Senior Citizens Magazine - Physical Health |
ADVENTURE BOOT CAMP FOR WOMEN In Dunedin, Florida, they want to lose weight, tone up, increase endurance and get stronger. These and others are among the motivations for 180 women who are taking part in an outdoor boot camp for women near St. Petersburg and Tampa, FL. A year ago, Cathy Hensarling was ready for a change. She was on medications for high blood pressure and Diabetes Type II that made her feel even worse. And she had gained a lot of weight.
Am I too old to do this? She asked John Kent, the charismatic trainer who is owner of the outdoor boot camp. John said, No, no. You can go at your own pace. Now, a year later, Hensarling no longer takes medications. She s lost 20 pounds. It looks like more because her new muscles are heavier than the old fat.
Any woman can make the small but continuous changes needed to reach their fitness goals, said Kent, 41, who lives in Dunedin with his wife and four children. They just need a little knowledge, some support and some inspiration. In boot camp, he's there for them. "I don t expect perfection, but I do expect progression," Kent says. Campers, mostly in their 30s to 60s, lose an average of 5 to 12 pounds in the first month, reduce their body fat by 3 to 5 percent and drop 1 to 3 inches in the waist, he said. Kent said the boot camps, at $14.95 per day, cost a fifth of the price for a private trainer. Each session includes weight, cardiovascular and flexibility training in a fun approach with ever-changing exercises. He also gives nutritional seminars and pre-camp and post-camp assessments.
"We have teams sometimes, we have partners sometimes," Kent said, And we create relationships." Outdoors one recent Wednesday morning, before the heat arrived, about 60 campers jogged from one fast-paced activity to another. They stretched bands between arms and ankles, then pulled jump ropes between partners. This is going to strengthen those muscles, Kent said. "It's also going to make your booty look POW!" Watching the campers, he said he would move them 10 feet farther apart if he thought they weren' t trying. What I tell my kids is, "Discipline yourself, so I don t have to," he said.
In her third month-long boot camp, Doren Rauch of Palm Harbor, 45, said she has also lost inches as well as weight. And she's made other gains. "I feel straighter, stronger, taller," she said. That type of healthful attitude inside and out is is preciously what boot camp is all about. Boot camp, it's not just for the few and the proud, it is now, truly for the many!
View original article here: |
Then Hensarling, an office manager for an insurance company (State Farm Insurance), heard about North Pinellas and Westchase Adventure Boot Camp for Women. Maybe this could help, she thought, but she was 60 years old.
"All my clothes had to be taken in, mainly pants," she said. More than weight loss, she says she's stronger physically and mentally. "If I live long, I want to live strong," she says.
Camps meet for an hour five days a week at various times at four locations, a park, two elementary schools, and a church (for hot days.)
For many, the discipline pays off. Karen Burgue of Palm Harbor, 52, said she was exercising but she needed more cardiovascular exercise. After one four-week camp, she said she's lost inches in her waist and "My endurance is so much better."
