Anyone who has ever seen the classic film, “Rudy” has beheld as vivid a portrayal of mental toughness as a human being can muster.

Based on a true story, this sentimental saga of a young boy’s lifelong vision to attend the academically demanding University of Notre Dame, and to also play for its vaunted football team, defines resilience, tenacity, persistence, and all other attributes that celebrate the human spirit. It also begs the question how much of that indomitable spirit of someone like Rudy resides in the rest of us.

In the eyes of New London Athletics Center owner Mike Penta, an ability to “tough it out mentally” in the face of adversity transcends all other human traits.

“It all comes down to mental strength and attitude,” Penta said. “And we’re not just talking CrossFit, which is only one aspect of our gym,” he added, referencing the multiple activities of his Broad Street fitness facility.

Whaling City Boxing, martial arts, wrestling as well as the gym’s intensive seminars on nutrition and weekly adult gymnastics classes are among the offerings.

A graduate of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield with a degree in sports management business, Penta had been recruited to attend there on a football scholarship. He constantly balanced ongoing academic demands with his scholarship’s athletic requirements, leaving little time for anything else.

“As soon as I was out of college, I was offered a job in the health and fitness field,” said Penta, now in his 30s. “It was with Planet Fitness in Trumbull and they were very pleased with my work ethic.”

That work ethic became not only his trademark as a CrossFit trainer and competitor, it evolved into a mantra for life, one that would be applied to those who later became his students.

Penta is especially passionate about the manner in which your daily outlook can determine success or failure. He sees it as happiness and health versus depression and debility.

“When you wake up each morning, exactly what are you going to do with that day?” he asks. “Every day presents an opportunity to be successful and there are so many positive elements to that. So why focus on the negative?”

“I don’t ever want to experience a day where I sit around and complain,” he added. “Sometimes when things aren’t coming together the way you want, you have to put your head down and work that much harder. Nothing beats hard work!”

One only has to read a fair number of Facebook posts to recognize there are indeed a great many who fail to embrace a philosophy predicated on resilience and positive reinforcement. Mike Penta is unyielding in his endorsement of it as the essence of success for anyone.

A man built compact and sturdy, he lives by the very code he endorses, reflected in his decision to shy away from the more corporate aspect of fitness and training.

“I prefer focusing on the communities here in New London County,” said Penta. “This isn’t about becoming known on a wider scale, but running programs that make a positive impact in the lives of people right here where we live. And I firmly believe it’s all in your mental approach. I really can’t stand all those negative attitudes that are out there today. That in itself has an adverse effect on your basic health,” he added. “It’s why we have that sign posted out on the front door of the gym.”

The sign referenced by Penta reads: “Leave ‘can’t’ at the door. Only enter if you CAN!

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Once someone does enter the front door of New London Athletics Center, it must be with the intent of attaining a marked improvement in the overall quality of life via a plan designed specifically for that individual. An assessment is made of a new participant’s health and current fitness, though Mike Penta does not confine his evaluation of new members simply to first impressions.

“Treat people as they are and they will stay the way they are; treat them as they could be, and they will become as they should be.”

It’s a theme he demonstrated himself recently by joining with three others (Calvin Reynoso, Scott Macgregor, Matt Chilleri) in a grueling 24 hour trial to honor U.S. Special Forces members who died during Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan. This was a steady range of CrossFit exercises and difficult maneuvers too vast and complex to list here — a physical and mental gantlet designed to test the mettle of an individual’s strength, courage and resolve.

How did they fare in that 24 hour ordeal? Simply put, they came, they engaged, they prevailed.

If you ask him, Penta will assure you that such capabilities lie within anyone willing to dive in and try.

“My hope is to show people that becoming more motivated in the gym carries over into life,” he said. “And that the mental strength developed there stays with you.”

He does not see a trial like that recent challenge as a onetime proof of prowess; but more a validation of what people can accomplish by digging deep into their own well of resources and discovering capabilities within themselves, capabilities they might not have fully recognized they possessed.

Pushing to be better

It’s that “Rudy factor” again — achieving when you might be the only one believing it’s there inside you.

Regardless who is coaching a member — whether it’s Penta or his wife Lottie, or gym manager Erin Blette, or one of the other capable staff members — a plan is followed in strict accordance with that person’s specific design. Whether the participant is an advanced competitor or novice, adult, senior, teenager, or child, upon becoming more proficient, that individual then moves on to a more intricate and advanced curriculum. And always, it requires a mental outlook that justifies such a move in pursuing a greater path for success.

“I was first drawn to CrossFit because I saw a system where I felt I could do something positive for others,” Penta explained. “The fitness and wellness format we use here is of my own creation and reflects my personal philosophy. It’s scalable to the individual at any level — and appropriate for whatever someone’s current fitness and health condition might be. I feel the measure of my success lies in being able to give to others more than they give to me. If that helps achieve health, fitness, and success for them, then it’s because of 100 percent effort coming from all of us.”

“Rudy,” based ona true story, was a movie in which that kind of attitude led to success in the face of so many doubters. In Mike Penta’s gym, the premise of “doubt” is not part of the equation.