Walk into D1 CrossFit in Dallas, and you’ll likely see sweaty bodies on the rowing machines, treadmills or weight machines, warming up for the high intensity, extreme Workout of the Day (WOD) offered by the gym.

The WOD combines all three components of CrossFit: high intensity interval training, gymnastics, and Olympic weightlifting. Grunts filled the workout room one recent afternoon as members go all out with 30 reps of snatch/ weightlifting.

“I feel so much better since joining,” said Courtney Newsom, a new member to the gym on Judd Court. “I lost six pounds in three weeks, and feel so much stronger.”

Newsom also said that the gym offers a great community. “The people are really kind and friendly, and I think that’s a huge reason people want to join,” she said.

CrossFit was started in 2000 by Greg Glassman, a former trainer who worked with police and other law enforcement officials. The workout is used in hundreds of affiliate gyms across the nation.

D1 CrossFit is just one of the many gyms across Dallas that offers the program. The Dallas area has a few local competitions each year, one called Europa and one called Scream. D1 hosts a competition every Valentine’s day called Lifting for lovers.

D1 CrossFit is owned by Keegan Mueller. His resume is busting with cross training experience, the likes of which can easily transition to CrossFit applications.

An NCAA division I wrestler at Ohio State and North Carolina, Mueller worked as the assistant coach for the Citadel wrestling team. His coaching qualifications include four all-academy champions, three southern conference champions, four NCAA championship qualifiers, freestyle national champions and one Olympian.

Although sporting an impressive athletic background, Mueller’s first introduction to CrossFit was humbling.

“I got started because I was incredibly arrogant. I thought that because I was a college wrestler, I could work harder than anybody that I know what’s up. I went to the CrossFit certification,” he said. “There is always one person who has never done CrossFit, and that day, it was me. I did one of the most well known work outs called “Fran” and I did it at the girls weight.”

The workout is popular because it takes you out of your comfort zone, said Ben Scarbro, a trainer at DI CrossFit. “If you are not uncomfortable you probably aren’t doing it right. There is no level of fitness that cannot be scaled for CrossFit,” he said.

With 120 members, D1 CrossFit is intimate. The gym’s philosophy seeks to truly help those members who wish to help themselves.

“Am I just going to be a gym that is sitting here charging people 5 times what they are used to being charged and not changing their lives,” Mueller said. “Or am I going to continue to learn and change their lives?”

The turn out CrossFit events across the area continues to grow, as Cross-fitters from far and wide showed up to compete. The events are usually held at area gyms. D1 CrossFit competed in recent events, placing almost last in Europa and coming in 4th out of 30 teams in Scream.

“The last person that finishes gets more cheers than the first,” Scarbro says.