It is common to hear about a father-son business partnership. But it is rare when sons partner with their mothers in an enterprise.

But in Port Orchard, there is exactly that.

Maureen Pace and her son, Steven, are co-owners of Crossfit North by Northwest (NXWX) located at 626 Bay Street. Crossfit NXNW opened in January after another crossfit business — at the same location — moved to Gig Harbor.

“One of our clients came up with our business name,” Steven said.

Maureen said she talked her son into the business partnership.

The facility is filled with weights, resistance bands, ropes, stationary bicycles and other equipment for a wide variety of fitness exercises and workouts. One wall is comprised of a large white board which has a schedule of workout for groups or individuals.

“I really love crossfit,” said Maureen, who started crossfit training five years ago.

She got her son into crossfit after a client talked to Steven.

“My client told him it would change his life,” she said. “He got hooked on it.”

Steven, 26, has been working in the fitness industry for three years, while his 51-year-old mother is in her 17th year. During her career, Maureen has taught fitness classes and worked with small-group training. She has several national fitness certifications.

The duo offers “functional fitness.”

“A lot of stuff that we do is mixed in day-to-day life, such as picking stuff off the ground (bending over) and putting it somewhere, or sitting down and standing up (squats),” Steven Pace explained.

Maureen said during her career she has explored all realms of fitness, but feels crossfit is the best.

“This is functional,” she said. “This gets results faster. This really focuses on good form.”

The pair teaches small groups of people rather than large.

“Our group gets between 10 and 15 people, but we make sure there is one coach for every five people,” Steven said. “We might have both of us working at the same time with people.”

The clientele runs from ages 13 to 83.

Steven, 27, said all of the workouts are “very easy and scalable.”

“We might use one workout for a person who was a defensive end in college football, and use that same workout for a 70-year-old man,” said Steven. “One is lifting a lot of weight, the other is learning how to lift a small amount of weight.”

Maureen said the fitness business has transformed in her 17 years as a fitness trainer and coach.

“It is amazing how you go from one fad to another,” she said.

Maureen was in charge of the Silver Sneaker program — a fitness program for people over age 50 — at the Olympic Fitness Club for about nine years and found that the group tended to have more exercise experience and lost more body fat, gained more muscle and had less injuries.

“What we were doing, that was different from other groups, was we were using their body weight, teaching them squats and lunges at a slower tempo, lifting weights overhead and using resistance bands for pulling motions,” Maureen said.

She soon discovered the movements were more functional.

“If I can sit down and stand up, how much can I hold?” Maureen said. “It was a revelation for me. It’s amazing how functional fitness is dominating the fitness market now.”

Steven studied psychology and sociology at Washington State University. He said it helps when attempting to change a person’s behavior and life.

According to the Paces, most people work out to lose weight or regain body motion.

“Everyone is at a different intensity level,” Maureen said. “The things that we change is load and speed. You might have a lighter load at a slower pace.”

Steven said crossfit is excellent for student-athletes who are preparing for the upcoming sports season or for those “who want to take their performance to the next level.”

Maureen said they get a lot of people in the military who come workout in order to prepare for their physical fitness test. The pair also set up workout programs for their clients who travel for their employment. They also set up nutrition programs for their clients.

The next series of “Crossfit 101” classes begin Nov. 4.

Classes are from 5 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. There are no classes between 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. They have a class at 3 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“We’re trying to expand our hours some,” Maureen said.

Before coming to Port Orchard 18 years ago, the Paces lived in Bozeman, Mont., and Las Vegas. Maureen said the family moved to Port Orchard from Las Vegas after her husband was transferred to the area.

For more information, visit www.crossfitnxnw.com or call Maureen at 260-271-2670 or Steven at 360-271-2693.