- Joined
- Apr 5, 2003
- Messages
- 4,979
- Reaction score
- 20
Boot Camps Help Civilians Get Into Shape
Mon Oct 20, 9:46 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By IRA DREYFUSS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Call him "Sarge." Patrick Avon was never a drill sergeant in the Navy, but he's making up for it now. And he is making people pay him for it.
Avon is sarge and president of The Sergeant's Program, a Washington-area chain of boot camp-style workout programs. As he sees it, Avon and all his sub-sarges exist to make sure people do what they may otherwise lack the willpower to do: work out.
Clients "need somebody to kick their you-know-what into shape," Avon said.
There is a big market in kickable you-know-whats. A health club trade group, the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, said half of clubs surveyed in 2002 offered boot camp workouts. Only 19 percent did in 2001.
Boot camp workouts typically have operated outside of health clubs. The workouts took place on a park field, and instructors typically spread the word on their own, through newspaper ads or notices on supermarket bulletin boards.
But the workouts are group exercise — think of them as dance class with push-ups. And clubs commonly look for the latest group exercise trend, especially for one that can get the out-of-shape in the door.
Boot camp fits that description. "We work with the unfitness crowd," said Avon, who has been in the business for 14 years and has plans to expand into Washington-area health clubs.
After civilians saw the successful U.S. performance in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites), the appeal of military-style training may have grown, said Lt. Col. Brian McGuire, physical readiness programs officer in the Training and Education Command at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
"America loves her military, and the image of the fit serviceman or servicewoman is very appealing, and in some way, people who go to these classes want to look like that," McGuire said.
Avon once was one of those servicemen. Although he was a demolitions technician in the Navy, he worked out with Marines.
Just like the military, motivation in The Sergeant's Program can be up close and personal. "We ask you, 'Hey, what did you have last night for dinner, Smith?' Smith tells us he went to some fast food restaurant and he ate all the bad stuff. Guess what? Smith's going to hit the deck for 25 push-ups," Avon said.
"Common in most of these (programs) is at least some mention of extrinsic motivation — a clinical term for people getting in your face," McGuire said. "Some people need more extrinsic motivation than others."
And people seem to appreciate it. "There's a place in each of us that wants to be challenged, to see if we can overcome something," he said.
However, civilian boot camp workouts have less in-your-face time. "What they really get is someone who cracks a few jokes and has a little fun and encourages them to do well," Avon said. Those 25 push-ups? It's a form of caring, he said.
If a Marine recruit training unit worked out next to civilians in his program, "both groups would be working very hard, but our group would be smiling," Avon said.
Easy for them to be smiling; very hard is still not the intense training Marine recruits see at Parris Island, S.C. Civilian classes take everyone — from in-shape twentysomethings to out-of-shape fiftysomethings — and they are in it for their health, not to prepare for combat. Civilians may walk and stretch and jog, do push-ups, pull-ups and crunches, but they are unlikely to start with a 4.8-mile run. On the other hand, civilians can keep their training going for life.
This doesn't mean they have to, McGuire said. "You would hope the instructors are imbuing a sense of self-motivation, giving them the tools to develop and stick with fitness programs on their own," he said.
To McGuire, the important thing is to continue to exercise. He went through Marine basic and officer candidate school. Now age 40 and doing gym workouts, he "can't imagine not being on a solid fitness program."
Of course, McGuire also is a Marine.
___
On the Net:
The Sergeant's Program: http://www.sarge.com/welcome.old.html
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island: http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/
Well, I should join sarge's program...I am out of shape lately!!
Mon Oct 20, 9:46 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By IRA DREYFUSS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Call him "Sarge." Patrick Avon was never a drill sergeant in the Navy, but he's making up for it now. And he is making people pay him for it.
Avon is sarge and president of The Sergeant's Program, a Washington-area chain of boot camp-style workout programs. As he sees it, Avon and all his sub-sarges exist to make sure people do what they may otherwise lack the willpower to do: work out.
Clients "need somebody to kick their you-know-what into shape," Avon said.
There is a big market in kickable you-know-whats. A health club trade group, the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, said half of clubs surveyed in 2002 offered boot camp workouts. Only 19 percent did in 2001.
Boot camp workouts typically have operated outside of health clubs. The workouts took place on a park field, and instructors typically spread the word on their own, through newspaper ads or notices on supermarket bulletin boards.
But the workouts are group exercise — think of them as dance class with push-ups. And clubs commonly look for the latest group exercise trend, especially for one that can get the out-of-shape in the door.
Boot camp fits that description. "We work with the unfitness crowd," said Avon, who has been in the business for 14 years and has plans to expand into Washington-area health clubs.
After civilians saw the successful U.S. performance in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites), the appeal of military-style training may have grown, said Lt. Col. Brian McGuire, physical readiness programs officer in the Training and Education Command at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
"America loves her military, and the image of the fit serviceman or servicewoman is very appealing, and in some way, people who go to these classes want to look like that," McGuire said.
Avon once was one of those servicemen. Although he was a demolitions technician in the Navy, he worked out with Marines.
Just like the military, motivation in The Sergeant's Program can be up close and personal. "We ask you, 'Hey, what did you have last night for dinner, Smith?' Smith tells us he went to some fast food restaurant and he ate all the bad stuff. Guess what? Smith's going to hit the deck for 25 push-ups," Avon said.
"Common in most of these (programs) is at least some mention of extrinsic motivation — a clinical term for people getting in your face," McGuire said. "Some people need more extrinsic motivation than others."
And people seem to appreciate it. "There's a place in each of us that wants to be challenged, to see if we can overcome something," he said.
However, civilian boot camp workouts have less in-your-face time. "What they really get is someone who cracks a few jokes and has a little fun and encourages them to do well," Avon said. Those 25 push-ups? It's a form of caring, he said.
If a Marine recruit training unit worked out next to civilians in his program, "both groups would be working very hard, but our group would be smiling," Avon said.
Easy for them to be smiling; very hard is still not the intense training Marine recruits see at Parris Island, S.C. Civilian classes take everyone — from in-shape twentysomethings to out-of-shape fiftysomethings — and they are in it for their health, not to prepare for combat. Civilians may walk and stretch and jog, do push-ups, pull-ups and crunches, but they are unlikely to start with a 4.8-mile run. On the other hand, civilians can keep their training going for life.
This doesn't mean they have to, McGuire said. "You would hope the instructors are imbuing a sense of self-motivation, giving them the tools to develop and stick with fitness programs on their own," he said.
To McGuire, the important thing is to continue to exercise. He went through Marine basic and officer candidate school. Now age 40 and doing gym workouts, he "can't imagine not being on a solid fitness program."
Of course, McGuire also is a Marine.
___
On the Net:
The Sergeant's Program: http://www.sarge.com/welcome.old.html
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island: http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/
Well, I should join sarge's program...I am out of shape lately!!
