Our Story of Grit and Growth

We had a catastrophic fire on May 7th, 2023 that destroyed 15 years of work in a single afternoon.

But that couldn’t stop us.

Within 24 hours, we reopened in a local church sanctuary without ever missing a single class. Our 300+ members immediately had a new home.

We spent 2 years here as our temporary location setting up and tearing down every Friday and Sunday; cultivating our community, improving lives, forming lasting bonds, and ensuring our athletes remained healthy and strong, despite our circumstances.

We promise to stay in the arena.

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

— Theodore Roosevelt
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Since 2008, CrossFit Trussville has evolved from a humble 1,200 sq ft garage to a thriving community hub. Purchased by Andrew as a determined 21-year-old (now 35), our gym has overcome significant challenges, including most notably, COVID, and a devastating fire. Despite these obstacles, we have grown into a 12,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facility set to open in November 2024. Our journey is a testament to resilience, community support, and unwavering commitment to fitness and wellness. We did not set out to be in our current situation of being blessed with an incredible building and sprawling community; we only aimed to take our passion and improve the lives of people around us in a positive and meaningful way. We take none of the glory; we extend all thanks to our members and give all glory to God for giving us this opportunity. Thank you for being part of our incredible story.

  • Mid-2008: As a 19 year old, Andrew was working to start CrossFit Trussville with an investor. Upon finding out Andrew’s age (19), the investor backed out and was never heard from again.

  • September 2008: Unfortunately (at the time) while Andrew was still trying to find another partner, CrossFit Trussville was founded by three firefighters in a 1,200 sq ft garage space of a small office building, sharing space with an MMA club. Initially operated as an open gym with rudimentary equipment and facilities, with a pull-up structure made of 4x4’s and plumbing pipe.

  • 2009: One of the three original owners backed out, then the two owners decided to relocate the gym to a larger 1,800 sq ft warehouse in an attempt to boost membership; however, the effort failed, leading to a further decline in membership and financial stability. Andrew requested to buy-in as an Owner to replace the other, and was denied.

  • 2010: Fast forward. Andrew, then a 21-year-old UAB sophomore, had moved on and was a full-time student working a full-time job all-the-while completing his degree in Marketing at UAB shadowing med-id salesmen and getting ready to enter the work force. He was then unexpectedly contacted by the 2 owners asking his interest to purchase the failed gym. At the time, the gym had just 7 members and was headed to zero, fast. Despite the gym's past failures and financial challenges, Andrew decided to invest all his time and resources into turning it around, including quitting his job and dropping out of college.

  • 2011: Despite a rocky first 6 months. The gym then quickly expanded within it’s location from 1,800sqft to acquiring an additional 1,800sqft space from another co-tenant due to the expansion of the gyms membership, upgrading to just under 3,600sqft.

  • 2012: Andrew was informed by the landlord just a number of weeks before the lease was up that it would not be renewed due to CFT’s membership growth limiting the parking of the other businesses on-site. Forced to unexpectedly move due to a lease termination, Andrew found the 5,500sqft building that became CFT’s home for over a decade The building was initially a dilapidated foreclosure with barbed wire, ivy, and lot’s of rust and dust, which sat vacant since 2003 following a flood which engulfed the building and it’s previous business in 4’ high water. Major renovations were undertaken to transform it into a functional gym despite numerous obstacles, including building code conflicts and contractor issues.

  • 2012-2016: Every waking moment and weekend was dedicated to renovating the building, turning it from a dilapidated foreclosure into the gym's home with extensive improvements such as grinding floors, painting, building walls, patching leaks, adding then updating heating and lighting, adding new flooring, renovating all rooms, adding showers, and much much more.

  • 2015: Candace transitioned from her full-time job as a PTA to begin full-time coaching and managing the day-to-day operations at CFT. She quickly became the heart and soul of the gym, providing essential energy and love that have been instrumental in shaping the community.

  • 2016: Construction of a 2,000 square foot expansion of the building began. Plagued with issues from the contractor, the expansion experienced extreme delays and was put on hold due to disputes from Norfolk Railroad variance and permit uses.

  • 2017: The Reboot program was launched once the expansion was finally approved directly by the mayor. And the building officially grew from 5,500sqft to 7,500sqft in order to house the continued membership growth.

  • 2018 and 2020: CFT was recognized as Alabama's Best Gym, reflecting its growing success and community impact.

  • 2020-2023: We navigated many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including multiple news interviews with our progression and dedication to members through our relentless adaptation throughout the pandemic, including; supplying gyms around the country with the resources we created to provide value to our members and best practices, our Zoom small groups, workout sessions, and bible study’s, and even a viral video of Andrew criticizing the state's extreme lack of clarity in handling of the situation.

  • May 7, 2023: A major fire devastated the gym at 1:30pm, leading to a complete loss of the facility. The community's response was immediate, with offers of help and support.

  • May 8, 2023: Without ever missing a single class, CFT moved to Gateway Family Church and began operating out of their sanctuary temporarily, even having a full class at 5:00am.

  • May 2023 - November 2024: Operating out of Gateway Family Church, we set up and tear down every Friday and Sunday. Monday through Friday the sanctuary is our fully operational gym, and on Friday all gym equipment is stored in containers and closets while chairs are brought out and the pull-up rig covered for service. After church service on Sunday, the congregation assists in putting chairs up, uncovering the rig, and pulling out all of the gym equipment (including rubber mats). The temporary setup has been enhanced with two pull-up rigs (both indoor and outdoor), a bridge built across a creek to assist with Sunday morning pedestrians and athletes running on weekdays, a 600m trail course, conditioning sleds, rope climbs, gymnastic rings, and an outdoor foundation platform. Two storage containers are on-site and utilized along with closets for equipment storage. The church offices were also knocked out to give the gym and church an additional 600 square feet to help with the churches and the gyms growth.

  • April 7, 2025: Slated completion date for The PHNX, our new 13,000 square foot, two-story building for CFT. Home to Good Grind Coffee, The Dojang Martial Arts, Ironclad Wrestling, Lionspride Jiu-Jitsu, Resilient Physio Therapy, and more (announced soon). Our future is bright, and we are very thankful for all of the support over the past 16 years. We are humbled every day and could never begin to fully express our appreciation for everything we’ve experienced. We are beyond thankful for our community.