March 29, 2012
By Nathan Pfau, Army Flier Staff Writer
FORT RUCKER, Ala. — Spring has sprung as Fort Rucker residents are gearing up to get their bodies beach-ready with Fortenberry-Colton Physical Fitness Facility’s 2012 Spring Boot Camp, beginning April 2.
The boot camp is a six-week program featuring a variety of workouts using plyometrics, agility drills and running, for example, said Kristi Fink, Fortenberry-Colten PFF fitness program coordinator.
“This is a great way for people to learn many different ways to work out and have fun while teaching them team-work and camaraderie,” said Fink. “It can open them up to so much that [the physical fitness facility] has to offer.
“We try to make it more of an outside-the-box type of experience that people aren’t used to rather than coming into the gym and doing a normal routine workout,” she said. “We want to show people that there are different ways to work out besides attending fitness classes or using weightlifting machines.”
The program features fitness classes thrown in the mix just to show what the fitness facility has to offer, but many of the workouts are done outside, said the fitness coordinator, adding that “there are a variety of activities that are included in the program that are not just limited to traditional workouts.
“The program instructors try to do something different every day like taking the participants to different places on post such as the equestrian center or Beaver Lake where they will run the trails,” she said.
There is also a game day in the program in which participants will be able to partake in different sports such as soccer, kickball and dodge ball, according to Fink.
One of the goals of the boot camp is to show people that there are different ways to work out and get in shape, but not all of the program is fun and games, she said.
“Participants will get to experience the typical boot camp-style workouts such as flipping tires or pulling ropes with tires attached to them,” said Fink. “The program can get very intense, but that’s what the instructors are there for.”
The instructors of the boot camp program are all either personal trainers that train at the fitness facility, fitness instructors or volunteers.
“We’ll have volunteers help out during some of the runs through the woods, for example, because we need more instructors on hand to be able to keep and eye on all the participants and make sure people aren’t getting overwhelmed,” said the fitness coordinator.
There are a variety of people on different levels of fitness that participate in the boot camp and the instructors are there to cater to people’s individual levels of fitness and keep them motivated, she said.
“We try to accommodate everybody,” said Fink. “We don’t want people to be discouraged and think they aren’t advanced enough physically to come and participate.”
Orientation for the boot camp sessions will be held at Fortenberry-Colton PFF March 30 at 6:30 a.m. and 8 a.m.
The program is five days a week from April 2 to May 11 and there are two sessions people can choose to participate in — the first is from 6:30-7:30 a.m. and the second is from 8-9 a.m.
The boot camp program is only available to people that are allowed to access to the fitness facility. This includes active duty and their families, retirees, contractors that are allowed access to the facility and Department of Defense civilians, according to Fink.
The cost is $100 per participant and includes: Weekly consultations to keep track of progress, training with certified personal trainers, access to all group fitness classes during the six weeks, a 2012 boot camp T-shirt and prizes for different categories, she added.
“The prizes are awarded at the end of the boot camp and are given for things such as the person with the most improvement on the obstacle course,” said Fink. “Some of the prizes that are given out are three free sessions of personal training, a free month of fitness classes and a 30-minute massage.
“There are only 25 spots available for each session and they’re filling up quickly,” said Fink.