'24 Hours: 6 to 7 a.m. at the gym

Rusty Rae/News-Register##Kerry Brownridge pulls herself up in an incline chest press during X-Camp class. She is among a crew of pre-dawn workout regulars at Excell Fitness in McMinnville between 6 and 7 a.m.

Rusty Rae/News-Register##Working out before starting his workday is a critical routine for Casey Ranger, who exercises along with co-workers.

Rusty Rae/News-Register##Katie Sol leads the 5:15 to 6:15 a.m. X-Camp class in stretches at Excell Fitness.

Rusty Rae/News-Register##At 6:28 a.m., Alex Frazier, a Linfield student and football player, staffs the front desk, welcoming early morning visitors to the gym.

In 2024, we follow the county around the clock in “’24 Hours,” a twice-monthly feature in the News-Register. Today’s piece covers 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. at Excell Fitness. ’24 Hours is a year-long series stories observing 24 separate scenes — two dozen parts of life in our local communities, moving in chronological order like the hands of a clock. Past visits included an hour in a classroom, riding the ferry, working in the emergency room, getting food at an all-night restaurant, caring for the elderly, worshiping at the Trappist Abbey in Lafayette and early-morning baking. Look for the next installment — 7 to 8 a.m. — in early November. The twice-monthly tales will conclude in late December. 

Rain pools in the dimly lit parking lot as the early morning creeps along. But at 6 a.m., the lights are on at Excell Fitness as gym-goers attack the day head on.

At 6:01 a.m., guests are welcomed by a grinning Alex Frazier, who is also a defensive tackle for Linfield football. He staffs the front desk and addresses visitors by name. Frazier has been at work for over an hour already and his chipper demeanor is infectious and sets the friendly tone at Excell.

“From the 6 to 7 a.m. hour we have consistent gym-goers,” he said. “It’s more of a smaller older crowd compared to the mid-morning. It’s a fun atmosphere.”

His main task at this hour is greeting members, which he describes as a “low-key” task. With the majority of gym-goers listening to their own devices, Frazier said sometimes staff will play their own tastes, such as a Taylor Swift playlist or the “Barbie Girl” by Aqua on repeat.

Frazier said outside of football season he too can be found working out in the early morning.

Gym members punch in a personal code on a keypad at the front desk before working out. To the left is the locker rooms and several head that way.

“Up Around the Bend” by Creedence Clearwater Revival plays over the intercom system at a medium level. Once through reception, the room opens to a spacious size. Free weights are on the right with stationary machines on the left. In the back and on a slight incline, cardio machines such as stationary bikes, treadmills and a stair master overlooks the room.

About 30 people mill around the space that could easily house 150.

On the right side of the room by the wall length mirror Katie Sol and her X-Camp class have been going strong for nearly an hour. Participants of all ages practice strength training in a bootcamp-style by way of interval training. College students to seniors go through the body weight circuit for an early morning sweat session. They move from core-focused exercise to resistant band-assisted arm raises and then to modified squats.

College student Mariah Deboff gets in the zone during a standing chest press by focusing on the words “Dare to Excell” written above the wall length mirror. She furrows her brow as she extends her arms out in front of her. She focuses on form, softening her knees as she stands with one foot in front of the other. She leans slightly forward and tries to focus on using her chest and not her back to complete the movement.

Phil Frischmuth’s glasses fog up as he eases down to touch the floor twice before fluidly squatting. He focuses on his breathing as he pushes through the repetitive movement.

After the circuit, Sol coaxes the participants to finish up with more core exercise. Some of them moan as a joke, rather than as a complaint, as they are almost done.

At 6:07 a.m., the hour-long class wraps up early and a sweat-soaked John Paul smiles in relief.

At the station machines, early morning exercisers acknowledge each other with a nod or wave as they sport their own headphones and get in the zone. The gym-goers rotate around each other silently in the spacious room and spread out into their own areas. Other than focused breathing, light clanking from the stationary machines and the patter of feet on the treadmill, the workouts create little noise.

