1) Who is Justin Farina? (where are you from, what do you do, a bit about yourself (hobbies, etc)
I am 35 years old born, raised, and still living in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. I have been married to my wife (Lauren) for nearly 10 years now, and have three sons: Noah (7), Isaiah (5), and River (6 months).
I am a high school PE teacher with a B.Sc. from Miami University (Ohio), and a B.Ed. from the University of Windsor (Ontario). I played Div-I Baseball while at Miami and then competed in Shot Put while at Windsor.
Indoor Rowing and SkiErg make up the bulk of my training. I participate in virtual competitions and challenges on both machines, and I am an online coach/personal trainer as well.
2) How many years have you been training?
I started CrossFit in 2005 and got my first Level 1 in 2010. So I have been in the game longer than most. I shifted focus to indoor rowing in late 2015/early 2016, and then recently added SkiErg in March of 2017.
3) Whats been the most challenging/hardest part of your journey so far? and how have you overcome them (set backs, rejections, injuries, basically anything difficult that you have had to overcome).
Balancing training with work, family, and friends. My priority is family first, so setting the alarm every morning for 4:30am to get a session in is always a challenge, but a necessary one.
4) What does your typical workout/diet routine look like?
I train every day....occasionally twice. 5x a week I row, 4x a week I SkiErg. I occasionally add in some accessory strength work in the form of body weight movements (pull-ups, push-ups, dips, etc) or unilateral movements like single leg DLs, lunges.
Our whole household eats very clean. No grains, some dairy. I have a large veggie garden so for 4 months or so we have some good produce around the kitchen and we have become good about canning and storing food. We also tend to buy local as often as possible.
5) What new knowledge have you learned over this past year regarding training, lifestyle and nutrition?
Not a whole lot. Starting to dive into heart rate evaluation and tracking. I’ve spent most of my energy focusing on rowing/ski performance.
6) Whats your favourite cheat/Treat meal?
Salt and vinegar chips!
7) one supplement that you could not live without?
Full spectrum digestive enzymes (if that counts)
8) If you had to start out from scratch with your physique what would you do differently and why?
Never been physique focused, purely performance. I’ve never had nice calves though! So maybe that?
9) Who do you look upto in the fitness industry and why?
Athletes - I am a big fan of Rich Froning, Mat Fraser, and Sara Sigmundsdottir...I truly admire their work ethic.
Coaches - Ben Bergeron and James Fitzgerald...I really enjoy their approaches to training and the systems they have built.
10) If you had to give one bit of advice to people starting out what would that be?
Stay committed and be relentless. Find purpose in your training and work hard every single day.
11) What new goals are on the horizon?
I’d like to continue to improve my rowing and SkiErg times. I currently hold 8 world records on the SkiErg, and I’d love to snag a few more.
12) Where can people find you? (website, social media accounts)
@garageathlete on IG and Twitter
