Meet the Team, Partners, & Pets — Functional Fitness VA

Meet Our Team, Partners, & Dogs

Kavon Atabaki

Kavon Atabaki is a Falls Church native, having been born and raised in the Little City. He grew up enjoying sports, exercise, and just about any other type physical activity. After seeing his older brothers’ biceps double in size overnight, he knew resistance training had to be his new focus. After years of education, experimentation, and teaching, his suspicions were confirmed; strength and movement help everyone!

Kavon worked as a trainer in commercial gyms, retirement communities, and on-the-go in people’s homes, but still hadn’t found the perfect situation to train in, until…

In 2011, after 5 years in the fitness industry, he teamed up with Thomas Abbey to form Functional Fitness VA. Their compatible goal was to help people MOVE BETTER and GET STRONGER with every workout.

Kavon has held or holds certifications in:

SFG II Kettlebell Instructor, SFB body weight instructor
RKC II Kettlebell Instructor
CK-FMS Functional Movement System
ACE Personal Trainer
NSPA Personal Trainer

VIEW HIS INSTAGRAM

Doug NEpodal

Doug was born and raised in Northeast Ohio and then spent 11 years in Southern California before moving to Falls Church to join the Functional Fitness VA crew.

He has been in the fitness industry for 25+ years. Seen and participated in all the fitness trends for almost 3 decades now. The one thing that never changes is that there isn't a single person that doesn't benefit from becoming stronger and moving better. If that is what you are looking for you're in the right place. No matter the goal he is confident he can get you there with a little work and a little more fun.

VIEW HIS INSTAGRAM

Angela Persichitte

Angela Persichitte was born and raised in Pensacola, Florida. She studied business management at University of West Florida. She is a military spouse of 11 years and a mom of a beautiful little 7 year old girl and two fluffy pups.
She enjoys spending time with her family, going to the beach, singing, and dancing. Her passion for fitness started when she was a teen and continued to grow through college and into adult hood. She is always looking to expand her knowledge when it comes to health and fitness.
Angela has been in love with fitness for a long time but has recently decided to take it on as a career. She loves getting stronger and seeing others get stronger as well. She has always had a desire to help people with fitness and health goals and to get them to their strongest and healthiest self so life can be more enjoyable for the long run.

She is NASM certified in personal training
**VIEW HER INSTAGRAM**

MADISON GRANGER

Madison uses strength training to help clients live in their bodies better, with an emphasis on preventing and overcoming injury. She was an elite collegiate miler before overuse injuries led to a 5-year journey through PT, orthopedics, and podiatry. She discovered firsthand that the most lasting way out of chronic pain / chronic injury is getting stronger. Madison loves putting together smart, targeted training to help clients of all ages start building strength, get back to activities they enjoy, or pursue whatever goals are meaningful to them.
Because of her background working in corporate wellness and consulting, she understands the desk life, its effect on the body, and how to correct for it. She’s always learning new things, from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to Indian clubs. Her favorite activities are running, open water swimming, and generally anything that involves moving and being in nature. Catch her in the gym rocking toe spreaders and nerding out about foot and ankle health.
NCSF certified personal trainer
HKC certified kettlebell instructor
**VIEW HER INSTAGRAM**

#AbbeySTrong

Thomas Abbey had the enviable honor of spending most of his formative years in the bustling metropolis of Arcade, New York. Population: 4,000-ish on a busy day. What the area lacked in big-city entertainment options it more than made up for in good ole’ fashioned country fun: running through the woods, lifting and/or throwing heavy things and countless backyard sporting events, both of the traditional (football, basketball, hockey, etc) and “creative” (throwing crabapples with the broken shaft of a golf club) variety.

At Pioneer High School, Tom transformed himself from a little kid who bizarrely wore a Chicago White Sox jersey to one of the best 400M Hurdle runners in New York State, who also happened to be on a top-ranked football team and a state championship weightlifting squad. His college years saw him named a team captain on the Division I track team at the University of Buffalo, followed by competing in the United States Olympic Trials in Skeleton and countless other athletic endeavors as he took his talents to Virginia – triathlons, obstacle-course racing, marathons, the vaunted “Mancathlon.”

As a founding member of Functional Fitness with Kavon Atabaki, he was a sucker for food bets (chocolate milk challenge? drink that carton of heavy cream? you got it) and was good at everything, including making himself…and others…stronger. Sadly Tom passed away in May 2018 after a battle with brain cancer, but his spirit still drives the Func Train!