouts. In the same respect, hearing others cheer me on keeps me dedicated to my goals. Well, that and stubbornness.
What is your favorite HFF memory in the last 5 years?
This is a tough one as I’ve had so many wonderful memories at HFF over the past 5 years. I’m going to have to say it’s one of the testing weeks where I was injured (as it seems to be the case more and more). One of the newer members was struggling through her first testing week and had decided to work on her row rather than do the run. Due to my injury, I could only do the bike (my least favorite activity) and had ended up chatting with her about how she did on the row. She told me that while she was happy with her score, she really wanted to hit a higher mark. So I told her that I would stand next to her and watch the calorie counter so that she could just dig in and focus on rowing. The group of runners ended up coming in to me screaming at the girl to just keep rowing (I’m sure it was an interesting sight). Not only did she get the mark she wanted, but she smashed it. The smile on her face was worth not being able to do the tests myself that week because I was able to help her get her PR. To me, that’s what the community at HFF is all about. Helping others achieve their goals.
Any advice for someone nervous to start at High Function Fitness? Or nervous about working out in general?
My advice is to just take the leap of faith and jump into a class. HFF is a judgment-free zone. As someone who has seen a ton of weird injuries (sprained wrist, turf toe, foot stress fracture, rib dislocation), it’s perfectly fine to come in and struggle with the “baby” weights. Everyone has to start somewhere. Some of us end up back at the beginning and have to rework through everything but there’s always a positive to be had. Maybe you can’t do any weights right now. Maybe you can only do 1 box jump. But if you give yourself the time and headspace to grow, you’ll see yourself improve in a lot of different ways. It may not be the gains you initially set out for, but there’s so much that you can gain from a small, loving community.
What are you most proud of accomplishing (so far)?
So my obvious answer is being able to get my pull-up and how amazing I looked and felt for my wedding. My less obvious answer is the growth I’ve made in finding positives when I’m not in my best shape or having my best workout. It’s so easy to be negative (especially when you have one injury after another). But being able to find that silver lining has helped me tremendously and wasn’t something that came easily in the beginning.
Janet S
What is your motivation for working out?
I was always active. Girls sports were not really a thing until I got to high school (in the mid-1970s) but I grew up dancing classical ballet (yes, all 5’1’’ of me, alongside tall and slender dancers), playing jump rope games, swimming, the normal kid stuff when kids played outside in the neighborhood. I started more regular (serious?) workouts when I entered the workforce and as co-workers, we would run at lunch or go a local gym, do 10Ks together, fun stuff like that. Probably about 20 years ago, I started to play tennis and joined a local gym, which then evolved much later into running marathons and CrossFit, which now evolved into HFF, both in-person and remote training. My motivation? I like movement, getting sweaty, staying strong/keeping fit. And I love to stretch and nothing is better than a post-workout stretch session. I’m pretty close to the same size I was when I got married, 33 years ago. Any weight gain I’d like to think is attributed to having more muscle mass now than I did in my 20s 🙂 so I’m doing something right! And a big motivation is competing with my kids (now 25 and 28) for who is the most fit! When my daughter was doing Crossfit and she passed my PR in deadlifts, I had to work with Jeremy to one-up her! I know they are proud of my marathon achievements and gym workouts and I hope I am one of their role models in the fitness arena.
What is your favorite HFF memory in the last 5 years?
I really had so much fun doing the Spartan Race at Fenway with you and Jeremy. I think a general favorite memory is doing burpees in honor of a birthday. Just the camaraderie/solidarity makes the activity more fun.
Any advice for someone nervous to start working out?
