The 2024 CrossFit Games marked the first time that the top two Fittest Men on Earth hailed from the same training camp.
- Last year’s CrossFit Games champion, James Sprague, and runner-up, Dallin Pepper, have both been Brute Strength athletes for the last six years.
Last month, Brute added the fourth Fittest Man from 2024, Jayson Hopper, to its roster, meaning the camp heads into the 2025 season with three of the top four men from 2024. (The other, Brent Fikowski, retired following the 2024 Rogue Invitational.)
Brute owner Matt Torres couldn’t be more excited about the addition of Hopper, who is teamed up with coach El Senouvor.
- “We knew that he would be a great fit for Jayson. The combination of what Jayson has had before as a football player [we knew he would] connect well with El’s style of coaching and style of programming…And he’s been loving it so far,” Torres said.
He added: “He has already achieved so much, and we’re really confident in what we’ll be able to do with him.”
Rounding out Brute’s Games athlete roster heading into 2025 are two-time Games athlete Fee Saghafi and 2023 Games competitor from Sweden Rebecka Vitesson, both of whom are coached by Torres.
Inside (And Outside) of Brute
While Torres and Brute Strength are located in Jacksonville, FL, only Pepper and Saghafi actually train there full-time. Sprague, Vitesson, and Hopper all train remotely.
Sprague did live in Florida in 2023, but he decided to move back home to Spokane, WA, last season. It’s a move Torres admitted “concerned” him at first since he says “coaching in person and making changes as needed is huge.”
Sprague, though, went on to prove Torres wrong when he became the Fittest Man on Earth last summer.
Ultimately, this made Torres realize that Sprague has hit a level where he doesn’t need an in-person coach as much as he used to.
- “But working remotely does [require] trust between us…I know that if I give him a cue or a fix from the following week, he won’t abandon that. And I think, for the most part, he followed that to a T last year,” Torres said.
For Sprague, moving back home last year was key to his success in 2024.
- “I had a really awesome professional environment at Brute that helped me learn the ins and outs of how to be a professional athlete, but I’m a guy who thrives under fun. When I have fun, I’m dangerous,” Sprague said.
Fun for him meant training with two of his best friends last season, as well as Games veteran Cole Sager. It’s an environment he says is “a lot more sustainable for the kind of athlete I am.”
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Such is not the case for Pepper, who has been living and training in Florida since 2022 and currently trains with Saghafi daily. For him, this is the best environment.
- “I have been at my best in Florida with eyes on my training from Matt [Torres],” Pepper said. “We work together a lot in terms of deciding what we need to program and train, and it’s because we are talking about it every day. I have confidence I am not wasting workouts due to missing an intended stimulus because we will adjust things in the middle of workouts.”
Vitesson Update
Brute’s fifth Games athlete, Vitesson, suffered a torn ACL at last year’s Europe Semifinals after coming down awkwardly on a rope climb.
Torres said her post-surgical recovery is going well, but the 2025 season is still unknown.
- “She’s on a good path with rehab, [but] it’s still uncertain on the goal for this year,” Torres said. “We have put some benchmarks in there as far as timelines go. There are movements that we want to see happening by the end of January to give us a better idea of her readiness for the 2025 season.”
New Blood at Brute
On top of picking up Hopper, Brute has also added two notable young athletes this season: three-time CrossFit Games teen champion Ty Jenkins, 18, and 2024 Semifinals athlete Janie Cheverie, 21.
Jenkins is about to move to Florida and train with coach Jadyn Whakatope-Stewart alongside Pepper and Saghafi. Cheverie will continue to train at home in Canada with Brute coach Jason Burke.
The Future Is Bright at Brute
Brute Strength may not have the volume of elite athletes of camps like Mayhem, HWPO, or PRVN, but they’re heading into the 2025 season with three men who have a real chance at the podium, which is arguably something no other training camp can boast (not to mention three-time teen champion Jenkins).
And after a successful 2024 season, Torres has no intention of slowing down the momentum.
- “Our big focus is being able to create champions. That’s what we aim to do. Nothing has really changed,” Torres said.
He added: “It will be a fun season having James [Sprague] and Dallin [Pepper] and Jayson [Hopper] all on the same team.”
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Featured image: @repsahead / Instagram
