Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Allison Hopkins runs up the stairs at the WVC track field during a 6 a.m. Community BootCamp workout.
Basic Training
It's up at the crack of dawn to battle the bulge
By Shari Kaplan
In Los Gatos and Saratoga, more and more people are doing it. The quiet neighbor down the street with the manicured front lawn might be into it, as could the cheerful mail carrier who brings bills and catalogues to everyone on her route, or the busy engineer who hunkers over circuitry all day. In fact, without asking them, it's impossible to know just who has been lured into the fold.
But the numbers are growing.
No, it's not some cult or "alternative lifestyle"--it's Community BootCamp. And while it lacks actual combat boots, drill sergeants and demerits, it does make its "soldiers" pant, sweat and grunt, and it does require them to show up at ungodly hours without complaining. The only catch is: these soldiers are paying for the experience, and actually want to do it.
Community BootCamp is an innovative group fitness program run by TimeOut Services Inc., a Cupertino-based company that also designs, organizes and runs health, fitness and recreational services for small, medium and large companies in the Bay Area.
BootCamp had its genesis in 1996, when TimeOut president Patty Gash, who lives in Cupertino with her husband and two children, saw something on the news about a military-style community exercise program on the East Coast billed as "boot camp." She says she was immediately excited by the idea and wanted to design a program like it, although she did not appreciate how the instructor screamed in people's faces. After all, she reflects, these were ordinary civilians--not Marines!
"I wanted to soften it but still offer people that kind of discipline. I didn't want it to be too military; I wanted it to be accessible and appealing to the average Joe," explains Gash, who at the time was managing a TimeOut fitness program for employees of Cisco Systems in San Jose.
"I tend not to sit on things, so I sent out a bunch of emails to people at Cisco to see what they thought of a boot camp-type program," she recalls. Most people thought it sounded like an interesting and feasible idea, so Gash set to work designing a new and challenging curriculum. Before Community BootCamp actually became a community activity, Gash recruited 60 Cisco employees as guinea pigs to try out its first session.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Lead BootCamp instructor Jeremy Pilling cheers on participants to a set of pushups
After that success, Gash began the first five-week Community BootCamp in 1997 at Stanford University in Palo Alto. Thanks to advertising, returning customers and word-of-mouth support, by the end of 1998, BootCamp's sessions had grown to as many as 200 participants every five weeks.
Currently, Community BootCamps are held on the campuses of high schools, community colleges and universities throughout the Bay Area and beyond. In addition to Los Gatos High School, Saratoga's West Valley College, Cupertino's Monte Vista High School and flagship Stanford, venues are available to boot-campers in Sunnyvale, San Jose, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Atherton, San Francisco and Fresno. Los Angeles is next on Gash's list, with UCLA a likely candidate at which to rent facilities for a Community BootCamp. She also plans to expand into the East Bay.
Most camps offer participants--who range from young adults to senior citizens, with women slightly outnumbering men on average--a choice of working out from 6 to 7 a.m. or 7 to 8 a.m. A few locations offer evening workouts. All camps are held rain or shine, so, depending on the season, participants may show up in anything from tank tops and shorts to warm sweats and rain slickers.
Every session, which runs Monday through Friday, begins with a warm-up, followed by the day's given exercise activities, which can include cardiovascular activities such as running up bleachers, walking around a track, jumping rope or using hula hoops; resistance and weight training; exercises to increase flexibility and tone, such as sit-ups and push-ups; and fitness testing. Instructors, who must complete TimeOut's own in-house training course before being allowed to lead others, spur their charges to stick the class out through encouragement, humor and, yes, sometimes even yelling--but never in anyone's face.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Roger Hopkins does a few sets of leg lifts at a Community BootCamp workout. Participants use a variety of techniques, including jogging, walking, climbing stairs, lifting weights, even using hula hoops
"One of the big reasons people do BootCamp is because they need accountability," explains Gash, a nine-time All-American athlete in discus and shot put at Stanford University, her alma mater. "I know exactly what to do to get myself fit, but if I'm not accountable to a group and motivated, the day will go by and I won't have gone to work out."
"People know they have no excuses at that hour--no luncheon meetings or appointments yet. They just roll out of bed, show up and be told what to do. I've had people tell me they're not morning people but they find they love BootCamp so much that they become morning people, at least somewhat," she says, laughing.
"We jokingly say 'no Spandex allowed,' but we also kind of mean it. We don't want this to be a fashion show. We don't want people to worry about looking good at that hour," Gash adds.
Fran Philip, BootCamp's regional manager and a former instructor, doesn't worry about that either as she travels from site to site to make sure everything is running consistently and smoothly. The physically fit Philip says she realized she was becoming a morning person when she "hit the wall" by 9 p.m. and hit the sack soon after. She doesn't mind much, however, because exercise makes her as healthy and happy as those she observes.
"It's a very emotional thing for me. I love being able to jog along with someone and find out about them. People become more than teammates; they become friends very easily," Philip says. "There's a great social underlying current. If someone moans or complains, someone else will say 'what was that?' One time someone answered, 'It's not a moan, it's an observation!' "
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Roger Hopkins sprints and jogs during a pre-dawn boot camp at West Valley College.
Saratogan Karen Tucker, who attends BootCamp at West Valley College with her husband, Jim, has some observations of her own. "It does everything--it's a complete workout. Your body is feeling good because it gets the workout it needs, and that makes your whole outlook better too. We both feel so much better," says Tucker, who heads off to a job as an executive assistant after BootCamp.
"They push us enough so that we feel like we've accomplished something. There's no slacking off; you have someone right there to encourage you to keep doing a little bit more. It's also kind of like a big family. You develop a lot of camaraderie," she adds.
"The sociability factor is great," agrees Philip. "Even if you're not smiling by the first half, you will be by the second. Most people tell me 'it just feels good,' mentally and physically. Part of it has got to be doing it outdoors--watching the sun rise is really something!"
Appropriately enough, the Community BootCamp logo is neither military- nor fitness-related. It is simply a rising sun.
Community BootCamp sessions begin every five weeks, but are open to newcomers at any time. The next two fall sessions begin on Oct. 4 and Nov. 15. For information on fees, class times and locations, call 800.926.6552 or 408.996.9660, or visit www.timeoutservices.com on the Internet.
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