Think about walking into your typical gym. The first thing you may see and hear are the cardio machines, like treadmills and ellipticals.
Gyms such as CrossFit White River, however, take a different approach.
“When I used to go to a gym such as Planet Fitness it would remind me of a library,” co-owner and coach Brandon Lowe said. “You go in, pop in some headphones and study, you don’t make any eye contact, just get in and get out. It can be effective, but can be largely boring.”
The Lowe family moved from Washington state to Muncie in 2014 after it was given the opportunity to start the family’s own CrossFit gym, CrossFit White River.
“We had connections with the person who opened the Village Promenade apartments and the CrossFit White River gym prior to moving to Muncie,” Sadie Lowe, co-owner and coach, said. “This is something that we have always looked forward to doing and now we have that opportunity.”
CrossFit White River is open Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m to 8 p.m. and on Saturday from 1 to 2 p.m. However, the gym is closed during the afternoons and opens back up before its 4 p.m. class.
The coaches at the gym have noticed that popular workout times have been at 5:30 a.m., before people go to work, and at 6 p.m, after people return home.
Sadie Lowe admits there were a lot of flaws in her workout routine before she started CrossFit.
“In comparison to a regular gym, CrossFit works,” Lowe said. “Until I started CrossFit, there were so many holes in my fitness. CrossFit helps to keep me balanced.”
Classes are an hour long and are kept small, which allows coaches to focus more on their students. The limit is 10 people per class and with a membership, you can sign up online on a first-come, first-served basis.
However, an open gym class allows up to 14 people to sign up and it is from 5-6 p.m. Many people that go to CrossFit White River are college students or they are over the age of 40.
Muncie native Brandon Haberstich has been coming to CFWR since August 2016 and was motivated to join CrossFit White River after he watched his first CrossFit games in 2013.
“When I watched the CrossFit games for the first time I was amazed at the level of fitness and athleticism in those athletes,” Haberstich said. “My wife actually started CrossFit a few months before I joined and she said it is something that I would really enjoy.”
Haberstich admits that he was nervous to join at first because he felt that he was not in the best athletic shape to do CrossFit.
“I never thought I had the fitness level or was athletic enough to do CrossFit, but once I started I realized that anybody of any level can do CrossFit,” Haberstich said. “That’s the nice thing about it, it is all scaled to your individual ability.”
CrossFit White River does offer a free trial class for those who have never been to its gym before. You can register for the trial class in person, which is preferred, or through email.
If you have never done CrossFit before it is recommended that you try the four class foundations course, which costs $99.
CrossFit White River has the goal to have its gym members ‘become the best version of themselves.’ Sometimes that can be a challenge.
“Our biggest challenge is pride,” Brandon Lowe said. “We try to help believe that they are capable of more than they think.”
Sadie Lowe says her favorite thing about her gym is the connection that members have with one another.
“When you come here there is an instant camaraderie among people that come to our gym,” Lowe said. “People are going to ask you ‘hey where were you yesterday’ or ‘I haven’t seen you in a week’ so there is definitely an accountability factor.”
Whether you are young or old, experienced or inexperienced it is not too late to give CrossFit a try. Additional information about CrossFit White River can be found on its website.
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