The Cupertino Courier

Community

Recruits join ranks to stay in fighting shape at boot camp

By Erin Hussey

It's 6 a.m. The wind is blowing. It just started raining. And the sun isn't even up yet.

But unlike many of their neighbors, co-workers and family members who are still sound asleep, close to 20 Cupertino and Sunnyvale residents are in the middle of their warm-up jog.

"It's fun and hard," says Jennifer Crewe, who had set her alarm clock for 5:20 a.m.--just enough time for her to stretch, pick up her two friends and carpool to the Community BootCamp on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino.

The Community BootCamp, which is run by TimeOut Services, is a one-hour, five-day-a-week exercise program that includes both cardiovascular and strength training.

"For the first week you are pretty tired throughout the day, but you get used to it," says Crewe, in her fourth week of BootCamp. "I'm really glad I'm doing it."

Crewe and the women she carpools with, Debbie White and Kelly Davis, are all moms who agree that although early, the morning is the perfect time to get in a workout.

"It's one of the only times we can take for ourselves," says Crewe.

After the usual 10-minute warm-up that includes a short jog and various exercises such as butt kicks, high knees and a straight-legged march reminiscent of a Monte Python movie scene, Carolyn Casey, the Cupertino site instructor, leads the group through the morning routine. Mondays and Wednesdays usually focus on cardio, while Tuesday and Thursdays concentrate on strength training.

"Friday is usually a combination of everything," says Casey, who started working as a trainer for TimeOut Services a little more than a year ago. "I try and do something fun to bring them back on Monday."

Even if she didn't do a "fun" circuit packed with wall-sits, crunches, push-ups, side lunges and squats, it's likely her participants would come back.

"These people sign up over and over and over again," she says. "I think the same thing that brings them back is the same thing that brought me back--you see the commitment."

Wendell Stephens and fellow BootCamp participant Marymoore Patterson have been working out with the Community BootCamp for close to four years.

"I always liked to do something to stay in shape, and it was usually running," says Stephens. "But then I felt like I needed to get some overall strength, so I tried it and found it really fit my needs because it alternates between running, calisthenics and strength training exercises."

Stephens even admits that he still gets sore because of the way the program alternates different exercises on different days to work different muscles. He also encouraged his daughter and son-in-law to join.

"After my daughter had her first baby, she started coming out and she lost a lot of weight," says Stephen. "You're going to lose weight after you have the baby, but she really felt like this trimmed her down."

Melinda Dowell, Community BootCamp manager, says the best thing about the program is that it caters to all fitness levels and ages.

"It's for someone who has never exercised to people who have ran marathons or triathlons," she says. "The way the program is set up, we can make modifications for people with bad knees and make sure people who have a high level of fitness get a good workout."

In addition to the Cupertino site, the Community BootCamp is held in Los Gatos, San Carlos, Saratoga, San Jose City College and Stanford University. The company also provides the program for employees at Google and Cisco Systems.

"I was into step aerobics for a long time," says one-year member Kyoko Robinson. "But the problem with that is you have to find a good class and it was taking me a really long time to find one. Carolyn's personality really shines. She gives us motivation and is a really good coach."

By the time Casey stops her stopwatch and says her last, "good job, guys," the sun is up. Even though there are sighs of "thank goodness," all the participants are smiling.

"You feel a little rush," says Crewe. "We all leave there thinking this is great. We love starting our day out that way."

For more information on the Community BootCamp or other TimeOut Services, visit www.timeoutservices.com or call 800.926.6552. A free, one-time BootCamp class coupon is also available on the website.