“Thunderstruck” by AC/DC plays over the sound system, but only for the staff’s ears, as gym-goers blast their own tunes or listen to podcasts in their headphones and earbuds.

A trio of Encore Home Furnishings co-workers, Casey Ranger, Dillon Brayton and Rylee Dennison meet before their 8 a.m. shift to hit the free weights. Almost like a flock of birds, they go their own directions for a moment or a set, then come back together.

Ranger, quiet and focused, pulls nearly the whole stack of weight on the lateral pull. He smiles behind his red beard from a joking word by Brayton, who then goes back to do start on triceps extensions.

Ranger regularly works 11-hour shifts and said if he doesn’t hit the gym before work, he won’t get to it at night. He’s been at the gym since before 5:30 a.m.

“I come to the gym to get focused for work and get up and going for the day,” he said. Today he’s doing a full body workout and will hit legs once he completes his chest and arm circuit. Despite “All She Wants To Do Is Dance” by Don Henley playing over the speaker, Casey, like most early morning gym-goers at Excell, is listening to his own device. He listens to a local radio station app as he lifts, as the selection is good.

He moves over to the dumbbells and benches. He lifts up a set of 30 pounders and does deltoid lateral raises. He watches himself in the mirror, focusing on form. With each breath his red mustache brushes aside to reveal a hidden smile.

Brayton and Dennison work through an upper body circuit together at the exercise tower. Between sets they crack jokes or walk over to Ranger for exercise tips.

Brayton, although in blue moon and star pajama bottoms, isn’t stuck in bed; rather, he’s moving some big weight on the chest press. After a short rest and stretch he goes back to the bicep curls on the exercise tower.

Dennison finishes at the triceps extensions and admires his pump in the mirror.

“I’m always trying to hit the gym early, since I work manual labor at Encore at 8:30 a.m.,” Dennison said. He also comes to the gym early to scratch it off his to-do list of the day. He’s been a member at Excell since seventh grade, but has only started taking the gym seriously for the past year.

At 6:28 a.m., some of the early crowd has already trickled out, as they had come in around the 5 a.m. opening. Other members come in and hop on the treadmill or free weights with no wait, but about only 15 people remain in the gym.

Kerry Brownridge hits the treadmill after X-Camp. She tries to get another hour of cardio in. At 6 a.m. every morning she focuses on her fitness and can be found either in a class at Excell or pushing herself on the treadmill.

“The gym helped me lose 110 pounds after my weight loss surgery,” she said, while keeping to her jogging pace. “I’ve kept all but 15 pounds off.”

She added that many of her friends lost weight which later returned, but she aims to be the outlier. To do so, she aims to be consistent at the gym and fend off the weight. “Don’t just live, live to Excell” is written on the wall behind her and the cardio machines.

She first joined Excell at the Newberg location, which closed during Covid. In 2022 she visited the Mac location with a friend; between health issues and a monthly goal of being more consistent at the gym, she’s an early morning regular.

“Excell is like a family,” she said. “I’ve made a lot of new friends and learned new exercise. I look forward to coming into the gym,” she said between breaths as she picked up the pace.

David Faxon, owner of Excell Fitness, is in his office early today, running transactions and reports on gym memberships.

“I always tell people it’s amazing how much paperwork it takes to keep a business between the lines,” he said.

Everyone comes in with a personal key code. Excell uses this to track visits for insurance and memberships.

At 6:45 a.m. the next X-Camp class has been going strong for 15 minutes. Divenson Willis, Linfield running back and wrestler, teaches the class Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

He said he changes up each X-Camp class to tailor to the needs of the participants, by modifying exercises to accommodate their physical capabilities, but his drill sergeant mentality remains throughout.

He said his demeanor may make participants hate him, but gets results, which earned laughs from the participants who can see through his tough coach façade.

“It’s October, or squat-tober,” he says at 6:55 a.m., as class participants hit the squat rack.

At 6:59 a.m., the gym remains quiet; however several headlights can be seen outside, as drivers park and get out of their cars with gym bags in tow. Frazier greets one, then two, then five members as sunrise has yet to be seen.