Stick and Move at Firicano Boxing and Fitness Center on Main Street

There’s a place where you can learn to stick and move in downtown Stoneham. There aren’t too many free weights or machines; just heavy bags, a boxing ring and timer counting off every three minutes, telling the boxer to switch to another training station.

“The method is fitness in rhythm. It’s intense conditioning and nutrition options,” owner and trainer Michael Firicano said. “We train people the way a fighter would train. Lots of plyometrics, power exercises, body weight training. Lots of boxing boot camps.”

The gym has been at 377 Main Street for the last five years. Firicano, a North End native, started out as an ameteur boxer as a kid, trained in California and started his teaching in conventional gyms. He brought his method to the Stoneham studio, where groups of five people switch off every three minutes at six stations. 

"We require new members to take an intro course to make sure that they learn the fundamentals and won't hurt themselves or others through improper methods," Firicano said. "A lot of people think it’s all punching and a punch starts in your arm. It starts in your leg."

The work out is the same for everyone, just the load and intensity is different. “If you feel like you’re in shape while you’re working out, you aren’t working hard enough," Firicano said. "You want to feel in shape on the streets. Here, there’s always a next level.”