⭐️Member Spotlight!⭐️ Andy Haselden

❓What’s your name and how old are you?  

My name is Andy Haselden and I just turned  43.

❓Ever had a cool nickname?  

Not really, but at school they used to call me Haze.

❓Married?  Kids?  

No and no.  No plans to change that.  At least not kids.

❓Where did you grow up and what’s your opinion of the place?  

I grew up in the UK, in a town in North Yorkshire called Harrogate. It’s a very picturesque place, but not a lot going on for someone that’s young. I like it, it’s very nice, it’s nice to go home to, but I wouldn’t want to live there again. Not anytime soon, at least. Maybe when I’m older.

❓What is the best thing about England and what is the worst?  

The best things are probably the history,  the architecture, and London.  The worst thing is the weather.  (laughs)  And then I moved to Portland, whose weather is probably just a more extreme version of it.

❓If I wanted to get a good English meal here in Portland, where should I go and what should I order?  

Gee, you might be talking to the wrong guy, as I don’t really seek it out.  (long pause)  Like, I’ve never really had good fish and chips here, not like what I’m used to, not proper fish and chips.  (another pause)  You know, I think my answer’s going to be that I don’t seek it out here, I just wait until I go back home, because I know it’s going to be legit there.

❓What’s your all-time favorite movie? 

 I’ve watched Labyrinth more times than I can count.

❓What do you do for a living?  

I’m an occupational therapist.

❓Any cool jobs in your past?  

I guess the coolest would probably be a barman in Soho, London.  It was in a theater in Soho and once in a while someone well-known would come in.

❓Who’s the most famous person you ever made a drink for?  

Cillian Murphy.  From Oppenheimer.  

❓Was he nice?  

I only served him a drink, so it’s hard to say, but I will say that he has this strange, hypnotic eye contact that just kind of hooks you in a little bit.

❓How long have you been a member at the gym?  

Since just before the first shutdown, so… four years?  I’d been wanting to join for awhile.  I’d always walk past and wonder what was going on in here, so I thought I’d just take the plunge and see what it was all about.

❓Tell us about your all-time favorite pet.  

Oh, it’s got to be my dog Frodo, that I’ve got right now.  He’s just awesome.  Great hiking buddy, very affectionate, loves humans.  Everybody loves him. Just a very sweet dog.  He’s very energetic, so he’s hard to keep up with sometimes.

❓What class or classes do you usually attend?  

I generally do Open Gym now, but I will occasionally join in with a class.  I’ll usually go hard and do the Sunday class.

❓Were you an athlete growing up?  

I used to be pretty good at rugby at school, and surprisingly good at basketball, even though I’m short.

❓Where in Portland has the best burger?  

I quite like the burgers at Thunderbird.  They seem to have taken on kind of a Foster Burgers vibe.  And the burgers just down the road at Bar Maven are quite interesting.

❓What’s your favorite workout/movement?  

I like doing deadlifts.  They make me feel strong.

❓What’s your least favorite workout/movement?  

Anything overhead.  Snatches, strict press, anything overhead.

❓What are some things you do in your free time?  

I like gardening, I like reading, I like hiking, I like video games.  At the moment, I’m playing Alan Wake 2 and it’s like something out of this world.  It’s the best video game I’ve played in a long time.

❓If you could have any superpower, what would it be?  

The first thing that comes to mind is time travel, but I’d want to make sure I used it for the right things and not selfish reasons.  The whole butterfly effect thing worries me.

❓What’s the longest you’ve ever stayed in the sauna?  

20 minutes is my average, so I’d say 25 is my longest.

❓The cold plunge?  

I think I managed a minute.  I can see why people do it and the benefits they get from it.  I wish I could work up the gumption to stay in longer, but for now, a minute is the most I’ve done.

❓Where was the hottest weather you’ve ever been in?  

Definitely not in the UK.  Probably when I lived in Fresno.  It would quite often be 115 or 120.

❓The coldest?  

That’s probably a toss-up.  I remember my childhood being quite cold in my bedroom because we had crap insulation, but some of the winter storms we have here are quite brutal, too.  

❓Has a workout ever made you puke?  

Nearly.  But the reason for that was an oncoming stomach bug.  I felt really bad during the workout, but didn’t realize it was because I was getting sick.  I got through the workout okay, but a couple of hours later I was very sick.

❓What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten?  

Horse.  It’s something they do in Malta, where I’m technically from.  I’d call it very gamey and very rich.  You can feel your blood pressure rising as you’re eating it.  But before anyone freaks out, I should say that they don’t kill the horses for meat.  If they’re lame and have to be put down, or they die for some reason, that’s when they’ll eat the meat.  But they don’t kill them just for food.  They’re not farmed for meat.  They actually love their horses over there.  

❓What’s your current gym goal?  

To get stronger, more athletic, and more disciplined with my health.

❓What’s your advice for new members of the gym?  

❓Don’t be intimidated when you first walk in.  There were a couple of times when I looked through the door and I saw people lifting heavy weights and it made me feel like that was something that I couldn’t do.  But it’s a really good community, there’s people at all levels, from beginner to expert, and everybody supports each other, and cheers each other on, and it’s just an awesome community.