Andrea Nisler still remembers her first day training at CrossFit Mayhem in Cookeville, Tennessee in 2019, the day she started training with the famous Mayhem Freedom team headed by four-time individual CrossFit Games champion Rich Froning.

It was cold outside and Nisler arrived early at the barn ready to train.

“I got there really early thinking people would get there really early. I was by myself in this cold barn, thinking, ‘Did I miss something?’ I didn’t really know what was going on,” she said.

She didn’t miss anything. Nisler soon realized there’s a “one hour cushion” on the back side of stated start time, something she now refers to as “Cookeville time.”

Nisler soon got used to “Cookeville time” and “get in the flow,” she said, so much so that over the course of the next two seasons, Nisler went on to help Mayhem Freedom win two more back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022, something she and her other female teammate Taylor Williamson say felt like “a long time coming” for them.

Nisler soon got used to ‘Cookeville time’ and ‘get in the flow’

2022 was more exciting than 2021, she said.

“The first time, we started off with a first place win and it just kind of kept going and there was never a time where we were battling for it,” she said. “So it didn’t give you the adrenaline rush you’d normally get in a competition.”

That was not the case in 2022, however, when

Mayhem Freedom started the week with an uncharacteristic second, a third and a thirteenth place finish.

“First place was kind of handed off throughout the week and we had some not so great finishes,” she said.

Ultimately, though, this made eventually winning that much more rewarding, as they were “battling for first place” all weekend.

“It kind of felt like everything we worked for was more worth it,” she said.

Dispelling the Mayhem Urban Legend

Rumor has it that training in Cookeville means doing whatever Froning writes on the whiteboard on any given day, which usually means insane amounts of volume, complete with 500 GHD sit-ups everyday, that has the potential to kill even the fittest of the fittest of the fit.

Even Australian Games athlete Kara Saunders, for example, who started following Mayhem’s programming last season, admitted that it took her a number of months to be able to make it through the entire training day, as it was just way more volume than her body was used to.

But Nisler said that wasn’t the case for her.

Yes, Rich would write things on the board, but oftentimes Nisler would “make up my own stuff,” as well.

“It’s not like a controlling situation…If you want to do your own thing, that’s absolutely fine, as long as you’re staying fit. I have been doing this long enough to know when I’m at my peak and when I’m feeling a little fat and should pick it up,” Nisler said.

Overall, in her two seasons training there, Nisler doesn’t think she did more volume in Cookeville than anywhere else she has trained.

Then again, she admits, “I have always been an over-trainer,” she laughed.

Nisler, a HybridAF-Using Affiliate Owner

Training in Cookeville for two seasons meant Nisler went back and forth between Cookeville and Minneapolis to help run her affiliate Timberwolf Fitness, a gym she bought in April 2019. It was a go, go, go life that was hard to sustain.

So most recently, after returning home from the Games and then getting married, Nisler decided she needed to do something to make both staffing her gym and accommodating her members a little bit easier.

Nisler signed up for HybridAF and began offering 24/7 access to her members, a decision that has been “a relief” to her as a gym owner, and an “added bonus” for her experienced members.

Before HybridAF, Nisler’s gym offered a lot of open gym times, but being a competitor and not being around as much made it hard to staff those time slots.

“So going into a 24/7 access gym just kind of took the stress off trying to staff the gym all the time, and it has actually been amazing,” she said. “I just feel so at ease, because I felt bad when people couldn’t utilize their membership, so knowing they can now makes me happy.”

Nisler especially likes that she can see who is accessing the gym, and sometimes she even pops on the camera to greet the member virtually, helping her keep in touch with her members, she explained.

“I’d rather see everyone in person, of course, but knowing I can just pop on the camera and say hi gives it a more personal feel still to keep that CrossFit-type family, community vibe going,” she said.

Further, HybridAF means she can leave the gym and run an errand if need be, and she can even let a UPS or FedEx employee in if need be.

“It’s so great. We can talk through the cameras. You don’t have to race to the gym for a package delivery,” she said.

And from the member’s end, Nisler said HybridAF has gone a long way in allowing those who want to come in on a weekend the ability to do so, “and some members just want to go to the gym on their own, too,” she said.

“To go to an empty gym by yourself for an hour, sometimes that’s a form of meditation for some people,” she added.

What’s Next for Nisler? 

Nisler isn’t sure what the future holds for her, but after finishing in the top 10 as both an elite individual and on an elite three-woman team at Wodapalooza in Miami, Florida in January, she shrugged, smirked and said she doesn’t quite know.

“Maybe a team, maybe not,” she said.

Regardless, Nisler does know she will keep HybridAF in her pocket as a gym owner.

“I would recommend it because it makes your life a lot easier. I just cannot stress enough, if you’re a gym that hosts open gym hours, I can’t stress this enough how awesome this is,” she said.