Retired military member turns fitness into a new business: CrossFit Stasis

Bruno Guevrémont, owner of CrossFit Stasis, holds a medicine ball – one of the many workout tools used during the varied CrossFit workout.

Bruno Guevrémont, owner of CrossFit Stasis, holds a medicine ball – one of the many workout tools used during the varied CrossFit workout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“When you’re fit physically, you’re fit mentally,” is the mantra playing on loop in Bruno Guévremont’s mind as he lifts weights, rows, and runs. The former navy clearance diver not only lives this philosophy, but also encourages everyone who crosses the threshold of his new business, CrossFit Stasis, to live it as well.

Guévremont opened his training gym a few months before being medically released in January 2014 after a second tour in Afghanistan. Difficulty sleeping and anxiety led him to a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis in 2010.

“As a bomb technician on the Afghanistan tour, I was part one of the busiest counter-improvised explosive device teams,” he says. “It impacted me. When I got back to Victoria I had to think hard about when I had last felt good.”
He turned to CrossFit to get him back to mental and physical health.

As a Clearance Diver he needed to function at an extremely high fitness level in order to reduce air consumption under water. He used CrossFit strategies at the Naden gym each lunch hour, such as rowing, skipping, and weight lifting.

“When people saw what I was doing, they asked me what I was training for. Pretty quickly I had a solid group of people with me every lunch hour.”

Up to 20 people joined Guévrement as he led an informal CrossFit workout each day.

“I started feeling really good about helping other people get fit, and I was getting myself back to a strong physical place,” he says.

 
With his impending medical release date at the forefront of his mind, Guévrement began brainstorming alternate career paths. He even began a police officer application. But he kept being drawn back to the idea of starting his own gym.  

He took the necessary certification courses – Level 1 and 2 CrossFit and CrossFit Weightlifting and Mobility. At the same time, he searched for gym space, and saved his money to buy equipment.

“The whole process of starting the gym and planning for a business helped me transition into the civilian life because I had a plan for the future. I had a goal.”

He opened a 1,000 square foot studio space in Colwood in August 2013, before his official release a few months later.

“It was a big deal for me to transition,” he says. “You wake up at a certain time every day for 15 years, and you are told what to wear, and you have other people to make decisions for you. I had to learn how to be self-sufficient.”

CrossFit Stasis has since moved to a 3,000 square foot space to accommodate the influx of clients.

Guévremont has trained special forces members, police officers, fire fighters and marathon runners. But he says the bulk of his clients are everyday people from all ages and fitness levels, from new parents to older folks looking to get in shape.

“What I love about running the gym is seeing the change in people. Once they realize how fast and strong they are, they start glowing.”

These transformations are what make his second career a success.

“The best healing is helping other people heal. That’s the truth.”

For more information, you can contact Bruno Guévremont at info@crossfitstasis.com, or visit www.crossfitstasis.com.

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