| The two women
are part of an Ultimate Boot Camp class, a four-day-a-week
hourlong group fitness workout that has participants skip,
sprint and shuffle - among other no-frills-just-grueling-drills
- around Boston Common or Arsenal Park in Watertown.
‘‘It wasn't easy, but you do feel better when
you're done and you've worked hard out in the heat,'' said
Pender, 34 of Quincy.
Heat notwithstanding, boot camp style
workouts continue to be the hottest exercise around.
Ultimate Boot Camp founders, Peter
Lavelle and Jill Tomich practice a back-to-basics philosophy,
but crank up the intensity level. (Think: Your high
school gym class wired on speed). Participants can burn anywhere
between 850 and 1,000-plus calories, Lavelle said.
Fitness the old-fashioned way
Every workout is a combination of
calisthenics, plyometrics, resistance and cardio training,
relay races and partner drills. A typical session might include
pushups, jumping jacks, running, squats, sit-ups and lunges.
The natural resources of the location are integrated into
each workout. One day you might do tricep dips and sit-ups
on every open bench; another you'll run up and down the stairs
or do calf raises off a stone monument's ledge.
What's missing, though, is the in-your-face
military drill instructor. And that's fine with these troops
who say Tomich and Lavelle are plenty motivational without
screaming, ‘‘Drop and give me 20!''
‘‘I think the name ‘Boot
Camp' lends itself to something really intense and challenging,''
Tomich said.
With an instructor pushing them,
participants find the class is what their fitness routines
lack. You can only go so far in a step class or the weight
room. ‘‘Someone is there making me do things.
I like to whine and on my own I'd do my two pushups and then
be done,'' Kruczek said.
‘‘Ultimate Boot Camp
is a great blend of personal training and group fitness set
in the great outdoors,'' Lavelle said. ‘‘It's
got the social/peer pressure of group fitness, which not only
makes for a fun social setting but allows people to work out
to a degree they wouldn't normally achieve on their own. With
the backgrounds that we have, the limited numbers, and the
finite period of time, it's got the personal training element
where you pretty much get one-on-one supervision while you're
going through the exercises.''
A desire for outdoor exercise, companionship,
encouragement and speedy results are the reasons for joining,
participants say.
Pender signed up because she wanted
to jumpstart her routine. She ran the Chicago Marathon, her
first, in October, but has not done a lot since.
‘‘I was looking for something
new,'' she said. ‘‘I like working closely with
the trainers but not being the only person. I like the small
group.''
Plus, it's a team environment and
if you miss a session, you've reneged on your commitment. ‘‘That's a big part of it, you feel committed
to be there, otherwise you feel guilty,'' she said.
Tomich loves the camaraderie she
sees built every session.
‘‘Everyone is there for
more or less the same reason and that's to improve themselves.
So everyone is moving in a positive direction. Everybody wants
to see results. Everybody is going toward the same goal and
they want to go head on and they want to go fast and they
want to be challenged and it just creates a ball of energy,''
she said.
Like any workout, you get out what
you put in. Lavelle said most will notice by the second week
they are more energetic, more productive and have a greater
sense of self-efficacy.
‘‘Those are pretty immediate
and tangible differences,'' he said.
In three weeks, Kruczek has lost
5 pounds, noticed her clothes fit differently and said she
has more energy. When she started, Kruczek said she wasn't
the best ‘‘push-up person,'' but can now do a
lot more.
‘‘I feel like I've accomplished
something and done something good for myself,'' she said.
For Tomich and Lavelle, these sessions
are all about helping people improve. They estimate about
400 people have participated in the past year-a-half of Ultimate
Boot Camp's existence.
‘‘I love seeing the people
transform from Week 1 to Week 4. That's the best feeling ...
someone comes in Day 1 and looks at you cross-eyed when you
ask them to run half a lap around the park. By the fourth
they're running two, two-and-half, that's significant,'' Tomich
said.
Another benefit, Lavelle said, is
the four-week, one-hour format.
‘‘It's short enough where
people can and will commit to it and it's long enough to get
you 16 sessions in a month. The body has to react to 16 hard
workouts in a month and that absolutely stimulates the body
into responding,'' he said.
The bottom line, Tomich said, is
fitness can be fun. ‘‘You don't have to do things
on your own. It's a team environment. You've got everyone
cheering you on in the class. We've had many people come to
us and say, ‘This is the only thing that I've been able
to stick to.'''
Dana Barbuto can be reached at dbarbuto@ledger.com.
Copyright 2005 The Patriot
Ledger
Transmitted Monday, August 01, 2005
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