January 30, 2017

Meet Erick Colindres of Trualliance Fitness in Duluth

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erick Colindres.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started my fitness journey at the age of 19. I always wanted to create something with my vision of how a gym should be and what type of equipment is should have. I was always bored going to the big corporate gyms and would find myself working out hard in the beginning then just quieting and it was the same cycle over and over. I was fascinated by Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & MMA so I started to practice mixed martial arts and boom 8 years went by before discovering Crossfit. That is where I learned about barbell work and weightlifting.

So I figured it was time to take a risk and Trualliance Fitness was established with the goal to help people make a bigger impact on their lives. By creating a fun environment to help people turn fitness into a lifestyle. Our atmosphere at the gym is more of a hardcore, multi training facility. Where you can explore more creative workouts and not have to do the same things over and over. So Goal accomplished!

The members consider the gym their 3rd place (home, work, and gym). It’s not just a gym where you work out and leave and not talk to anyone. Everyone comes to hang out, talk and just have fun getting their but kicked in the workouts while making new long-term fitness friends that encourage you to stay on track.

So to summarize what Trualliance Fitness offers is a fun fitness lifestyle with a competitor training environment. We offer monthly gym memberships and selective programs like CrossFit and boot camp. We believe if you make fitness enjoyable you never quit and learn the fitness lifestyle.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nothing is ever really smooth. You just have to go for it if you really want it. When we first started we had 0 members. Most people that walked in our door always asked what is this?. Since everyone is pretty much used to the big corp gyms. Once they saw what we did here at the gym they left impressed. So the struggle was mostly in our first year of business. The trick is just to grind it out and keep improving as much as you can. Once we had a few members word of mouth started to really take off. Where we now have people of out of state drop in every time they come to town.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Trualliance Fitness – what should we know?
What makes Trualliance?

We cater to all avenues of fitness. There is no “wrong” way to train but there is a common theme to having success in fitness, and that is to just enjoy yourself and have fun with your training. You do not need to be set in one type of training style. And that is the goal here at Trualliance Fitness.

We want to break this culture of segregated gyms and combine all forms of fitness under one roof by having a wide range of unique equipment for MMA, strongman, bodybuilding, CrossFit, etc.. We want everyone to feel comfortable, feel welcome, feel like they have a place and challenge themselves on a daily basis. We are very excited for people to start experimenting with their workouts and experimenting with new avenues of fitness!

We at Trualliance Fitness want to create a community that enables you to thrive in all areas of your life, helping you to find optimal health and happiness. We are happiest when YOU are succeeding in your family, career, relationships and physical being!

Whether you are a first timer looking to start or a sports competitive athlete we have everything you need to be successful. We offer open gym memberships as well as classes like CrossFit and Bootcamp.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Yes, I want to give a shout to my family. Nothing would be possible without them. My family is very supportive and have made the start up struggles go as smooth as possible. They are the key to my success. Also to our staff. They are the backbone to the continued success of the gym. We have one of the best CrossFit coaches in the southeast and active competitor known as Irving Hernandez. He has taken a lot of athletes under his wing to help them reach their CrossFit goals. People just love him. We also have a great boot camp instructor known as Keisha Henderson. As soon as you meet her people fall in love with her. She has helped a lot of our members meet their fitness body goals. My brother Oscar Colindres helps with the daily operations. Everyone loves him where the members spend hours in the gym just chatting with him after their workouts. He is a boxing coach also and works with a selective few on boxing lessons. And for all the members, they have been just awesome by helping create the environment that we have today. Everyone is always spreading the word and just so positive.

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