Couples interested in a health-focused hangout option have been given an outlet this summer by CrossFit 1st Due, located at 1004 E. Third St. in Farmville. The fitness organization has started CrossFit Date Night, an event specifically designed for couples. The intent was to encourage people to work out together and to be healthy together. While it is marketed to couples, it is open to anyone and participants are encouraged to bring a friend, spouse or significant other.

To view more photos of the event, click here.

CrossFit 1st Due Coach and Marketing Manager Travis Mason said, “Really it started as like a ‘something different’ idea, but on the weekends, we do group workouts, and those are always a lot of fun, because you’re competing along with somebody else against everyone, not just against yourself or the clock, so it’s just a different style of working out. It’s just …” “… more motivational,” Co-Owner Tracie Giles said, finishing Mason’s thought.

During the course of a 30-minute workout Friday evening, partners in the CrossFit 1st Due gym alternated participating in kettle bell swings, pushups, box jumpovers, burpees and situps. One partner would perform the assignment for 60 seconds while the other would rest, and then they would switch. The couples totaled the number of combined reps they did as they progressed through the workout and then compared it with the other couples at the end.

“This kind of gives you a partner to do it with, somebody to encourage you outside of the individual setting,” Mason said. “And you don’t want to let your partner down by doing less reps, so you try to keep up,” Giles said. Food and drinks were offered after the workout. JoEllen Pederson shared what she and Phillip Poplin enjoy about the CrossFit Date Night event.

“I think we were looking for a healthy alternative to Friday night in Farmville,” she said. “So typically, Friday nights in Farmville, we maybe go to the brewery, maybe go to Charleys, we kind of unwind from the week, in my opinion.”

Giles mentioned that Cross- Fit 1st Due regulars will get together consistently outside of the gym as well and enjoy a variety of activities, including snow tubing. “We do stuff at each other’s houses — cookouts, bonfires,” she said. “So, it’s just a community of people, it’s not just about working out.”

Mason noted he had the community in mind when planning the CrossFit Date Night as a summer series. He pointed out that Farmville has First Fridays, Stars Under the Stars occupies the second Fridays in the summer, and CrossFit Date Night can be considered Third Fridays.

The event has been held June 15 and July 20, and the final session will occur Aug. 17.