The Endurance Factory Fitness - Home of CrossFit TEF — Local services in Laurel

This gym is family owned and operated and the family vibe resonates through the building's pores (yes, cinder blocks and drywall have pores). When you come in, you are welcomed not by a sales pitch, but by coaches who genuinely want to help you get stronger and more confident.

Like many of the people who joined The Endurance Factory, I was looking for a place to train for Obstacle Course Races. If that's your thing, this place is perfect. I had a goal to do the Spartan Trifecta in 2018, but I also wanted to do fewer burpees in races. Both Ken Peluso and Tiffany Palmer are world class obstacle course racers who love to coach and pass their knowledge on.

The Boot Camp classes are varied and challenging for all levels. I started out pretty out of shape and have worked my way into being pretty fit over the course of the year. Even with the loss of 25 lbs. I describe the classes the same way. They're challenging, but doable. Ken and Tiffany don't let you dog it or fail. They get the most out of everyone.

There are tons of gyms in the area. Many of them have great coaches who will help you get stronger and give you personal attention. However, for me, four things set The Endurance Factory apart from most of those gyms. First, the owner, Ken Peluso, is my coach. He knows my race schedule, my injury history, my targets and goals. He knows how to get me where I want to go. All I need to do is show up and put in the work.

Second, the gym is welcoming and family oriented. Everyone is welcome. Kids can train with their parents or hangout with the other children while their parents workout. Experienced racers workout beside and encourage first timers and non racers. The regulars are friendly and everyone is welcomed their first few classes. Third, we all work hard, but we also have fun. Tiffany Palmer is an elite obstacle course racer and one of the coaches. She pushes us hard in class, but she incorporates games to make the workouts more fun.

Fourth, the gym also hosts potluck cookouts and has added perks to the membership package like Sunday morning Yoga classes and meal plan options. These are things that members want and ask for. They aren't just read or heard and "taken into consideration." They get done.

I'd never been one for strength training before joining The Endurance Factory. Lifting weights is a new thing for me. I joined on Opening Day because Ken didn't get pushy with his sales pitch. He told me what he planned to deliver to members and showed me how I could benefit from the facilities. That was good enough for me to give it a try. It's now 10 months later and Ken has delivered on everything that he said that the gym would be.

He's also been a great coach who has helped me through injuries and in the process helped me build confidence in my abilities. And I'm not the lucky, special one. Everyone at The Endurance Factory gets "the lucky special...

Over the past 10 years I’ve been to multiple gyms including Crossfit \ HIIT \ Boxing \ OrangeTheory. This type of workout is just my preference as you get a coach for every class, you never have to program, and you get a great mix of cardio \ strength across the programs. This is the exact type of workout the endurance factory (TEF) offers. I break down my ‘rating’ into 3 categories

1. Do they incorporate barbells – Yes/No. The Endurance Factory does, and for me it’s critical. Places that have strength w/o barbells I found lacking in delivering results. And personally not as much fun.

2. Coaching – Personally I entered the ‘Crossfit’ world at a gym in howard county that was being run by recent college grads. Not to disqualify any coaches based on age, but when you are using barbells technique is critical, or you can be seriously injured. I left that place b/c I knew the coaching was severely lacking.

That said I’d trust Ken \ Tiffany to teach one of my friends around this type of training. I’d certainly recommend an intro \ 1:1 program to get comfortable with the movements. They pay attention to everyone in the class, and more importantly classes are capped! This is critical b/c a coach can only pay attention to so many people in a class. If you have 35 people and 1 coach you won’t get much ‘coaching’. I’ve been to places that allow far more people in classes with a single coach. That should be a warning sign.

3. Cost \ Flexibility – For me this is a very important component. Many of these types of gyms tend to combine services \ programs where you are paying a high fee for special classes you may never use. Or they have tiered programs where the affordable levels don’t give you access to the classes as often as you would like to go. TEF keeps it simple with the unlimited plan, and has special classes you can choose to purchase if you think they would help.

Finding a place with great coaches at a fair price is why I gave my rating. I think this gym is the perfect mix.

Downsides – I’ve been to places with included technology tracking (tools like wodify), or nice locker rooms \ showers. Even to a couple of places that have A\C for the summer. These features are nice, however I’ll take the quality coaching \ fair price over the extras.

Other considerations – TEF is a gym that does have the majority of the members (50+ %) enter into obstacle races. There’s still plenty of people that go just to work out, but if spartan races interest you there’s plenty of like minded people to help strategize.

Best of luck with...

The Endurance Factory is nothing short of a magnificent, transformative experience. As a member, on and off, for a handful of years I’ve come to know it to be a diverse community that treasures health and wellness. My initial goal was to find a facility that didn’t force me to suffer through mundane workouts – an hour on the treadmill, a run around the track. I was looking for an experience that kept me engaged and really pushed me. I found it in The Endurance Factory. The body-weight workouts, the unpredictability of these workouts keeps me on my toes and makes me want to come back for more each and every day. There is a balance of beginners (like me) to elite athletes, but unlike other facilities, my interaction with fellow members is never intimidating and always inspiring. The Endurance Factory experience lends itself to that camaraderie amongst members. I can’t speak highly enough of the truly superior, stellar coaching staff. Slowly but surely I’m becoming strong and healthier well beyond what I could have fathomed. I have developed both strength of heart, mind, and body because The Endurance Factory has taught me just that… how to endure and overcome what once felt...