R3VIVE’s Member of the Month, October 2024

R3VIVE Fitness • October 18, 2024
Man in gym performs front squat with barbell. He is in a squat position, holding bar at shoulder level.

Introducing our Gym M.O.M. (Member of the Month) for October 2024 … Mikel Garcia-Marcos (he/him/his)! ⁠

We are thrilled to recognize Mikel as our Member of the Month! Mikel’s passion and dedication to fitness and wellness are truly contagious, inspiring everyone around him—including us coaches.

Mikel’s impressive performance during training never goes unnoticed, and what’s even more remarkable is how effortless Mikel makes it look. Mikel’s commitment to maintaining great health, both in and out of the gym is an inspiration to us all!

Learn more about Mikel below:

Q: What made you decide to start functional fitness training?
 Full blown midlife crisis, I didn’t even know what I was signing up for. I am secretly hoping that the crisis will last for the second half of my life, so I keep it up with coming to the gym. Not really, just kidding. Please rescue me

Q: Are you a student/working professional/both? What do you do for a living?
Big shot university professor . But I really don’t teach that much, most of my time is dedicated to running a biomedical research lab.

Q: What are your hobbies/interests outside of the gym?
(Mikel laughs nervously, scratches his head, and then remains silent)

Q: What are some of your favorite things about R3VIVE?
 This would be a long list of things! Coaches and people would go first. Really feels like you are welcome, and that coaches care about you and are invested in your progress. The next thing on the list is that you get R-E-S-U-L-T-S. At a personal level, I also enjoy the “me time” when I can erase everything else in my mind during a workout. Last one is when Coach Derek says “Let’s make it more fun” in the middle of a training session and get completely destroyed in the minutes that follow

Q: How much progress have you made during your time here at R3VIVE?
I am in the best physical shape I have even been. The twenty-something-year-old version of me would be envious.

Q: What current goals do you seek to accomplish?
Stop sucking at doing cleans, and learn kipping pullups and double-unders. And back squatting with 3 big plates per side (an idea living rent free in my mind thanks to Coach Derek).

Q: What advice do you have for someone considering our gym?
 Stop *considering*, just come. No downsides, all upsides.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?
I have two: pain and suffering.

Q: Tell us an interesting fact that we probably don’t know about you…
 I was arrested once and thrown in a jail cell of the police station overnight (if you ever ask me why, I will invent multiple stories to spread false rumors)

March of Dimes Charity Class

By Derek Saffold • March 16, 2026
What is the March of Dimes? The March of Dimes is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health of mothers and babies, with a focus on preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. Learn more about the March of Dimes here. Why is it important to us? We are excited to host a workout in support of the March of Dimes and the South Shore Hospital NICU team. My sister-in-law, Amanda Dougherty, and my nephew, Owen Dougherty, received a lot of care during Owen's premature and traumatic birth. Amanda and her family will be walking on the SSH NICU/SCN team in the March for Babies walk on May 9th, and we would love to support her by donating to the cause and helping other families in need. When's the charity class? We would love for everyone to come join us, no matter your fitness level, in support of this great cause. The class will be hosted on Sunday, April 12th, at 11 am. T-shirts will also be available for purchase as a preorder up until March 27th. All proceeds from registration of this event and profits from all shirts purchased will be donated to the SSH NICU/SCN team under Amanda Dougherty. Donate and Jump into Class If you would like to donate more, you can go directly to Amanda’s page and donate here.

Why Can't I Always Lift My Max?

By Derek Saffold • February 19, 2026
Strength expression is our ability to show or utilize the strength we have. We call it expression because in the world of lifting, CrossFit, functional fitness, or training, our ability to show that strength varies. Even though our potential strength is the same, we are not always able to fully express it the way we want. Whether that is hitting a max back squat, doing heavy thrusters in a CrossFit style workout, or hitting that heavy clean complex when olympic lifting, we will not always be able to hit our maxes, this is because of factors outside of just our strength itself.

Introducing EL3VATE

By Derek Saffold • January 27, 2026
Ever walk into the gym and not sure what to do? We put together a program to help eliminate that feeling and give you confidence and the accountability to reach your goals. Introducing EL3VATE where we want to EL3VATE your strength, habits, and mindset!
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