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Wide view of the coached training floor inside Test Gym in Kalamazoo

Our story

Built in Kalamazoo

A member training on the Test Gym floor in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Train for strength. Stay for the people.

Test Gym isn't a big-box floor of machines and headphones. It's a coached room, built on proven programming and a coach who watches your squat and remembers what your knee was doing last week.

Test Gym is a coached CrossFit, HYROX and bodybuilding gym on West Michigan Avenue in downtown Kalamazoo. Four things make the program work, and they haven’t changed since day one.

We build proven programming — every workout structured for progress, not random, so strength, conditioning and skill build together. We train strength and conditioning together, so real strength grows alongside endurance and work capacity, not against it.

We believe in coaching that matters — every class fully coached, from warm-up to finish, with real guidance and real adjustments. And we build a program that’s scalable for every level, whether you’ve never touched a barbell or you’re chasing a podium.

It’s a Kalamazoo gym on purpose — West Michigan Avenue, same faces at Friday classes. Come be one of them.

Meet your coaches

John Atkins, Head Coach at the gym

John Atkins

Head Coach

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John has spent over a decade turning everyday members into stronger versions of themselves — six years coaching collegiate athletes before that, where his appreciation for periodization took root. Every cycle he builds today carries that same intention. Never guesswork, always a plan.

John has spent over a decade turning everyday members into stronger versions of themselves — six years coaching collegiate athletes before that, where his appreciation for periodization took root. Every cycle he builds today carries that same intention. Never guesswork, always a plan.

NSCA-CSCS · USA Weightlifting Level 2 · CF-L3

Natalie Spencer, Yoga Instructor at the gym

Natalie Spencer

Yoga Instructor

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Natalie found yoga through injury recovery, and that path still shapes how she teaches. She knows what it means to need a practice that meets you where you are, not where you think you should be. Her classes weave strength-building flow with the mobility that keeps hard-training members moving well outside the gym, too.

Natalie found yoga through injury recovery, and that path still shapes how she teaches. She knows what it means to need a practice that meets you where you are, not where you think you should be. Her classes weave strength-building flow with the mobility that keeps hard-training members moving well outside the gym, too.

RYT-500 · Certified Yin Yoga Teacher

Susie Hepburn, Coach at the gym

Susie Hepburn

Coach

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A competitive gymnast long before she found CrossFit, Susie brings that eye to every class — few coaches break down a kipping pull-up or a handstand progression as clearly as she can. She's walked members from their first workout to their first competition podium, and loves both ends of that journey equally.

A competitive gymnast long before she found CrossFit, Susie brings that eye to every class — few coaches break down a kipping pull-up or a handstand progression as clearly as she can. She's walked members from their first workout to their first competition podium, and loves both ends of that journey equally.

CF-L2 · CrossFit Weightlifting Trainer · CrossFit Gymnastics Trainer

Jennifer Price, Nutrition Coach at the gym

Jennifer Price

Nutrition Coach

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Jennifer believes nutrition coaching should feel like learning a skill, never like a diet. After years watching members crush their workouts but stall on results, she made closing that gap her mission — blending behavior-change coaching with practical guidance that fits real, busy lives.

Jennifer believes nutrition coaching should feel like learning a skill, never like a diet. After years watching members crush their workouts but stall on results, she made closing that gap her mission — blending behavior-change coaching with practical guidance that fits real, busy lives.

PN2 · CNS · NASM Certified Nutrition Coach