CrossFit Estepona: more than a gym, a community of sports enthusiasts
The story of Violeta Bonnemaison and Josema López, pioneers who believed another way to train was possible
Today on Estepona Info we get an inside look at the only certified CrossFit center in the municipality. Its founders, Violeta Bonnemaison and Josema López, were pioneers back when almost no one knew what this methodology from the United States was. In this interview they look back on their beginnings, explain in simple terms what CrossFit really is, how it adapts to anyone, and how their center works: schedules, activities, and their vision for the future.
In their own city, Estepona, CrossFit was little more than a strange term that appeared in videos of American athletes. Violeta, born and raised in Estepona, taught Pilates in a small studio; Josema, also born here and from a long-established local family, helped out at his parents’ café and trained on his own in a conventional gym, constantly feeling that it wasn’t enough.
The seed of what is now CrossFit Estepona was planted years earlier, during a stint in Granada, where they met athletes who had lived in the United States and brought back a different way of training: more functional, more intense, more like real-life movements than the usual machines. They tried the method, liked it, and the idea stayed in their heads, waiting for the right moment to return to their hometown.
Back in Estepona and determined to invest in their city, they decided to take the final step. They started by adapting the Pilates studio, working with a small group of friends and training in a methodology barely known in Spain. Josema chose to leave the traditional gym and prepare to become a certified CrossFit trainer, while Violeta kept the classes running, handled the management, and later took on the athletic side as well.
Today, their project has grown into a 360 m² facility that proudly stands as the only official CrossFit affiliate in Estepona, with certified trainers and a community that trains from 6:15 a.m. to night. People who have never exercised, patients referred by doctors, young people, seniors, kids as young as four… all share the same space where the motto is clear: improve quality of life through movement.
Below, we present the interview structured in three sections: Beginnings, What CrossFit Is and Its Methodology, and The Facility: schedules, activities, rates, and future, so Estepona readers can learn firsthand what goes on behind these walls.
The beginnings
E.I.: To set the scene for Estepona Info readers, how did it all start? Where did the idea of setting up a CrossFit center here come from?
J.L.: It started with my own experience. We already had a pilates studio and I was training on my own in a regular gym: weights, machines… but it wasn’t enough. We had lived in Granada before, met people who’d been to America, tried a different, more intense methodology, with other kinds of equipment—something that here was still hardly seen. And I got hooked.
V.B.: When we came back to Estepona in 2013, that first year was only pilates. I taught classes and he worked in his parents’ café. Josema trained like an athlete, but didn’t teach classes. Little by little he started training on his own with friends, trying new things.
J.L.: I began applying what I’d seen abroad: stations, more intensity, more dynamic workouts… until I realized that, with the gym background we had, there were a lot of technical things we didn’t master. That’s when I made the decision: leave the conventional gym and train to become a CrossFit coach.
E.I.: And that leap happened here, in Estepona?
J.L.: Yes. There still wasn’t any CrossFit here. I could see the gym was helping me, but I wanted to do it on my own. I started training and used the first pilates room we had, adapting it to train a very small group of friends with that methodology.
E.I.: Who pushed harder when it came to starting the business, you or Violeta?
J.L.: I push, but she’s right there with me. She’s a key engine, especially on the admin and management side.
V.B.: We’ve always been clear that we wanted to work for ourselves. I handle the admin side, the clients, orders, apparel… and I’m also a coach. It’s a project for both of us.
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What is CrossFit and its methodology
E.I.: For readers who see the “CrossFit” sign on the door but don’t really know what it is, how do you explain it?
J.L.: First thing to clarify is that CrossFit is a registered trademark. It’s not just a type of training, it’s a methodology and a brand. To officially call yourself “CrossFit” you have to go through certifications, exams and pay an affiliation fee. You can’t pay for the brand without having passed that training. And that’s important: CrossFit has to be taught by a certified trainer.
V.B.: In fact, in Estepona there are no other affiliated centers. We are the only certified CrossFit center in the city.
E.I.: So, what exactly is CrossFit as training?
J.L.: The classic definition would be: “functional movements, constantly varied, executed at high intensity.” That’s what you’ll find if you look it up. Translated: these are movements that serve you in your daily life—squatting, pushing, lifting weight above your head, pulling, picking up—adapted to each person’s capacity.
E.I.: Someone who has never set foot in a gym, could they get scared thinking it’s something “very hardcore”?
J.L.: At first, 13 years ago, the typical user was more adventurous, more hardcore. Not today. Now the user is anyone:
overweight people,
elderly people who live alone and need functionality,
athletes who want to compete,
people with stress looking to disconnect...
The difference lies in adaptation: intensity, loads, types of exercises are adjusted. The important thing is that there’s a trained trainer who knows how to adapt.
V.B.: And more and more doctors recommend it. I’m talking about orthopedic surgeons, psychologists, psychiatrists... Many cases are being referred to strength training and methodologies like this.
J.L.: The key is where you do it and with whom. In a CrossFit center, by rule, trainers have to have a license, have passed an exam and understand the methodology. It’s not that it’s “better” than other methods, it’s that we know it works, and it’s backed by more than 20 years of practice worldwide.
Physical changes and expectations
E.I.: A very common question: if someone wants to change their physical shape, how soon can they notice a difference following the method?
