5 Years of livingFHIT with Farouk

Five years ago today, Farouk joined the Fhitting Room team as a FHITpro… and we’re celebrating with… yup, you guessed it, high fives and smiles.

Fhitting Room founder, Kari, remembers a couple years into his tenure, “Farouk had a rare opportunity to become one of New York’s Bravest, but he was too special for me to fully let go.” Fhitting Room worked around his less than predictable FDNY schedule to keep him. “One of the best days,” says Kari, “was the day Farouk told me he wanted to be a full time FHITpro again. He returned with a renewed energy and focus on ongoing education. Now, he’s a total triple threat in the classroom bringing knowledge, heart, and dance skills to every FHIX.”

If you’ve taken his class, you would have never guessed that before Farouk became a FHITpro he was super shy. “Coming to Fhitting Room allowed me to grow as an instructor and to come out of my own shell,” he says.

Left to right: FHITpros Daury, Farouk, Eric, and Rich.

Farouk remembers his first FHIX with Eric at our 80^th Street location. (Which many of you may also remember.) He says, “We [ran] around the block with a medicine ball at one point. Eric’s energy was unreal, the way he coached and he got everyone to smile. It was inspiring.” 

Now, when a client steps into the studio, Farouk hopes that they can “get away from the stresses of life,” and hopes he can put a smile on their face. We call that paying it forward.

Waking up at 4:30am and knowing he can be the best part of someone’s day gets Farouk going. It’s this dedication to teaching that he says is most rewarding. In fact, he’s taught over 5,000 classes at Fhitting Room.

Frequent FHIXer Heather, who has taken over 700 classes at Fhitting Room, credits Farouk as one of the reasons she’s been able to achieve her FHITness goals.  “I think everyone in this world should be lucky enough to work with, or even just know, Farouk. When I first started [working out] at Fhitting Room, Farouk was the reason I kept coming back. His kindness and love for what he does just radiates off of him. When you use a heavier weight or do your first box jump, his genuine happiness for your progress just emanates off him. It’s like training with the brightest ray of sunshine. He’s incredibly kind and an amazing trainer and now, he’s my friend for life. He’s truly the Machine with a heart of gold.”

Farouk’s energy and passion for fitness and teaching is evident in his lively classroom atmosphere, both focused and fun. Once overheard in his class he proclaimed, “Burpees are a life skill, everybody!” That’s one way to look at a challenging exercise.

FHITpro Farouk’s signature is “High Fives and Smiles.”

FHITpros are among the most credentialed instructors in New York City — it’s Farouk’s commitment to education that has helped him further his knowledge. He says, “Progressing through certifications as a team and also catering to individual interest” is important to him, to better help FHIXers achieve their goals. 

Today, we’re celebrating you, Farouk. Thank you for being such an important part of the team, for training clients through hundreds of thousands of burpees and (as Heather so perfectly put it) for being the machine with a heart of gold.