About the Coach.
Justin Farina, B.Ed., B.Sc., CF-L1
Multiple former SkiErg World Record Holder
2018 & 2019 Concept2 Tour De SkiErg Champion
2018, 2019, & 2020 Row’d Royalty Team Champion
2018 Row'd Royalty Men's Tall Champion
2018 SkiErg World Sprints Champion, Men’s 30-39 Division
2017, 2018 & 2020 World Rowing Virtual Indoor Sprints - 3rd Place
2017 & 2019 Row'd Royalty - 3rd Place Overall
2017 World Indoor Rowing Sprints - 3rd Place, Men's 30-39 Division
2017 SkiErg World Sprints - 3rd Place, Men's 30-39 Division
Check out Concept2’s blog post - 10 Questions with Justin Farina
Listen to his interview with Marc Megna - Available on iTunes
Listen to his interview on the Humble Coach Podcast - Available on iTunes
Watch his interview with Travis Gardner (Rowing Resource) - Available on YouTube
Watch his interview with Sean Seale (Upside Strength) - Available on YouTube
The summer of 2015 brought a new focus to my training. I was consistently doing CrossFit 4-5x a week, and excited about fitness. The catalyst for this new found motivation was based on my discovery of RowingWOD. I stumbled upon Dr. Cameron Nichol’s program via social media, and registered immediately. It was a free, 2x/week program focused on developing the “engine” via the Concept2 rower. Rowing was something I was decent at in CrossFit, but I never considered myself an endurance athlete and never focused solely on engine development.
Having a training focus each week really jump started my daily motivation to improve. I had a very specific goal…to be better at rowing. Every week, for nearly a year, I worked at it. I did the sessions, I researched indoor rowing, I added rowing into met-cons…it became my centrepiece. As a result of my improved conditioning, I even started running 2x/week utilizing Coach Chris Hinshaw’s Aerobic Capacity program.
The summer of 2016 brought my passion for the rower to another level, as I was invited to join the Fitness Matters Virtual Indoor Rowing Team, captained by one of the world’s best, Sam Blythe. I was now able to compete online in the Concept2 Cross-Team Challenge (CTC), and had access to a vast amount of knowledge and training programs from the indoor rowing community. Since then, I have absorbed as much as I could and put it into my training and programming. In March of 2017, I purchased a SkiErg for the garage, and immediately saw benefit to my overall fitness and performance. The movement of the SkiErg fills the physical gaps that rowing misses, as they are basically exact opposites in terms of movement pattern. Using my knowledge from rowing, I was able to apply the same performance principles to SkiErg training and made huge improvements in a short period of time.
I now row, ski, and bike throughout the week and include semi-regular CrossFit workouts and/or strength training. The program posted for our Online Members each week is the same plan I follow (or have followed) during my training. The programming is very much inspired by and adapted from Sam Blythe and the FM Plan.
Background:
Discovering CrossFit in November of 2005 was a life-changing event for the former Division-I athlete. For years, the standard bodybuilding/cardio model of “fitness” was all he knew. Reading Greg Glassman’s breakthrough article, “What is Fitness”, changed everything. Since then, Variance, Functionality, and Intensity have been the cornerstones of his life.
Training privately since 2006, Justin has accumulated countless hours of experience working with hundreds of athletes in parks, in gyms, on tracks, and in his garage.
Justin continues to train exclusively out of his garage to this day. He currently resides in Sarnia, Ontario with his wife and three sons.
Rowing Personal Bests:
100m - 0:14.0
500m – 1:16.5
1000m – 2:47.7
1min - 402m
4min - 1349m
2000m – 5:59.7
5km – 16:00.9
6km – 19:34.0
10km – 34:08.3
30 min - 8862m
30r20 - 8752m
60 min – 17237m
1/2 Marathon - 1:14:42.3
SkiErg Personal Bests:
100m - 0:14.9
500m – 1:18.6
1000m – 2:54.0
1 min – 382m
4 min – 1307m
2000m – 6:09.7
5km – 16:43.3
6km – 20:18.6
10km – 34:52.4
30 min - 8761m
60 min – 16609m
1/2 Marathon - 1:16:52.2
Current:
Secondary School Teacher, Alexander MacKenzie Secondary School (Sarnia)
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Educational Background:
B.Ed. Primary/Junior Education, University of Windsor, 2007
B.Sc. Health and Sport Studies, Miami University (Ohio), 2004
MAJOR – Exercise Science
MINOR – Coaching
Graduate of St. Christopher Secondary School (Sarnia), 2000
High School/University Athletic Background & Achievements:
OUA Bronze Medalist, Men’s Indoor Shot Put (2007)
Former Pitcher, Team Canada Junior (2000) and Senior (2005) Men’s Baseball Team, Team Italia University Men’s Baseball Team (2006)
Former Professional Baseball Player, Anzio Baseball Club (Serie A1, Italy-2006)
Serie A1 2006 Single-Game Record Holder for Strikeouts (15)
Second pitcher in Serie A1 History to throw a complete-game No-Hitter
Three-Year NCAA Division I-A Letter Winner, Miami University Baseball (2001-2003)
Two-Time OFSAA Track and Field Gold Medalist (Shot Put); Silver and Bronze Medalist (Discus)
