Police officers, along with civilians, ran down the B-Line Trail together for the beginning of Crossfit with a Cop.
Hoosier Crossfit, located at 501 N. Rogers St., opened its doors Saturday for their regular community workout event, which Bloomington Police Department officers attended to get in better touch — and in better shape — with the community, BPD Capt. Steve Kellams said.
A dozen officers and 40 to 50 civilians came out for the event.
The owners of the gym, Jenna and Shaun Tieman, started the business back in 2010. Shaun was working in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, to help police regulate casino boats when he and Jenna discovered their love of crossfit.
They eventually sold their gym in Lawrenceburg and made the move to Bloomington. Shaun is originally from Bloomington, and he wanted to share crossfit in his old home.
“We wanted to do it where our roots were,” Jenna, Shaun’s wife and co-owner, said.
They started the gym in October 2010 with four regular members and now have about 200, Jenna said.
A number of BPD officers are already members of Hoosier Crossfit or attend classes there to help improve their work performance and gain a higher level of fitness, Kellams said.
BPD formed a wellness committee, and crossfit seems to be a good way to work on the level of fitness they need in the pursuit of their job, Shaun said.
“We’ve committed to making you better,” he said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen in your work.”
Hoosier Crossfit has several key tenets, such as community, quality, accountability and diligence. Jenna said these principles are designed so that anyone who walks into the gym can come together to become better and to become healthier.
These principles are readily applicable to police officers and give them a chance to talk to and interact with demographics they do not normally get to communicate with on a day-to-day basis.
Crossfit is all about being applicable, Jenna said. It helps you reach a level of fitness and coordination where a person can do everyday tasks and work at a higher level than an individual could before.
The workouts at Hoosier Crossfit are divided up into small groups, and at Saturday’s community event, cops were divided up into groups with civilians, giving the two groups time to talk in between workouts.
“Crossfit with a Cop” also involved the IU Police Department. IUPD officer Nate Koontz was there to show his support for the new program.
Koontz said he was invited by Kellams and decided to come, even though his home gym is in Ellettsville, Indiana, because he saw it as a great way to reach out and let people get to know officers.
“We are human, and we are a part of the community,” Koontz said.
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Both Kellams and Koontz have been doing crossfit for some time, but the event also drew officers and civilians who had never done crossfit before, such as BPD Sgt. Dana Cole.
Mercedes Enrique is a Bloomington citizen, and she joined the gym a year and a half ago to increase her own fitness level. She said she loves the sense of community at the gym and the idea of Crossfit with a Cop.
The Tiemans explained that while crossfit can be intimidating, it does not have to be. The trainers are there to work with each individual at their own level and push them to their own level of excellence, Jenna said.
Kellams started going to Hoosier Crossfit over the summer and has continued into the academic year. He said he encourages people to join the gym and try crossfit.
“It’s addicting,” Kellams said.
