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December 2023 by Logan Yonavjak
Wonderful staff, dynamic classes, great community! I love this gym!
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June 2023 by Han VanderHart
Bigger picture: Courage Fitness is a community gym. You see business owners and teachers and parents from school here. You see people of all ages, ability, gender. The gym and coaches have an overwhelming attitude of WELCOME.Personal picture: Coach Nic Ilijic changed my life. Before coming to Courage Fitness, I had hip and back pain every morning and after even gentle exercise, and just HURT. I was so discouraged, especially after a running injury earlier this year. Coach Nic and I met for a Discovery Call appointment and mobility evaluation. My spouse had worked with Nic previously, and that helped me with this initial appointment, which really did require some trust. As a primary caretaker and someone with CPTSD, it means a LOT to receive care and attention—especially physical training— that doesn’t raise fear or anxiety.Coach Nic and I established goals at the beginning of our session, and I am still laughing about him reading back to me that my primary goal was “…not to feel effing old in the morning.” I also can’t even say how amazing it felt to have Coach Nic look me in the eyes and say: “We are going to fix your hips!” This felt life changing in a way doctor appointments and PT have not for me, which have tended to target a specific problem without considering my whole body and mobility.Coach Nic is patient, kind, responsive, attentive, and upbeat. He noticed how I was holding my hips at one point, and showed me a stretch specifically for that tension. He has a great sense of humor. I felt comfortable telling him when my knee hurt during an exercise, and he adjusted cushions when I worried about backward lunges and my knee placement, etc. He was gentle when I was afraid of lowering my body during movements—for an anxious person, this is everything! After 11/12 sessions completed with Coach Nic, I am physically moving through my life with greater ease and strength. I’ve noticed my anxiety has decreased, and I feel—oh wow, proud of myself?! Again: that’s a big deal for someone with my history!Early in our sessions, I learned I was quad dominant when walking and running, and really couldn’t squat well anymore. Ten years of working out at home and on my own had really led to some poor form and weaknesses. I felt such a huge boost of confidence and optimism when Coach Nic and I started working together, and that feeling has just continued to grow as the weeks have progressed. I feel energized and really better than I have in years after working with Coach Nic. I can’t recommend him and Courage Fitness team highly enough. Thank you, Nic and Courage Fitness.
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May 2023 by Olivia Conetta
Courage is one of the most inclusive, friendly, and attentive gyms I’ve ever been to. Coaches pay attention to form and correct you during workouts; you’re never encouraged to work until you puke. I was about to move, and they worked with me to find a plan that would work for my short time horizon. The other gym-goers are friendly and fun to talk to as well. I’ve loved Courage and am sad to leave!
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May 2023 by Melissa DeStefano
Excellent personal training and energizing group classes. The coaches go above and beyond to help you achieve your goals. Highly recommended!
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May 2023 by TheLegendofBosco
Scheduled a consult, received multiple confirmation texts and emails, and was texted ten minutes before my appointment to assure me that we’d be speaking soon.My appointment time came and went. No calls, no texts, no answers.
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April 2023 by Sarah W.
CFD is an amazing gym with brilliant coaches and programming. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming from the minute you join. I have been going here since October 2022 and I already feel an overwhelming sense of community. The programming here is somewhat like a crossfit gym but I find it even better! I have been doing crossfit for 3 years now and I honestly think CFD's programming has pushed me further than those 3 years did. They focus on a lot of strength with good form instead of "just go as heavy as you can" like in CF gyms. I also feel like the workouts are NOT a competition like at crossfit gyms. Most programming is not "for time", it is just about moving well for a preset time or amount of sets. The demographic at this gym ranges from young to older as well as beginners to experts in fitness. CFD welcomes all walks of life! The coaches help you adjust all exercises to meet your level of fitness.Something special about this gym is that they really take the time to get to know you and your movement style. When you start here they complete a fitness assessment which basically looks at your mobility and balance in strength between your left/right and upper/lower body. It is a very helpful tool to help identify strengths and deficits for each individual.I highly recommend joining this gym. It's in a great location and the staff are incomparable. There is nothing negative to say about Courage Fitness!
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October 2022 by Jack Corelli
They have billed me incorrectly four times throughout covid and after. I supported the gym even though most of the equipment was not available because of the pandemic. Throughout this they have consistently over-charged, double billed, or otherwise incorrectly charged me. This amounts to almost $1,000 in cancelled and (later) refunded charges.
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February 2022 by Jetz M9li
I like everything about CFD , specially the environment, very knowledgeable and professional coaches, the installation, the availability and all the features such as application to keep track of workouts and the scheduling flexibility is awesome!CFD has change the way I feel about workouts and workingout overall!I love it. ❤
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December 2021 by Janene Tompkins
All are welcome at CFD. Everyone supports each other in their fitness journey. The coaches really take the time to make sure you are doing things correctly.
