A jump rope slammed against the gym floor at the Circleville Juvenile Correctional Facility (JCF) in central Ohio, as about a dozen young men warmed up and stretched their arms.
Then, the real workout began.
“Pushups, everybody!” a coach shouted.
Nearly in unison, the young men dropped their chests to their floor. They were participating in CrossFit, a grueling high intensity workout program that was introduced to Ohio’s juvenile corrections facilities three years ago.
The class at the juvenile corrections facility is just as rigorous as any offered at an outside gym. They do jumping jacks, squats, burpees. But its goals go far beyond muscle gain.
“There's coaches that are trained to work with the individuals, not just physically but mentally,” Matt Shindeldecker, co-owner of CrossFit Crave and co-founder of Expanding Horizons, a program that brings CrossFit into Ohio’s juvenile corrections facilities.
Around 500 young people currently reside in Ohio’s three juvenile corrections facilities, according to data from Ohio’s Department of Youth Services. Just like adults, it can be difficult for youth to readjust to their communities upon release.
Some, like Shindeldecker, believe fitness can help them find a path forward.
A new model for rehabilitation
Expanding Horizons started eight years ago with kids who had left juvenile detention in Mercer County in western Ohio.
The program’s first participants were kids out on probation. They went to counseling with their probation officers, then worked out alongside them four days a week.
Shindeldecker said the CrossFit curriculum allowed for young people to bond with adults in a different way.
“Most of these kids have never had somebody beside them going through something difficult,” he said. “They've always gone through something difficult on their own.”
In that first year, Mercer County’s juvenile recidivism rate dropped more than 30%.
Co-founder Debbie Wagner attributes that largely to the program’s community aspect. She said participants reap all the intangible benefits of exercise: weight loss, better sleep and lower stress levels.
“If you're changing the life of a youth in [corrections], they’re gonna go home differently than what they came in.”
Building community through CrossFit
The state took notice of the program’s success in Mercer County. Three years ago, the Ohio Department of Youth Services brought the program into the state’s youth prisons, including Circleville.
“There's a lot of strife in the community, but, in [Expanding Horizons], they're all on one team,” said Circleville JCF superintendent Bill Stout. “They are very much engaged with each other in a positive way.”
At the facility, young men helped spot one another, as coach Kyle Hanigosky demonstrated correct form to a group of eager lifters.
Coaches like Hanigosky don’t just count reps: they emphasize the connection between physical strength and mental resilience. They’re all required to undergo trauma-informed training before they enter the facility.
More than three-fourths of youth in Ohio’s juvenile correctional facilities have a diagnosed mental or behavioral condition, according to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.
“If they can do the hard stuff in here, and they can build that mental capacity of tough work, that they can do that in anything in life,” he said.
Their hard work has already paid off, in some respects. Recreation coordinator Christian Smalley says they often participate in CrossFit competitions against other facilities – and win.
‘We have a trophy and everything,” Smalley said. “A lot of the youth haven’t been in a competition or had a chance to win something like that, so they take a lot of pride in it.”
Leaving the facility
As the workout wound down, young men took a seat to catch their breath, sweat pouring down their faces.
One young participant, whose identity remains anonymous under Ohio Department of Youth Services protocol, said it’s hard work, but he wants to keep showing up to “get strong and fit.” After six months of the program, he’s already squatting 315 lbs.
“It's a good feeling because you worked for it. I like that feeling that I worked for something and I accomplished something,” he said.
Wagner said they don’t want participants to lose these mental or physical gains once they’re released.
“We look at each situation, we find a gym that's close to them. We help figure out transportation and everything. And then the state helps fund that membership for that youth, as long as they go twice a week.”
Consistency matters, she said, in fitness and in rehabilitation.
