Time had come for Glen and Nancy Ellis to change their workout schedule. The regimen adopted by the couple had grown stale.
Glen had even begun to gain weight even though he worked out regularly.
Conventional wisdom from trainers and exercise specialists advocates varying personal workouts by initiating changes in intensity, regularity and routines.
“I’ve been working out at the Y since before the Wellness Center opened. I was looking to mix things up a little. It’s too easy to do the same stuff,” Glen said.
“Glen has been getting up at 5 a.m. to go to the Y,” added Nancy. “This is just mixing it up for him. We want to build our speed as we are both trying to be runners. At ‘boot camp’ we are doing a lot of sprints and interval training. I’m starting to feel like I’m getting in better shape. Running is great for endurance. This is better for flexibility and strengthening your core.”
Monday morning found the couple at Clemmons Park with a dozen other adults, preparing to participate in a “boot camp” run by Josh McIntyre and other trainers. The sun was slightly golden, the air fresh and clean -- a mere 65 degrees. Dew lingered on the grass.
The “campers,” participants in the program officially known as Max Fit Camp, were eyed with interest by passersby walking their dogs, running or out for a morning stroll.
The Ellises had been talking to the organizers, Josh McIntyre and his employees, about the “camp” for a while and thought it “sounded interesting.” I had been slowly and surely gaining weight,” Glen said. “My wife, Nancy, and I are going to be running a half marathon this September. I want to increase my endurance. I ran a marathon seven years ago and feel that it is really good to set a goal for yourself. If you don’t have goals, you tend to wander.”
There they were, the “newbies,” first timers at 6 a.m. and not sure what really lay ahead for them. Some of the participants have slugged through previous weeks of training, but for the Ellises, it was all new territory.
“I didn’t have a clue what to expect. The words ‘boot camp’ are kind of scary. We decided over the weekend to give it a try," Glen said.
It’s not easy.
“I hate to get up in the morning,” Nancy admitted. “Glen has to drag me out of bed. This brings back all that seventh-grade gym class anxiety.”
The morning began with a brisk run up Fremont’s only hill -- the sledding hill at the park. Run up the hill and then walk down the hill. Do it again. Get that heart beating and the blood gushing through your veins.
“Our work is sedentary -- sitting at computers all day long,” Nancy said, giving another reason for their choice of this workout.
The hardest part of the workout appeared to be the part of the workout referred to as “pushing the car.” Groups of four and five pushed a Ford Expedition around the parking lot of Clemmons Park. All the way north, then west, then south until, at last, down the driveway and — audibly panting with red faces and flexed muscles — the final push up the driveway until the van came to rest where they had begun. Another group took their place, then another. After the push, no rest was given. Immediately, the group returned to the west side of the lot, laid on mats, and following the instructions and encouragement of McIntyre, raised their legs to the sky, then slowly lowered them and held the position several inches off the ground until told to relax. Up again, hold, relax. Their turn to push would soon come again.
“The hardest part of the morning was pushing that car. I’ve pushed a car before -- like 10 feet -- but that was good, totally unexpected. I used muscles I didn’t know I had. And then, knowing what we just did and how hard it was and that we had to go back and do it again was good. There was camaraderie. If you were suffering, you knew that the person next to you was suffering just as much,” Glen said.
For the Ellises, it’s a lot about the other members of the class.
“You get to know everyone,” Nancy said. “The trainers are excellent and it’s the people who keep you coming back. You can have the star track runner and the middle-aged mom and they both get the same encouragement.”
“There is an athlete in everyone,” Glen said. “This just brings it out. Having Josh on your side brings it all out.”
With five children, one just finishing up college and a home-based Internet business, it’s not that the couple needs something more to do. Yet, they are sticking with it. Three weeks into the program, they remain enthusiastic and engaged with the program and the staff who run it.
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