Sunday, May 04, 2008
Life, Health + Fitness
In the Army now
Want to be as cut as a camouflage-wearing warrior? Try boot camp
CREDIT: Junial Enterprises
Sometimes the best way to get motivated to exercise is to have a drill sergeant telling you what to do.
WHAT: Corefitness Boot camp
WHERE: Chastain Park, Piedmont Park
HOW MUCH? Classes start at $495 for 8 weeks.
CONTACT INFO: 678-491-1139, corefitness2002@yahoo.com
FITNESS FACTOR: 4 ½ stars
FUN FACTOR: 3 stars
By Colleen Oakley
My fiancé’s alarm clock goes off every morning at 5:30 a.m. Some days, I snore right through it. Other days, I jolt awake and then get that delicious feeling that only comes with the realization that I get to roll over and go back to sleep.
Last week, unfortunately for me—and much to my fiancé’s amusement—I had to force myself out of bed at that ungodly hour to try my hand at a boot camp workout by Corefitness.
Now, there’s a reason I never joined the Army. Actually, there are a lot of reasons I never joined the Army—the least of which being that I’m not a morning person. (I also don’t like being yelled at or being told what to do. And I hate guns.) But I have always admired how in shape people in the military are, and if getting up at 5:30 is what it takes, I was willing to try it. At least for one morning.
I arrived at Chastain Park right before 6 a.m. and gathered on the sidewalk in front of the baseball field with about 30 other “campers.” This boot camp goes year round, and as I peered through the darkness at the mostly women and few men surrounding me, it looked as though they had been doing this for quite some time. Corey Waller, the owner of Corefitness and head trainer of boot camp, showed up and took us through some stretches. Then he told us to run down the street we were on to the stop sign and back.
“How far is that?” I asked him, as I jogged past.
“Not far,” he smiled.
Stupid Army mind games.
I kept my pace jogging—turned out to be about a mile total—and was pleased that I wasn’t the last person to finish. A girl with a knee brace and a 6-month pregnant woman were behind me.
For the next 45 minutes, we jogged to different areas of the park, stopping at each one to do grueling, but basic, exercises—squats, push-ups, bicycle, lunges, etc. The hardest part for me were the hills. We had to sprint up—let me rephrase that—we were supposed to sprint up different hills in the park throughout the hour. I was usually walking, grabbing my side and sucking wind at the middle of any given hill. I think the pregnant woman passed me on two of them.
By 7 a.m., I was sweaty, tired and starving, but I really did feel great. The next day, however was a different story. Sore doesn’t begin to cover how my muscles were screaming at me. When my fiancé’s alarm clock went off, I lay in bed (mainly because I couldn’t move) and thought incredulously that all the same people would be out there again—they do boot camp five days a week.
I still wouldn’t ever join the Army, but I would do boot camp again. Next time, I just might try out their 6 p.m. class. Hey, a girl needs her beauty sleep. SP
Colleen Oakley is a freelance writer in Atlanta and the former editor of Women’s Health & Fitness magazine. Got a fitness challenge for her? E-mail her at colleen@sundaypaper.com.