Clifton Heights: South Philadelphia Resident Farr II Spreads the CrossFit Culture

It’s Friday morning at the CrossFit Advance gym in Clifton Heights, Pa. and about a dozen people are going through their workout. It’s an open gym, so those in attendance treat it as a make-up workout for a missed day.

Sam Farr II, one of the coaches in attendance, slowly walks around the gym, chatting with those in attendance and helping those who can’t quite get their lifting form right.

For Farr, this is his home.

Farr II, a native of New York state, has only been a resident of South Philadelphia for just over a year. But, after studying at the National Personal Training Institute and teaming up with Crossfit Advance now co-owners Tom Devietro and Matt Biller, Farr is feeling right at home in the CrossFit community.

“CrossFit is great,” Farr says. “We have a guy here who is probably 250 pounds and can lift a ton and an older lady with leg problems, knee problems. The great thing about CrossFit is that they can do the same workout, just with different weights.”

Farr is a jack-of-all-trades coach when it comes to fitness. The 25-year-old has trained in various different ways, including boxing and weightlifting, and also is a certified nutritional consultant. The wide range of knowledge that Farr has draws students, such as Laura Kelly, towards working with the coach.

“Sam knows a little bit about everything,” Kelly says. “He knows what you have to fix, he knows about the nutritional side of it, he knows what to work out.”