BY KELLY BOWSER
IT'S A FEW MONTHS into the new year ... how's that self-motivated workout coming? Let's face it. When it comes to working out, for many people the body is willing but the spirit is weak.
Luckily, there are people ready with heavy doses of motivation. Enter the "boot camp" style fitness programs, a nationwide trend that has found its way into the Inland Empire.
It's part of a larger trend in the fitness industry, where more workouts are taking people out of the gym and into the great outdoors. Add vintage SoCal weather to a desire for a different workout, and it's no wonder that many would-be campers are hitting up the area's litany of programs.
In the I.E., we've got women-only, family friendly and realistic military boot camps. The common thread is being active outdoors with trainers who will have no problem firing you up if you find yourself faltering.
"They need that push and they need that motivation," said Jessica Hoffman, owner of Claremont's Extreme Boot Camp.
"We take the caring of a fitness trainer and the hardcore strictness of the military." Being in a boot camp isn't a solo mission, either. You've got at least a couple dozen other people sharing the pain, sweating and getting sore with you.
"They push so much harder," said Molli Rathstone, owner of Inland Empire Adventure Boot Camp, of boot camp attendees. "It's so much different than one- on-one training." There's also the time frame to which you are committing. Camps usually run for one hour each day for five days a week, spanning four to six consecutive weeks. For those who make it past the intimidating start times and thought of someone actually telling you to "drop and give me 20," local trainers and campers say it can be addicting.
Boot camps have a diverse draw, and the trainers are able to optimize the workouts for all of the attendees, regardless of fitness.
"We try to change it for everyone's level, and we'll turn up the intensity for those who are more conditioned," said Hoffman, who is expanding her franchise into Rancho Cucamonga and Chino Hills this spring.
She's seen everyone from working moms who want to shed pounds to triathletes in training come to camps.
Terri Hamman was one of those moms who turned to boot camp to get back in shape. The 48-year-old was a former national aerobics competitor, but her focus shifted away from fitness after adopting a child with special needs.
"He's doing fabulous," Hamman said of her son, "but momma wasn't lookin' too good." She signed up for one of Rathstone's women-only camps at Victoria Gardens and credits it with helping her shed some of the pounds that just weren't coming off. Her first four-week session was just the start.
"I signed up for the next three months," Hamman said.
Part of the draw is that the outdoor venues lend themselves to creative workouts that differ each day. A park bench becomes a push-up challenge. A set of steps marks the spot for a glute-burning sprint at the end of your run.
You can bet that strength training (using small hand weights and your own body weight) and cardio in the form of running or walking are always part of the mix, though.
And in that flashback to high school gym class, the trainers do time you on a mile.
But unlike your old-school gym coach, Rathstone said she organizes the mile runs so no one knows who is last.
"Nobody is forced to run in the camp," Rathstone said. Those in better shape run the mile, those who aren't walk it, she said.
But Rathstone expects to see most out-of- shape clients shave a minute off their time for the mile by the end of four weeks.
Hoffman, whose Extreme Boot Camp has been called among the most realistic, has seen clients take six minutes off that mile over a six-week camp. She said one of the women in her recent Claremont camp even went from barely finishing one push-up to completing more than 40 with her nose to the mat.
When it comes to realism, trainers say there's something about working out early in the morning, rain or shine.
"It really does feel like boot camp if you get up at 5:30 in the morning," Hoffman said.
Beyond the feeling of dew on the grass, trainers and boot camp fans say the early hour also limits excuses.
"If you've made a commitment, there's no excuse not to go to that class," Hoffman said. "What are you doing at 5:30 in the morning?"