J.L.: The improvement in a month is clear. Then it depends on physique, genetics, rest, stress, whether you’re male or female, hormonal issues... But if you follow a clear guideline here and take minimal care of yourself, in a month you notice changes. And I’m not just talking about weight.
E.I.: What do you mean?
J.L.: Many people obsess over the scale, and that should already be obsolete. You can weigh the same or even more, because you’re building muscle mass, but look better. What changes is volume: clothes fit looser, you look more defined, more compact. We aim not to lose muscle mass, because with age sarcopenia (muscle loss) takes its toll and is closely related to diseases and lower quality of life.
V.B.: Plus, an untrained body is much easier to change than a trained one. A person who has never done sports usually notices changes very quickly.
J.L.: I like to sum it up like this:
“CrossFit is for everyone, but not everyone is for CrossFit.”
It’s not about skill level, it’s about attitude and common sense. If you come, let yourself be guided, respect the timing, and don’t try to do everything on day one, you’ll improve. The problem is wanting to do it all in a week.
Habits and education from a young age
E.I.: I understand it’s not just about training, but also about changing habits, right?
J.L.: Yes. We work on habits from CrossFit Kids, with children as young as 4. It’s not that they’re “lifting weights,” but they move, play, improve coordination, balance... and they understand exercise as something natural.
V.B.: And the same goes for older adults. We have cases of people in their 70s. In the end, both the 4-year-old and the older adult need to gain or maintain balance, strength, control of the body. It’s movement education for different stages of life.
The center: schedules, activities, rates and the future of CrossFit Estepona
Community and atmosphere
E.I.: A lot of people talk about the atmosphere created in CrossFit boxes. What differences do you find compared to a conventional gym?
J.L.: For me, CrossFit is based on three pillars: mental, physical and social. And that’s one of the big differences. In many gyms, you arrive, do your routine, go to the sauna and barely speak to anyone. Here there’s community.
V.B.: Here you suffer a lot, each person within their own capabilities, and that bonds you. There’s no one who understands you better than a fellow CrossFitter. If you tell someone on the street, they often don’t understand that emotion.
J.L.: You can come with problems, having slept poorly, with anxiety… and when you ring the bell at the end of the workout, something changes. No one has ever told me: “I regret coming.” You might come almost forced, but you leave a different person.
Schedule and daily structure
E.I.: Let’s get practical: schedules. They say people here even come at the crack of dawn…
V.B.: (laughs) Crack of dawn, not quite… but close. Picture someone with a job and kids: a thousand things can pop up during the day. If they plan to come at 7 and the kid gets sick, training’s off. If they come at 6 a.m., that’s their slot and nobody takes it away.
J.L.: Our timetable usually runs:
First class at 6:15.
Classes roughly every hour through the morning, until about 11:30.
Mid-day break.
Afternoons, depending on the day, we start again at 4 p.m. and go on until 9–10 p.m.
Saturday mornings we’re open too.
E.I.: How do you keep people motivated to show up that early?
J.L.: Programming is key. To me, the whiteboards are like works of art. Every day is different, yet there’s a clear structure. I program in cycles so that, by the end of the month, you’ve improved strength, cardio, balance… Nothing is random. The coach, the atmosphere, and the programming make people walk in eager at 6:15.
Activities, spaces, and fees
E.I.: What kind of activities do you offer inside the box?
J.L.: We now have 360 m² of space and several training tracks:
Group CrossFit classes for adults.
CrossFit Kids and CrossFit Teens for the younger crowd.
A room called Open, where experienced athletes can work on specific skills on their own, with limited spots.
Our specialty is group classes—that’s where community and coach supervision really shine.
E.I.: Regarding fees, how do you structure memberships?
J.L.: We use a credit-based system tied to real availability. We ask:
“What’s your schedule like?”
“How many days can you honestly commit per week?”
If someone says they’re short on time, I don’t push the unlimited plan. Better to match the fee to what they can actually stick to. We have a booking app that handles reservations and payments, but every user first sits down with us to build their profile and get the full rundown.
Team, continuity and future
E.I.: In other centers, if a coach leaves, sometimes everything falls apart. How do you handle it?
J.L.: The good thing we have is that I’m the “thinking head.” (smiles) We’ve had coaches, of course, but if someone leaves, the programming, the philosophy and the direction of the project stay here. It’s not like opening a restaurant, hiring a cook and knowing nothing about cooking: if the cook leaves, you’re screwed. Not here.
E.I.: How do you see the future of CrossFit Estepona?
V.B.: Our wish is to be able to expand to provide more service and not have to “kill ourselves” working so many hours, while maintaining the level of attention we have now. The demand is there: more and more people in Estepona know about CrossFit and look for something more than a gym.
J.L.: We’d love to keep growing without losing what makes us different, though personally I prefer to stick with what I can control, we’ll see what the future holds.
Our non-negotiable pillars are:
close treatment,
safety in training,
thoughtful programming,
and a community that supports each other.
CrossFit Estepona was born from a couple’s concern to go beyond the traditional gym and bring to the city a methodology that at the time was almost unknown. Today, that small experiment in a pilates room has become the only official CrossFit center in Estepona, with 360 m² dedicated to movement, health and community.
With extensive schedules, activities for all ages, certified trainers and a clear service vocation, Violeta Bonnemaison and Josema López have achieved something more than a business: a space where Estepona residents learn to train for life, to take care of themselves and support each other, repeating every day a simple but powerful ritual: enter, train, ring the bell... and leave a little better than they entered.