Owner of prominent Elgin gym had passion for fitness
Mike Wolff was a human dynamo. Jacked. Full of life. Passionate. Enthusiastic. Sometimes exceedingly blunt, but also kind and, especially, caring.
From the time he was in high school and built a basement workout studio with his brothers, it seemed preordained that his own fitness and that of others would become his life’s mission.
Wolff founded HIT Strength Personal Fitness in Elgin, which he turned into a local juggernaut. Approaching 500 clients at the Elgin center, his was the second-largest facility of its type in the nation.
Wolff had opened a second training center in St. Charles this summer and was hosting a networking event there when he collapsed and died Oct. 14 from an aortic aneurism. He was 64.
A celebration of his life begins with a visitation from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, followed by services Saturday, all at Laird Funeral Home in Elgin. Burial is private.
Wolff’s sudden passing stunned those who knew him; he was a model of health and fitness.
“Dad always said, ‘Don’t worry about me — I’m going to live to be a hundred,’” his youngest daughter Kate said.
As a fitness coach, Wolff didn’t mince words when it came to his clients’ workouts, posting semi-intimidating but inspirational messages on a chalkboard for all to see. He also drew from disciples ranging from Vince Lombardi to Abraham Lincoln.
But he also practiced what he preached — his workouts used the same machines as clients, but usually with considerably more weight.
Wolff lived a simple life. He ran his business mostly non-stop. But he loved visiting restaurants and taking beach-bound vacations with his three adult daughters, Kate and Lulu Wolff, both of Elgin, and Mary Ellen Wolff of St. Charles. The young women also became part of HIT Strength.
Outside of work, Mike Wolff’s lifestyle and tastes were simple. He loved nothing more than time on the beach in Florida or California with his daughters. Once there, he wasn’t hard to please.
“He knew exactly what he wanted: dinner, beach, ice cream — every day,” Kate recalls. “He was happy just sitting on the beach and reading near us. It was his way of decompressing. He would work nonstop, and then announce, ‘I’m going on vacation.’”
Wolff was a sports fan, too, an avid beach volleyball player and a fan of the White Sox, Cowboys, with the Packers in reserve. He pursued another passion, auto racing, with Lulu, attending the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR races.
After graduating from Northern Illinois University with a degree in education, Wolff worked at the now-defunct Larkin Center in the mid-1980s, and soon after opened Wolff Health and Fitness on Route 31 in downtown Elgin, joined by his dad and brothers. They later moved to a larger facility on Larkin Avenue.
In 2015, Wolff started HIT Strength Personal Training and its pay-as-you-go, lift-weights-until-you-can’t system. Getting customers for the new studio was not that difficult because Mike had a built-in reputation as a first-rate and knowledgeable trainer, says Mary Teets, who has been at HIT Strength since its inception with co-worker Craig Koessel.
“The first week HIT opened, they did 14 appointments. By the end of the month, there were 50,” she said, calling the quick success a testimony to Wolff's reputation in the community as a fitness guru.
As his client list grew, Wolff also found himself with newfound friends, who put up with the hard work that was made easier through his encouragement.
“Mike always exhibited such positivity about strength training, reflected in his weekly emails and messages on the gym walls,” said client Renee Carlson of Elgin.
“Mike put me through a workout. It was the hardest thing that I had ever done, but it was an amazing workout,” recalls Noah Martinez, who was trained by Wolff and signed on as a HIT employee after developing his own passion for strength training
Wolff lived his entire life in Elgin. He was an altar boy at St. Joseph's Catholic Church and attended St. Edward Central Catholic High School in Elgin, where he was a member of the wrestling team and a high jumper in track. That’s when he developed his love for strength training along with his brothers. Wolff and his brother Richard stole street signs and fashioned them into a weight rack that created their first gym in the family basement, Richard says.
Adds his father, George Wolff, “I am so proud of my son for building a fitness Program that is science-based, truly helping people get strong.”
In lieu of flowers, the family requests sharing memorable moments, stories, or photos at FORMIKEWOLFF@gmail.com.