What’s your name and how old are you? I’m Ari Bakoss and I’m 34 years old.
Ever had a cool nickname? Not really. My first name’s Ariel, so I guess Ari’s a nickname.
Married? Kids? I live with my life partner. No kids. No plans to change that.
Where did you grow up and what’s your opinion of that place? I’m from New York City and I think it’s one of the best places in the world. I’m here in Portland because I like having personal space. It’s also very expensive. The place I live in here in Portland would be way out of my price range in New York.
What’s your all-time favorite movie? The Matrix.
All-time favorite TV show? It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Curb Your Enthusiasm. If I had to choose between them, I’d say Curb Your Enthusiasm.
What do you do for a living? I work in the fire service for Clackamas Fire. Been there about a year and a half now.
Any cool jobs in your past? Bike messenger. Barista. Barback, which I was terrible at. And a lot of boring management jobs.
How long have you been a member at the gym? Since summer of 2020, so over four years now.
What class or classes do you usually attend? Muay Thai now. My schedule’s all over the place, so sometimes I’ll come in the mornings, sometimes the evenings. It’s been two years since I’ve done CrossFit. I just kept getting injured. Now it’s just powerlifting, and Muay Thai on the side. Muay Thai gets my cardio going.
Tell me about your all-time favorite pet. Striga. She’s my working line German Shepherd and I love her. She’s about two and a half, three. She is working on trialing for her RH award, which is for obedience, search & rescue tracking, and agility. It’s pretty varied and works all different parts of their working drive, so it’s really nice and fun. We do it maybe two times a week. Hopefully next year we can set our sights on competing. She’s a working dog as far as how she’s bred, so she has a drive to work, and we’ve got to give her something to do. I got her to do search & rescue when I was with Clackamas County SAR. She loves tracking and trailing. She’s the goodest girl.
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever met? You run into famous people in New York City, you see them, but I can’t say I’ve met any of them. I guess Matthew Broderick told my friend and I “excuse me” on the sidewalk once. He was wearing a cashmere sweater in like 85 degree weather.
Pancakes, waffles, or french toast? Pancakes.
Fries, tater tots, or mashed potatoes? Good fries. You know ’em when you get ’em.
Toast, bagels, or English muffins? Bagels.
First concert? Modest Mouse in Central Park. I was 14 and with a bunch of friends from high school. It was a free show.
Best concert? The Osees in Oakland, California. I saw them a bunch of times in my twenties. Always good. Always fantastic.
Were you an athlete growing up? Yes, I did eight years of lacrosse. I was a goalie. I liked catching everything. And having my own little space on the field was nice. But I was covered in bruises. Black and blue all the time. And a lot of concussions. The boys lacrosse sticks have the nets, so they can whip the shots, so de facto they can fire the ball a lot faster. The girl lacrosse sticks don’t have that. So anytime I trained with the boys varsity, it was nice to kind of test my limits a bit and see what I could do.
Where in Portland has the best burger? I’d say the Peanut Butter Burger at Killer Burger. That’s my favorite burger.
What’s your favorite workout/movement? In powerlifting, I’d have to say back squat. In Muay Thai, I’d have to say… all of Muay Thai. (laughs) I love it. I’m deep in the sauce right now.
What’s your least favorite workout/movement? Anything running. I did a lot of running growing up, but I’m over it. Totally over it.
What are some things you do in your free time? Train my dog and nap. I nap every day. The perfect nap is three and a half hours. I had one today. It was delightful. And I can still sleep eight hours at night. I could sleep twelve.
If you could have any superpower – other than napping, which is clearly already your superpower – what would it be? Time travel, where if I go back in time and change what I want to change, it doesn’t affect anything other than the thing I want to change. So basically, time travel without the Butterfly Effect.
What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten? I don’t know if I have a weirdest, but I can tell you the grossest. When you get shrimp and they leave the eyeballs on it. I couldn’t eat it, it was too gross. They were looking at me!
What’s your current gym goal? Max out my back squat. Max out my deadlift. And still manage to make gains while doing Muay Thai.
What’s your advice for new members of the gym? Nothing to it but to do it. Just show up.
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