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!
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 with no enrollment fee. Email [email protected].The St. James: $105 (instead of $185) per month, no contract, cancel anytime. Email [email protected]
Find Your Instructors
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 ZoomJanice Berliner: also teaches at Lifetime Potomac and the Bethesda-Chevy Chase YMCAMonica Vallada: find her on InstagramSilva 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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