HFF is a warm and welcoming place where everyone is encouraged to work at their pace and their weight. And I think we all encourage each other, new or veterans, heavy lifters or moderate lifters. Hey, we are all at the gym working out—that’s what counts! At HFF, I’m one of the older members and I do envy younger and stronger and women, but I know I’m not judged by the # I lift. At my gym in Florida, I’m on the younger side doing some pretty crazy workouts (thank you TeamBuildr!) and when other members comment on my workouts; I always thank them and then give them kudos right back because they are in the gym doing their workouts and that’s the first accomplishment—getting into the gym and starting a fitness program. I think HFF is a place where members new to the fitness community who think they will be nervous joining are quickly surprised at the ease and comfort of getting started and fitting in.
What are you most proud of accomplishing (so far)?
On Memorial Day this year, I completed my first full Murph WOD, solo, donning my mask when I wasn’t actively working out. I felt pretty good at completion. And I think any sled push is a proud accomplishment. Plus the day I PRed my deadlift to surpass my daughter!
Steve D
What is your motivation for working out?
Honestly, at my present age, the idea is to stay as active as possible as long as possible. Working out at HFF allows me to address cardio and strength aspects of my health which should keep me active for many years.
What is your favorite HFF memory in the last 5 years?
More than a memory – it’s the comradery with the people I work out with and the gym owners/coaches. The gym is truly a community of people rather than a bunch of people working out at a gym.
Any advice for someone nervous to start at High Function Fitness? Or nervous about working out in general?
My advice is always to stay within yourself – Challenge yourself of course but the only person you’re competing with is yourself.
What are you most proud of accomplishing (so far)?
It’s the consistency of coming to classes 4-5 times per week.
Yvonne H
What is your motivation for working out?
I honestly just love working out. I enjoy seeing how far I can push my body. It started out with running, then triathlon, and now it’s more about pushing heavy weight around. What keeps you dedicated or what is your “Why”? I’ve made it part of my life, part of my daily routine. A lot of people look at working out as a chore or something they have to do but I enjoy it so much it’s easy to show up everyday! Also, the people make it a lot of fun, Steve is the best!
What is your favorite HFF memory?
There have been many over the years. Hitting PR’s are always good memories but I think my favorite HFF memory was earlier this year when Robie and I were in the gym training on the side for our competition. Those workouts were brutal but we turned up the music and we struggled together! Then came competition day, let’s just say we left there very humble but had a lot of fun.
Any advice for someone nervous to start working out?
My advice would be to give it a chance. It takes time to see change and or gains but if you don’t quit you’ll be rewarded. Or nervous about working out in general? Don’t be nervous about working out, you have to start in order to get somewhere. Also, don’t be afraid to go heavy, it’s harder but the reward is so much better. Oh and ladies it’s a wonderful feeling when you can push around more weight then some of the guys during workouts!
What are you most proud of accomplishing (so far)?
The accomplishment I’m the most proud of is having fully recovered from my wrist injury. For those of you that don’t know while on vacation in April 2019 I was thrown off a horse and partially tore ligaments in my wrist. I had to wear an immobilizing brace for 6 weeks but continued to workout everyday with modifications. When the brace came off I had reduced mobility and obviously reduced strength but with a lot of hard work I was right back to where I was in about 9 months! I really think that being in good physical shape allowed me to walk away with just the injury I sustained.
Lisa Boz
What is your motivation for working out?
My only motivation for working out is maintaining my ‘well being.’ This being said, I realize I am not going to make significant changes in my body structure, but I hope to maintain a level of mobility and strength to remain active and prevent trips seeking medical intervention.
What is your favorite HFF memory in the last 5 years?
I love the social gatherings, and particularly the support of my fellow HFF peeps for participating in the Jolly Jaunt in support of Special Olympics every year.
Any advice for someone nervous to start working out?
The only advice I can give is to be patient when starting out. I have always run and exercised, but when I started I was a bit overwhelmed even after the warm up! Endurance and strength will improve with time, and ‘smart’ progressions.
What are you most proud of accomplishing?
Whelp! Showing up, and making my gym time be my time! When life becomes stressful, I love that I am able to work out. The positive environment in the gym has become my happy place, whether working out in a class, or going solo! I find I am better able to deal with whatever comes my way.
