As we move into 2025, and everyone is thinking about better health and fitness, Chamblee City Lifestyle spoke with Brandon and Emily Romanos, owners of CrossFit Vengeance, located in Chamblee to learn more about the gym and what CrossFit really means.
How did you two become interested in CrossFit?
Brandon: I’ve always worked out through sports and the like in college. I’m more of a bodybuilder to stay healthy and fit. Then in 2017 I followed Josh Bridges, a former Navy Seal, on social media and was thrilled by all the things he could do fitness-wise, so I started trying out some local CrossFit gyms in Roswell and fell in love with it. And then Emily and I started dating in 2018, and I took her to a CrossFit Gym.
Emily: Yes, Brandon took me to a class in Roswell. I’ve always been into fitness as well. I played soccer and tennis growing up. I’ve been very active and always liked working out. I was ready to try something new, so that following summer of 2019, I had a class pass for the gym in Chamblee, and for the price, I decided to try it and fell in love with it and the competitiveness - the ability to progress on certain movements, and to see your results, and to see how you’re changing.
How did you come to own CrossFit Vengeance?
Brandon: I started going to the gym in Chamblee, and then in 2021, I started coaching under the previous owner.
Emily: He moved to the head coach role, and then when we took the gym over, we changed the name to CrossFit Vengeance.
Did you have to get any certifications in order to coach?
Brandon: Yes, Emily and I are both CrossFit Level 1 coaches.
What’s the difference between CrossFit and other exercise and fitness programs?
Brandon: Two things. CrossFit has been around for a long time. It started in the 2000s, and its peak was in 2018 when there were the most affiliate signups in a year along with the CrossFit Open that had one of the highest participations in the world wide open that year. What makes it different than your typical gym routine is by definition. CrossFit is constantly varied functional fitness executed at a high intensity, and so what that means is you’re going to be doing something a little bit different every single day. You’re going to be doing functional movements that are purely for aesthetic development and to gain muscle mass or muscle toning, and that's going to have a functional implication in everyday life. For example, we do a lot of box step ups and that’s going to translate over to walking up steps or going on a hike - clean movements that we do every single day for the most part. You’re picking up something off the ground and bringing it up to shoulder level…so a lot of what we do directly translates to everyday life and then executed at a high intensity.
Tell us about CrossFit Vengeance.
Brandon: At CrossFit Vengeance we follow a very strict program from Training Think Tank Gym in Roswell. Their programming is strategically designed to have two to three core movements that we focus on in any given cycles, which is typically six to eight weeks.
We have a 5K program and a variety of different fitness modalities, so when it comes to fitness, you're going to be well-rounded and that's going to lead to a higher quality of life. ...you should be doing aerobic conditioning for longevity, and you should be doing strength training for quality to make sure you have the appropriate muscle mass.
What if someone wants to try CrossFit Vengeance?
Brandon: We have what’s called a Sweat Intro. We have a short 15-to-20-minute consultation where we discuss fitness and wellness goals and then they try out a class, so we always want to make sure people get to experience and make sure it’s something they’re going to enjoy. From there we decide what we think would be the best next step. If they’ve never done CrossFit before, they can do On-Ramp. But we always want to make sure people test us out to make sure the program is right for them and go from there.
CrossFit Vengeance offers Group Training, Personal Training, and Nutrition Coaching. A few coaches also have a podcast, The VenGents Podcast, where they talk nutrition and all things CrossFit. For more information, visit the website at crossfitvengeance.com.
CrossFit is constantly varied functional fitness executed at a high intensity.
CrossFit has been around for a long time.