WTOCs Exercise Boot Camp in Daffin Park draws over 100 of all ages and shapes
When WTOC television’s Lynda Figueredo announced that they would be sponsoring a free boot camp to jump start fitness for the New Year, people of all ages and fitness levels took notice.
Attendees were asked to sign up and submit their current weight and measurements and commit to at least three days a week of cardio and weight training either at a gym or at home.
Those without computer access were given print outs for healthy eating and exercises that would help get them in better shape, then joined in a large circle in Daffin Park near the soccer fields and walked and jogged to warm up before splitting up into two groups, one doing cardio work with local trainers and one doing strength training with instructors from Black Creek and Richmond Hill.
A few more stragglers wandered in and joined the “fun”, from jumping jacks and lunges on the cardio side, to push ups and Burpees on the strength training side.
In case you are like me and have no idea what a Burpee is, it does not require belching loudly to strengthen your abdominals. It is actually named for the man who created it.
You start in a standing position, drop into a squat, put your hands on the ground and kick both legs out behind you so you are in push up position, do one push up, jump back into a squat and stand up again while doing what looks like a spread eagle in the air, also referred to as a star jump.
Just one of these was enough to do in about a third of the participants who were encouraged to march in place if they could not complete the full set of Burpees, arm raises, push ups, squats and more.
After a half hour, the two groups swapped, with the strength group going over to the cardio side and vice versa.
A few participants came dressed in regular clothes, one lady came in a skirt, but most participants, the majority women in their mid 30s to late 40s, wore spandex bottoms and T-shirts.
A few runners who had been jogging around the park decided to join in the “fun”.
Watching from the sidelines, it looked more like work than fun, but the trainers had an upbeat attitude and were very encouraging even to those who were huffing and puffing just touching their toes and stretching out their shoulders.
Several participants were quite thin prompting one bystander to ask, “Why do you need to get fit, you are so skinny?”
The skinny person replied, “Just because I am not fat, does not mean I am fit.”
Many people, including the runners who had stopped to join the “fun” responded similarly with one runner saying, “My legs are strong, but my upper body is weaker than I would like.”
He was staring at the Black Creek trainer’s upper body physique as were most of us. It was hard not to notice the bulging muscles in the sleeveless skin tight black tunic and the arms that were so bulky they stuck out at an angle rather than straight by his side.
About half the people in each group weighed at least fifty pounds over their ideal weight, with the majority closer to twenty or thirty pounds over and most just wanting to get healthier, not svelte, though the latter might seem like an impossible goal for most.
Once when turning attention away from the laughing group trying to follow along in the cardio with a jump slap foot, side to side movement (most just chose to move side to side and forgo the foot slapping and jumping) and toward the strength training group, one might have thought the strength group had dropped dead. They were all in their circle laying on their bellies attempting push ups.
Towards the end of the second set, even the guys were down on their knees doing pushups looking for all the world like Muslims doing Friday prayers with 3/4s of the group facing in the wrong direction.
When they all got up and brushed the dirt and grass off their hands, the trainers told themselves to give themselves a hand, prompting woman to respond, “Ooh Lord, I can’t even clap.”
One woman had to get help even to get up off the ground, leading her to wonder if there was any hope, but the trainers assured her that she could modify the exercises to be less intense including doing pushups by using a sturdy chair instead of the floor.
The guy from Black Creek with the muscular shoulders led the group in arm raises from the side to the front for two minutes, leading to lots of “Shews” and “Oh, Lords”
“I just had shoulder surgery, “ he said, “If I can do it, you can.”
He didn’t get a lot of sympathy votes.
Participants were encouraged to do four days of cardio and four days of strength training throughout the 28 day program.
Lydia from Fleet Feet suggested those who were very out of shape to include walking in their cardio and not to panic if they felt the exercises were too difficult for them to follow.
When she asked who had a gym membership, only about nine hands out of sixty went up.
While many put in more effort than others, everyone seemed genuinely encouraged to make some effort toward greater fitness and eating healthier meals.
You can follow along with everyone’s progress by visiting WTOC’s website, watching the news, visiting Fleet Feet Sports, which also offers training classes for $7 per session and Lynda Figueredo has promised to answer questions on her Facebook page as well.
All of us could stand to get a little bit more fit, even long distance runners.
Stretching, working different muscle groups, giving up junk food and preparing more healthy foods at home can all help make us feel fitter and the more muscle you have, the more calories you tend to burn and… the best part, the more food you can consume to keep those muscles moving! That in itself is a motivator for most people.
If you feel like your joints are too worn to really do boot camp exercise, there are all sorts of alternatives to work your muscles without stressing your joints and even exercises that seem more like work than fun can become fun when you do it with people you like and who help encourage you to keep going and not give up.
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