Fortress started as a dream between two college friends — Chayse and Patrick — sitting around a campfire just outside Lincoln, Nebraska. Chayse was a trainer at a local gym, tired of watching most of what his clients paid disappear before it ever reached him. Patrick was a landscaping crew leader who always knew he wanted to build something of his own — he just hadn't found the right thing yet.
They found it together. In February 2018, they packed up and moved to Loveland, Colorado, training clients wherever they could — school gyms, city parks, and living rooms. No fancy equipment. Just real coaching and real results.
Word spread fast. By that August, the reputation they'd built earned them their first real space: a small basement studio inside Desk Chair. A year later, in July 2019, they signed a five-year lease on a bigger space at 808 SW 14th Street — a building that used to be Schmidt's Bakery. Not long after, Patrick quit his part-time job to run Fortress full time.
Then came 2020. Fortress stayed the course through COVID, when a lot of gyms didn't make it.
In 2021, family led Chayse to Georgia, leaving Patrick to run Fortress on his own. He kept going. Patrick's very first client, Ron, still trains with him today.
In April 2026, a larger space opened up in the same building. Patrick — now partnered with his wife, Alex — expanded into it, adding 24/7 keycard access and a bigger training floor. Alex runs the business side. Patrick runs the coaching. Together, they're building something meant to last.
Patrick and Alex are in it for the long haul. They're not flashy, and they don't want to be. They're here to help real people move better, feel better, and stay in it — for life.