CrossFit has found its new CEO. Today, CrossFit announced that Bruce Edwards will succeed Don Faul as the company’s CEO on May 4.
Edwards was CrossFit’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) from 2013 to 2019 when the company experienced exponential growth in affiliation and participation worldwide. He also co-founded CrossFit Aptos, an affiliate in Aptos, California, where he coached classes, programmed workouts and learned firsthand how to run an affiliate.
In the seven years since Edwards left CrossFit, he was the President and COO of barre3 from 2020 to 2023. From there, he was Core Development & Management’s CEO where he lead the largest Planet Fitness franchise.
But beginning next Monday, Edwards will be back to lead CrossFit.
“CrossFit changed my life three decades ago. It helped me get healthier and introduced me to a community that has played an important role in my life,” said Edwards. “I’m returning to CrossFit because I believe in where we can go next. I’ve seen this community from every angle, and that perspective will guide how I lead. Together, we have the opportunity to build something even stronger and bring the benefits of CrossFit to more people around the world.”
With Edwards’ history with CrossFit and his leadership and vision for the company and community, Berkshire Partners is no longer seeking new ownership at this time.
Concurrent with the announcement, Bruce Edwards wrote a letter (read below) to the CrossFit community as he looks to “build something even stronger and bring the benefits of CrossFit to more people around the world.”
***
CrossFit Changed the World. And We’re Not Done
By Bruce Edwards, incoming CEO of CrossFit
Today, I’m honored to step into the role of CrossFit’s CEO. My first official day will be May 4th. This isn’t just a professional milestone for me – it’s a return to something that has always felt like home.
For those who don’t know me, I’ve been part of this community since the very beginning. In the late 1990s, I was among a small group of people being coached by Greg Glassman on what would become the CrossFit methodology. He created the simple but powerful methodology: constantly varied, functional movements performed at high intensity. That was the formula. And it worked. It changed how we trained, and for many of us, how we lived.
For me, CrossFit wasn’t just a program. Like so many people today, I started doing CrossFit when I was struggling with my health – I had bad blood values and was overweight. It reshaped my understanding of health, capability, and community. It made me stronger, more resilient, and connected me to people who pushed me to be better.
Since those early days, I’ve had the privilege of experiencing CrossFit from nearly every angle. From 2013 to 2019, I served as CrossFit’s COO, helping scale the methodology globally at a time when it was still widely misunderstood. During this time, we worked to expand education, strengthen the brand, and bring CrossFit to a broader audience.
But then I did something that changed how I understood CrossFit even more: I opened my own affiliate. Joined by partners, we launched CrossFit Aptos in our hometown of Aptos, California. For many years with my partners, I programmed workouts. I cleaned the floors. I coached the early morning classes. I managed payroll. And, I learned firsthand what it feels like when you open the door and there’s only one person standing there for class. As an affiliate owner, I learned more about the true impact of CrossFit.
Since then, I’ve spent the last decade pursuing leadership roles in the broader fitness and wellness space. This experience has taught me how to galvanize a team and gain additional perspective on the state of the fitness industry. One reality? The CrossFit methodology didn’t just inspire the industry, it created it. The work ahead isn’t about catching up. It’s about making sure the world recognizes the original for what it is: not just another option, but the standard everything else gets measured against.
And that’s exactly why I’m back. I am not here to figure out what CrossFit is, but to get to work on what it can continue to be.
My experience as an early adopter, operator, affiliate owner, and peer isn’t just background, it’s the lens through which I’ll lead. I’ve seen this ecosystem from every side, and I believe that perspective matters right now. I’m not here to dwell on the past. I’m here because I think CrossFit’s best chapter is still ahead.
The strength of CrossFit isn’t any single gym or athlete. It’s the thousands of affiliates around the world who prove every day that what we do is important, that it works, and that it works better together. That collective power is what makes the CrossFit brand unmistakable. It’s what draws in partners, opens new markets, attracts new members, and tells the world that this is a movement worth joining.
I’m coming back because I believe this community is the most capable, most passionate force in fitness. I know who we are, what we’ve built and what it has cost us to build. I can’t think of a better group of people to keep building alongside.
– Bruce Edwards, incoming CEO of CrossFit
***