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November 2021 by Joel S.
Courage fitness does a great job planning out your fitness program by taking your goals into consideration and putting in their own professional expertise into a tailored and effective plan. The group classes are great, but my personal enjoyment has come mostly from one-on-one trainings. Community is a big strength of this place, but even if it didn't have the camaraderie of its members as a key part of the experience, this gym would stand as a fantastic facility and group of trainers. I'm getting stronger & healthier and having a great time.
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May 2021 by L J.
A bit of info that's not clear on their website for people thinking about this gym: On top of the per month cost, they require people to pay $522 for six half-hour to 45 minute 1-1 training sessions (= a minimum of $116/hour). I think this is what their website calls their "kick start program," though it doesn't mention that it's required or how much it costs. That $500 is half of the cost of a Crossfit Level 1 Certification, which is the maximum certification that some of their coaches have. I might go here if I didn't know anything about lifting, but as a former D1 scholarship athlete, it seems exorbitant given that I already know how to do most lifts. (They knew this and wouldn't make an exception.) On the plus side, they have great air flow through the place, for those worried about COVID. I'm bummed that it couldn't work out for me.
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January 2021 by Will M.
Courage Fitness was my first experience with CrossFit and like many people I was a bit nervous about it, having heard about how intense the CrossFit community can be. Let me assure you that Courage Fitness is an extremely welcoming and supportive place to be, no matter whether you're just starting your fitness journey or are in fighting shape already. The coaches do a marvelous job of accommodating different levels of fitness and modifications for any injuries. I'm not sure how they're running things during Covid (I moved in July and had to end my membership) but previously they had two major categories of classes, the "Hustle" class which is a good starting point and is an intense "boot camp" style class, all body weights/dumbells/kettle bells. There's also the classic "CrossFit" style class scheme, with weightlifting and all that. If you've never done any weightlifting, don't worry, they'll set you up with a personal trainer (included in the starting package) who will coach you on basic form for all the requisite exercises and the coaches do a great job of helping coach you on your form during workouts. It's also a fantastic community. My first few workouts I had a hard time at points because the trainers had me laughing so hard. Yes, it a touch on the expensive side relative to a basic gym membership, but you're getting a planned set of workouts and a high level of personal attention.
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December 2020 by Critical R.
Pros: - 24 hours - Large numbers of racks - Good job of encouraging spacing during pandemic. Members pretty good about maintaining masks. - Coaches are fairly knowledgeable, although not clear if substantially better than other coaches at similar types of gyms. Cons: - At the time of writing, dumbells appeared to only go up to 50's, with one pair of 70s. This heavily constrains use of DBs for training. - Prime-time classes often fill up quickly, so it can be difficult to get a spot in classes you want. The more strength-based class (at the time the only other consistent alternative to the main WoD) fills up almost immediately and has modest number of offerings. - After last class, I often found no clean towels available and spray containers empty of disinfectant. This meant the individual cleaning stations mentioned in the response to this were not usable. - Staff sometimes not wearing facemasks even when not exercising (yet required). Having a policy in place doesn't work if it isn't consistently enforced. - Very expensive. - Participated and watched classes where instructors provide almost no instruction to participants. Had an instructor spend 70%+ of class cheerleading the class on with "Let's goooo!" etc. instead of coaching, while another where the coach didn't do that either. I'm not how this is then a "premium" product, but I am sure the ownership believe it is as they state in response. - Few benchmarking days for classes provides little opportunity in class to measure progress of class-based training. - Open gym space during class is currently limited since the old open gym space was closed. - Pandemic community weaker than other gyms, although maybe it's better outside of pandemic. - New member program is supposed to prepare individuals for CFD's training but often find class participants using poor form on highly technical lifts (e.g. snatches) that makes me wonder whether the program is sufficient preparation. People aren't really using heavy enough weights where acute injury is likely, but if the programming works well then they should eventually reach that point and the bigger concern about poor form with light weights is chronic injury.
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October 2020 by Deena H
Love CrossFit Durham! The coaches are so helpful and welcoming. The gym is spacious, has plenty of equipment, and even has an outdoor area for safe socially distanced workouts. During the pandemic their community has been flexible in offering daily programming online, personalized with a coach. I can’t say enough great things about this gym!
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June 2020 by Eduardo Coronado
Absolutely the best CF gym, the coaches and staff are professional and committed to help you reach your goals and the community creates a welcoming, enthusiastic environment that motivates you every day.Keep up the great work!
