Save Crunch DC is a community of members, instructors, and neighbors working to rebuild the gym we lost — because we believe every neighborhood deserves a place where people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds can walk through the door, feel welcome, and have fun getting healthy.
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What's Happening Now
We will share pop-up classes, instructor news, gym discounts, neighborhood fitness events as they develop. Let us know at [email protected] if you have ideas for this section!
Survey Results!
Thank you again for taking the time to answer our May survey. Your answers were honest and specific — and they confirmed what many of us have been feeling.When we asked if you would join a new gym in the Crunch location:
- 76.4% said probably or definitely yes
- 19.4% were not sure, and the rest said probably notHere are the features you were most interested in:
Where most of you landedThe vast majority ended up at OneLife Fitness Tenleytown, with a smaller number at Bethesda. Others are at Gold's Gym, Chevy Chase Athletic Club, The St. James, or the YMCA. Roughly one in five aren't working out regularly at all — staying home, exercising outdoors, or still searching.What you miss
Your responses clustered around a few themes:Walkability. More than almost anything else, you miss being able to walk to the gym. Having to drive has significantly reduced how often many of you go.Community. You described larger gyms as impersonal and anonymous. What you miss is knowing people — staff, instructors, fellow members — by name. That sense of belonging was special about Crunch and hasn't transferred.Scale and crowding. Classes require advance registration and still fill up. Equipment is competitive. The space feels like a destination rather than a neighborhood gym.Specific instructors and classes. Zumba came up repeatedly, and specific instructors by name. TRX was mentioned multiple times. The ability to drop into a class without planning ahead is a recurring frustration.Light and atmosphere. Several of you mentioned missing Crunch's windows and natural light — something OneLife Tenleytown's underground location can't offer.A minority view worth noting
A few respondents pushed back: OneLife is a better facility at a lower cost, with more locations and a strong class selection. It's a fair point, even if it's not the majority experience.Going ForwardWe will continue to share news with you when and if we have it about anything Crunch-related. Make sure you are on our mailing list!
Gym discounts for Crunch members
Foundation Fitness: One week free trial, first month free + reduced initiation fee. Email [email protected]Orange Theory: $50 off your first month of a Premier membership, or $10 off for you and a friend when you join at the same time.Rock Creek Sports Club: Free first month, no enrollment fee. Email [email protected]The St. James: $105/month (reg. $185), no contract. Email [email protected]Bethesda-Chevy Chase YMCA: Enrollment fees for former Crunch members waived until the end of May. (If you are interested, ask if they can grant an extension.)
Find Your Instructors
Alston Taggart: offers private yoga sessions, co-organizes fascia yoga with Fabrizio, and will soon be teaching
at the St. James; [email protected].Amy Tanen: email [email protected] for her Zoom class infoChad Raymond: see his Instabio and find him teaching at the St. James club in BethesdaConnie Deshpande: follow her Facebook and Instagram for classes in her MacArthur Blvd studio and ZoomFabrizio Ciccone teaches at various studios including Vida Fitness. He is beginning a new fascia yoga class at 4340 Connecticut Avenue, Mondays at 10am. Organized by Crunch instructor Alston Taggart. Donation-based. RSVP to [email protected].Janice Berliner: also teaches at Lifetime Potomac and the Bethesda-Chevy Chase YMCAMonica Vallada: find her on InstagramSilvana Nakata teaches Zumba at 11:30 at Gold's gym in RockvilleSilvia Pedromo: find her on Instagram
Our Story
On March 17, 2026, Onelife Fitness announced they were closing beloved neighborhood gym Crunch Fitness at 5100 Wisconsin Ave NW in less than 30 days.For 15 years, this place had been more than somewhere to get fit. It was a refuge, a daily ritual, a home away from home. A place where people from across the neighborhood, of different ages and walks of life, came together, knew each other's names, and looked out for one another.We were heartbroken, and we weren't going to let this special place go without a fight.
Fighting Back
Within days, our community organized. We launched a petition that gathered hundreds of signatures, built an email list of over 500 members and supporters, and created a website. Fox 5 DC covered our story. Over 60 neighbors rallied outside the gym on March 24, refusing to scatter quietly.Volunteers collected signatures, handed out flyers, and spread the word across neighborhood listservs and social media. We wrote hand-delivered letters to Onelife CEO Ori Gorfine and private equity owner Josh Harris. We spoke with journalists, worked with the Friendship Heights Alliance and Rodman's, connected with Tenleytown Main Street, and reached out to council members.We explored every option. We tracked down Crunch corporate contacts and franchisees to ask if they would take over the location. We looked into forming a nonprofit community gym or a cooperative run by members. We contacted the building landlord and worked with gym operators who wanted to expand.Member investors came forward and tried to negotiate leasing or purchasing the equipment directly from Onelife — which would have made many of these paths possible — but Onelife refused. They never responded to our request for a reversal or a delay, but instead apologized and offered a free month at one of their large corporate locations.
Searching for a New Home
When it became clear that keeping a gym at 5100 Wisconsin would take time, we got creative. Volunteers fanned out across the neighborhood searching for transitional spaces.We explored a partnership with Chevy Chase Athletic Club, just a few blocks away, and held an open house where Crunch instructors led eight classes over the weekend. More than 100 members showed up. It felt like a reunion — the energy that had made Crunch special was still there, alive in the people who had built it.We decided CCAC was not the right space for our community. Fitness operators, investors, yoga studio owners, and specialty businesses continue to reach out, and we are working with them to create something new in the Tenley/Friendship Heights area.
WHY THIS MATTERS
What happened to Crunch is not an unusual story. Across the U.S., small neighborhood places where people gather are disappearing.Sociologists call them "third places" — not home, not work, but the community centers, churches, parks, cafés, and barbershops where people from different generations, social circles, and backgrounds meet around a common purpose. Social hierarchies in these places tend to dissolve in ways that are increasingly rare these days, making it easier to connect simply as human beings.Inexpensive third places are being squeezed out by rising rents, corporatization, and private equity decision-making that is divorced from life on the ground. Large corporate spaces are often inconvenient "destinations" requiring a commute rather than natural neighborhood hubs. Designed to discourage lingering, they prioritize fast profitable transactions.We are living through a loneliness epidemic and what researchers call a "friendship recession." Places that bring people together matter more than ever.We believe neighborhoods deserve better. We believe communities have a right to fight for the places that sustain them — places for people of all backgrounds to do something healthy and good together. And we believe that when people act with determination and heart, remarkable things are possible.
The People Who Made Crunch Special
Through all of this, one thing had never been in doubt: Crunch was special because of its people.Hana Zewide and Teressa Elema kept the club spotless and welcoming every single day. The front desk staff — especially Lee White and Freya Taggart — greeted us with a smile and a listening ear. Ivy Boudreau made sure Crunch's group fitness classes were always running smoothly.General manager Eric Williams and assistant manager Neb Gebremariam brought warmth, energy, and professionalism to the club. Crunch's trainers, fitness directors, and instructors supported us and pushed us beyond what we thought we could do.These are the people who made Crunch a place worth fighting for.
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