The coaches at CrossFit El Paso come from a variety of backgrounds. The thing that unifies us all is a dedication to our clients, and a passion for fitness and healthy living.

Ernesto McLaurin - Head Coach West, Founder & Co-Owner

After 16 years in the fitness industry I couldn’t believe I had found something so good. CrossFit is not only effective but it has the the ability to change you on a physical AND mental level. CrossFit renewed my passion for fitness in ways that I didn’t think were possible. We  founded CrossFit El Paso because we knew that it was our responsibility to spread this new wealth of knowledge and gains to everyone. That is what CrossFit did to me and what I must continue to do in return. I am a changed man! Thank you Coach Glassman.
18 years experience as a Fitness Coach, in those 18 yrs I have held certifications from ACE, ISSA, IFPA, USA Weighlifting, NASM, Wing Chun Kung fu,and more
Crossfit Certifications:
CrossFit Coach Level 1
Crossfit Kettlebel
CrossFit Nutrition
CrossFit Running and Endurance
CrossFit Olympic Lifting
CrossFit Gymnastics
CrossFit Kids
CrossFit exercise Science
CrossFit Recovery & Mobility

Favorite Lifts/WODs
I enjoy all lifts but LOVE the Olympic lifts
Favorite WODs: Filthy 50’s, Helen, The Bear

Least Favorite: Michael, Cindy, Christine

Kim Brutzman, Founder & Co-Owner

I have been in the fitness industry for 20 years. I started teaching aerobics classes and quickly progressed to personal training. I have competed in a variety of sports; swimming, cycling, running,and grappling to mention a few. The beauty of CrossFit is it makes me better at everything in so much less time. I enjoy teaching it and watching participants “get it” and even more importantly stay with it. CrossFit has changed the face of fitness and with good reason. It works! I don’t ever see myself doing anything else.
Crossfit Certifications:
CrossFit Coach Level 1
CrossFit Nutrition
CrossFit Running and Endurance
CrossFit Olympic Lifting
CrossFit Gymnastics
CrossFit Kids
CrossFit exercise Science
CrossFit Recovery & Mobility

Marc Duchene- Head Coach East & Co-Owner

Crossfit was accidental for me. I was tired of drudging through workouts at your typical “Globo Gym”. Myself and a friend started to devise high intensity strength workouts when someone approached us and asked if we did CrossFit. I looked it up online that night and was hooked from then on!! I was an old collegiate hurdler who had finally found an avenue of training that incorporated a team environment, pushed my body to new limits, and fed my hunger for competition again. I always thought of myself as fit, especially in the competitive collegiate days, but now its come to a new level. Crossfit. Functional strength is truly enlightening.
I enjoy training others just as much as training myself. There is nothing like seeing that light turn on when someone does that first kipping pullup, snatch, or muscle-up.
Crossfit Certifications:
CrossFit Coach Level 1
CrossFit Olympic Lifting

CrossFit Recovery & Mobility

Favorite WODs / Lifts:
Grace, Michael, FGB, The 300, All Oly lifts

Least Favorite: Eva, Murph, The Badger, OHS

Nickname: “Ghost”

David Peregrino

If you want to feel young, you should never stop “going outside to play,” just like you did when you were a little kid. CrossFit is my playground and my fountain of youth. At age 43, I love jumping into crazy workouts with all my friends. I love competing with the 20-somethings and showing them they need to work hard to keep up with the “old man.” I discovered CrossFit two years ago in Los Angeles, but I didn’t truly flourish until I moved to El Paso and met CrossFit El Paso coaches Ernesto McLaurin and Kim Brutzman. Ernesto and Kim guided me on an amazing transformation from modern man to caveman! I am proud to be a part of the CrossFit El Paso team and thrilled to help so many others achieve their dreams of elite fitness.

Crossfit Certifications:
CrossFit Coach Level 1

Favorite WODs:
I created my own crazy “Goat WOD,” which includes many of the techniques that I want to perfect: double unders, GHD sit ups, L-sit rope climbs, ring muscle ups, bar muscle ups, hand stand push ups, squat snatches, squat cleans and pistols (Don’t try this at home, kids). I’m also always up for any CrossFit Football WOD—I love the strength-biased aspect to that programming.

Favorite Lifts/Exercises:
Deadlift: 400 for reps.
Power Cleans: 195 for reps.
Anything targeting the abs, such as L-sit pull ups, and cool tricks on the bars and rings.

Least favorite WODs, Lifts or Exercises:
None, I like anything that humbles me and gives me a reason to keep improving.

Nickname: “Big D” or just “D”

Melissa Nunn

I started at a “globo gym,” and they had a class, “CrossFire.” We were flipping tires, having Tabata workouts, and I absolutely loved it, then the class fell apart, and I couldn’t stand the monotony of the gym anymore. Finding CFEP was an accident, my husband’s friend had posted it on Facebook. We Googled it, and I saw that it was more intense then the class at the “globo gym.” James and I searched for a gym in El Paso, realized it was close to us, so we went to an evening class just to watch what was it was all about. I signed us up the next day. We had never actually participated in a class,, just signed up and never looked back.

I decided to coach to learn more about the sport, to be a better athlete, and to instill in others what my coaches instilled in me: a passion and love for myself and becoming better.  I love motivating and pushing everyone!  Coaching allows me to transfer my passion for Crossfit to others, and watch them transform.

Crossfit Certifications:
CrossFit Coach Level 1

Favorite WODs / Lifts:
Helen, Jackie, Nancy, Kelly, Murph, deadlifts, OHS, back squats, and cleans

Least Favorite WODs / Lifts
FRAN!!!!! Annie (those crazy double-unders…) and the snatch, I really have to work on that one!

Nickname: Mel, Melly Mel (Chris M. has coined that one), and Momma

Alexis Alvarez

Crossfitting began as a complete accident for me. I meant to go the spinning gym next door to where CFEP East is, to work on my girlish figure, but I ended up at CrossFit. I didn’t realize what I had done until I was doing multiple squat reps and I worked up the nerve to ask “When do we start spinning.?”  The rest is all history and I am all the better for it. Currently I enjoy coaching Crossfit and I am also into my junior year at UTEP where I am working on a bachelors in Kinesiology with a minor in Edumacation.

Crossfit Certifications:
CrossFit Coach Level 1

Favorite WODs / Lifts:
Nancy, Fran and Nasty Girls

Least Favorite WODs / Lifts : Grace and Karen
Nickname: “Kid Dynamite”