The gym philosophy of "You vs. Yourself" means fitness is an inner journey. Your true rival is the person you were yesterday, not anyone else. Growth comes from daily personal progress, pushing past your own mental limits, and building lifelong strength and discipline rather than competing with others.
You Vs Yourself: Curtis Walls’ Performance Gym at Camp North End
The name is the training philosophy. You Vs Yourself was founded on the premise that competition against other people is beside the point, and that the only benchmark worth tracking is a member’s own previous performance. Curtis Walls, a Charlotte native who played football at North Carolina A&T and spent a brief period in the Canadian Football League, opened the gym after a career that ran through professional sport and then NASCAR, where he worked as a pit crew member and sports performance coach. A pandemic-era job loss pushed him toward opening his own facility.
Private Facility, Public Classes: How Access Works
The access model is a hybrid, and it is the detail most people get wrong before visiting. YVY operates as a private training facility, built around one-on-one and small-group sessions rather than a drop-in gym floor. But a slate of open classes is available to the public without membership, covering bootcamps, yoga, hip hop cardio, and sound bath sessions. Both membership and a la carte booking are offered, so someone visiting Charlotte for a week and someone committing to a year of coached programming can use the same 3,000-square-foot space.
Training From Beginner to Professional Athlete
Programming spans an unusually wide ability range for a studio this size. Sessions are grouped by level across beginner, intermediate, advanced, and elite tiers, meaning a first-timer and a competing athlete train under the same coaching staff without sharing a session. The emphasis falls on mobility and movement patterns rather than pure load, and the room was deliberately built with open floor space rather than packed with fixed equipment to keep that programming flexible. Clientele includes business executives and public figures who value privacy, which the small-group structure accommodates.
Massage, Bodywork, and Nutrition Coaching On Site
Recovery is treated as part of the offering rather than an upsell. Clinical massage and bodywork therapy are available on site, covering Swedish, deep tissue, and sports massage alongside integrated shiatsu, reflexology, and trigger point work. Members receive a complimentary nutrition assessment with discounted ongoing nutrition coaching. Showers and restroom facilities are on site. That combination is what regulars describe as a holistic approach, and it separates You Vs Yourself from studios selling training alone.
Inside Camp North End’s Adaptive Reuse Campus
The gym occupies Suite 112 at 1701 North Graham Street, inside Camp North End, the redeveloped former manufacturing complex north of Uptown that now houses independent retail, food, and creative businesses. Walls grew up in the surrounding area, and the gym has partnered with Mad Miles, a Charlotte running club serving hundreds of runners weekly, which connects the space to the city’s endurance community. It is a Black-owned independent business, and it opened at this location in June 2022 after an earlier start at the Visual and Performing Arts Center.
Recognition and the Weekly Schedule
As of August 2026 the gym holds a 4.9 rating across 57 Google reviews, and it reports recognition as Charlotte’s Best by the Charlotte Observer in both 2023 and 2024. Reviewers writing after four years of attendance point to trainer consistency and the continual addition of new services. The schedule runs 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, contracting to 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Friday and a Saturday morning window closing at 1 p.m. Sunday holds a single one-hour evening slot rather than general access, so weekend visitors should book ahead.
