MADabolic Southend is an athletic strength-first interval training studio in Charlotte. It swaps chaotic HIIT fads for structured 50-minute workouts split into three trademark pillars: Momentum, Anaerobic, and Durability (MAD) to torch fat and build lean muscle safely.
Where MADabolic Started, and Where the Company Still Runs From
This is not a franchise outpost. MADabolic began at 2610 South Boulevard on October 31, 2011, founded by former professional hockey players Brandon Cullen and Kirk DeWaele, and the South End studio remains both the flagship training floor and the corporate headquarters of the company that now licenses the concept across the country. The programming other studios run nationally is developed here. For a member, that means training in the room where the method gets tested before it goes anywhere else.
Interval-Driven Strength, Built on a Long-Term Plan
The format is strength and conditioning delivered in intervals rather than a circuit chased for exhaustion. Workouts change every day, but they are not improvised: each session slots into a longer programmed arc, so a member attending consistently is progressing through a plan rather than collecting unrelated hard days. Classes run about 20 to 25 people, structured so coaches demonstrate each station, then release participants to work at their own entry point and rotate. Members with backgrounds in CrossFit, barre, and HIIT routinely describe this as the format that finally produced strength gains rather than only fatigue.
A Room That Handles Gym Intimidation Well
The review record here is unusually specific about who feels comfortable. Reviewers describe arriving as complete beginners, as plus-size members braced for judgment, and as people managing existing injuries, and the consistent thread is that coaching adapted without singling anyone out. Staff frequently arrange free drop-in classes and brief newcomers before the session starts, so a first visit does not begin with confusion. That matters more in this format than in most, because interval work at 20-plus people can easily leave a first-timer stranded.
Coaching Is the Product
The founders built the company’s training team around their own athletic backgrounds and have worked with populations ranging from general members to professional athletes. On the floor, coaching shows up as form correction during the work rather than instruction only at the start, and reviewers consistently name specific coaches as the reason they book particular time slots. What they describe wanting is not motivation but precision: being told how to move well under load, which is the stated emphasis of the method over simply lifting heavy.
The Largest Member Base of Charlotte’s Four Studios
MADabolic operates four locations in the city, adding NoDa, Elizabeth, and SouthPark to the original South End site. As of August 2026 this studio holds a 4.9 rating across 286 Google reviews, roughly triple the review volume of any sibling location, reflecting its head start of more than a decade. The newer studios post marginally higher scores across much smaller samples, which is what typically happens early in a location’s life. Anyone comparing them is choosing on commute and class times rather than on quality.
Schedule and Location on South Boulevard
Sessions start at 5:30 a.m. every weekday, running latest at the start of the week and finishing progressively earlier, with a 5:30 p.m. Friday close. Weekends are short: a Saturday late-morning block and a two-hour Sunday window. The studio sits on the South Boulevard corridor in South End, along the light rail spine, within reach of Dilworth, Wilmore, and Uptown. Membership runs on tiered class counts rather than as open access, so the plan should match realistic weekly attendance.
24hr
