New gym emphasizes community around intense bouts of physical exertion

The grunts and harsh exhalations of exertion are accented with sharp words of encouragement.

“Come on, Brian!”

“Great job, Tom!”

“You can do it, Amy!”

“Go!”

Sharp and barking because everyone is out of breath a few minutes into the 20-minute WOD; or Workout of the Day. A WOD is whatever Amy Woebkenberg, the new owner of Crossfit Discipline, decides it will be. It’s always different and Amy likes to create her own like she did last Saturday.

Mike Frances, a fellow Crossfit enthusiast stopped by that morning and witnessed the final few moments of the day’s WOD. “That’s a good one,” he told her while he admired the brand new Crossfit location in Jasper located at 475 South Wernsing Road (where Schnarr Electric was located).

According to Amy, it takes a certain knack to create a good WOD; a workout that combines aerobic and anaerobic elements with balance and bursts of power. “There is a rhythm to it and it’s different everyday,” she says. “One day you may come in here and we’re going to go run a 5K. That will be the workout of the day.”

But, through the Crossfit community — and it is a community of over 10,000 boxes (groups of Crossfit enthusiasts are called boxes) across the world according to recent estimates — she can grab a WOD posted by a box in Australia and they can use her’s.

A testament to that international community occurred during Amy’s first week of business when two men from Poland here on business stopped in to take advantage of her Crossfit facility.

That community is one of things that attracted Amy to the fitness company founded by Greg Glassman and Lauren Jenai in 2000.

She began to use Crossfit to stay in shape as a police officer. Her husband Brian, an orthopaedic surgeon in Jasper and an Army veteran, wasn’t initially convinced about the phenomenon. “I was comfortable with going to the gym and lifting my weights alone,” he explained.

But, the workouts that stress creating elite athleticism through a complete body workout and the community that is created through shared participation in those intense workouts, eventually won him over. “It’s constantly variable movements to prepare you for the unknown,” he said. “It’s a group-training, team-building, community-building activity with a competitive component.”

Plus, it concentrates on real world situations that require properly balanced strength, agility and endurance.

“How many times in life are you going to bench 400 lbs.,” he said. “But, how many times are you going to need to move something 15 times at 200 lbs. like when you are a lineman on the field. You may do that 100 times in a game. The goal is to create functional strength.”

CrossFit workouts are designed to improve several skills — what the organization considers to encompass the full spectrum of fitness. It includes the following areas: cardiovascular endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, accuracy, agility, and balance.

Don’t be scared though, a WOD can be an intense workout but the intensity is equivalent to the level of an individual’s fitness. “We can work with any age,” Amy said. “Grandmothers can come in and we even have teams with mothers and daughters working together.”

Partnerships are important in the WOD at Amy’s box. When individuals join, they can come in to Crossfit Discipline early in the morning or in the evening for a workout. Team WODs have individuals teamed up with another box member there that day. Other times an individual can complete the WOD on their own, but the encouragement and instruction will still be part of their circuit.

On Saturday, anyone who showed up was able to freely team up with someone else there. The teams then worked the twenty-minute circuit together; while one is performing a repetition the other is resting. Periods of resting slowly lengthen as partners tire towards the end of the session.

It is impressive, entertaining and fast to the observer. It is intense and encouraging for the participant.

The closest Crossfit affiliate is in Evansville so, at the encouragement of some local Crossfit enthusiasts, Amy and Brian decided to open a gym in Jasper.

Amy attended the required affiliate training in Columbus, Ohio. After finding an ideal building, the couple worked with the owner to create the authentic Crossfit experience. Equipment seems sparse but it is everything needed for a nearly infinite number of different WODs.

Crossfit, the organization, is very particular about who it allows to be considered affiliates. Amy was required to complete an essay to apply for the  The gym layout has to be approved but for Amy, the quality of her gym begins at the cleanliness of her bathrooms. “You know if the bathrooms aren’t clean, that someone isn’t a dedicated to the quality of their business as they should be,” she said.

“This is supposed to be a family-oriented, community-building group,” Brian agreed. “It isn’t about 24-hour access for someone to come in and jump on a treadmill and plug their ear-buds in. It is about friendly competition.”

Besides herself, Amy has four Crossfit certified trainers that work at the gym; Nick Fischer, Jarrod Kern, Adam Werner, and Angie Kleinhelter. They are there to teach individuals proper technique as well as provide motivation and encouragement through the WODs.

More information and hours about Crossfit Discipline can be found on Facebook here. Class times vary during the week but are available Mondays through Fridays at 5:15 a.m. and 8 a.m.; Monday’s through Thursdays at 5:30 p.m.; and Saturdays at 9 a.m. Crossfit Discipline is available by phone at 812-351-1285. The box offers discounts for active military, veterans, police officers, firefighters and first responders.

Brian and Amy live in Jasper with their five children, 14-year-old twins Tyler and Connor, 14-year-old Zoe, 6-year-old Gerhard and 5-year-old Katherine.