Mandy Michaelson wanted a place where she could work off her baby weight but not have to worry about who was watching her 4-month-old daughter.
Jimmy Konderla hadn't run a mile in two decades and was interested in shaping up and whittling away at the gut he had developed.
Missy Mouton assumed after the birth of her second daughter that she never would regain the ripped abs she once sported and was simply looking for an activity to get her in shape and boost her confidence.
Michaelson, Konderla and Mouton all had been previously active, but not consistently. And each was looking for a little more motivation than the monthly gym membership fee to push them to work out.
Enter fitness boot camps.
"Honestly, I have been in a gym setting before. It's fine when you're real self-motivated, but once you have kids, self-motivation is hard to come by," said 27-year-old Michaelson. "It's really great, probably the best thing that happened to me other than having my daughter. My husband loves it. It gets us out of the house in the morning. It makes you happy."
Michaelson attends Baby Boot Camp, one of several fitness boot camp programs that have popped up around the Bryan-College Station area in recent months. Designed as an intense, outdoor, group workout led by a personal trainer, fitness boot camps have become increasingly popular among men and women looking to get fit.
Offered by both fitness companies and gyms, they often target a specific market -- whether it is by offering separate men's and women's classes or creating camps designed for particular groups, such as moms or brides-to-be.
And lately, some trainers have said, the interest in the group classes seems to be outpacing individual personal training.
"I think there are so many different aspects that appeal to the average boot campers," said Trevor Carney, personal trainer and owner of Innovative Fitness. "You get motivation, you get to be outside, you get accountability from the rest of the group. You still get to work out with a trainer, but at a fraction of the cost."
A new lifestyle
Carney started his company about two years ago. The 30-year-old always loved being outside and grew up as an athlete, playing sports in high school and football at Cisco Junior College. While attending Sam Houston State University, he helped establish rec sports and personal training programs while working toward his bachelor's degree.
He went on to Texas A&M University, where he obtained a graduate degree in sports management.
It was about a year ago that Carney launched his first boot camp program after reading about them in health and fitness magazines. The interest in the program spread like wildfire, he said.
Carney said he now employs eight trainers, and together they see between 60 and 80 clients -- ranging in age from 18 to 63 -- each day. He says the majority of his business -- about 65 percent -- comes from boot camp programs, with the remainder from personal training.
"We've had three people lose over 50 pounds each," Carney said, explaining why he loved teaching boot camps. "Really, just being able to impact people's lives positively and show them how fitness can be fun, effective and simple."
Mouton is one of his success stories. A 36-year-old mother of two, Mouton joined an Innovative Fitness afternoon boot camp in late June.
At the time, she was 152 pounds and wearing a size 10. Her husband often joked that she couldn't even run to the mailbox. Within just two months, she said, she had dropped to about 125 pounds. She now runs a mile in under 10 minutes, and her husband jokes that he has a new wife who looks "smokin' hot."
"All I do is work out and I eat right. It has just been amazing what I have accomplished," she said. "Funny thing is, I know it doesn't make sense, but it's so much fun. I have a blast doing it."
With a 5-year-old and 21-month-old, Mouton doesn't make it to class every afternoon, but she goes as often as she can, she said.
Though she has met her fitness goals, Mouton said, she will continue to attend the class because she enjoys the level of activity and motivation it provides. She also feel energized from working out, she said.
"Sometimes it can be hard to find the time, but when you want it bad enough, you figure it out," Mouton said. "It has changed my entire lifestyle for the better. I feel like I am just a total workout fanatic. I feel so much better when I am doing it."
The birth of baby boot camp
A mom herself, 37-year-old Laurie Peacher started Baby Boot Camp after meeting a group of women through on online message board dedicated to moms.
The common refrain from the women was that they wanted to work out but often found the child care facilities inside various gyms unsanitary and didn't feel as though workers paid close enough attention to their children.
"It's just really hard when you want to stay in shape and want to do stuff but you go somewhere like that and you don't want to leave your kids," Peacher said. "Moms are just real hesitant."
Thus, Baby Boot Camp was born.
Mothers come to class with their babies tucked inside jogging strollers, which they push throughout the hourlong workout. Rather than using the camp as a short jump-start, most of her participants are enrolled for the year, she said.
"Boot camp -- it's hard but quick and very effective if they can continue to work out between times," Peacher said as she discussed the popularity of boot camp programs over indoor gyms. "It's so different from a gym. Everything they learn at boot camp they can do in their home."
Of course, she said, the workout is set up differently than a standard boot camp. The moms are moving almost constantly and when they stop to work on a particular muscle group, they don't have too long because the babies can get fussy when they aren't moving.
But because everyone is a mom -- six in the class including Peacher are pregnant -- everyone understands, she said.
The biggest challenge often is getting the new moms out of their home and to boot camp. But once they are there, they often don't want to quit, she said, explaining that she now offers eight classes a week. The camps devoted to moms become like a sort of play group centered around getting healthy.
"They are better moms and better wives because they got out there and did something for themselves," Peacher said.
Michaelson said when she first met Peacher she felt as though she had found a kindred spirit. She has been enrolled in Baby Boot Camp for nearly a year.
The first two weeks were hard, Michaelson acknowledged, explaining that she felt like one big sore muscle. But she quickly became accustomed to the workouts. She said she enjoys the accountability she feels from friends in the group who immediately notice if she misses a day.
During her first pregnancy, Michaelson gained about 40 pounds and took it all off through the boot camp program. Now pregnant with her second child and still working out about five days a week, she said she has gained about half of what she had at this stage during her first pregnancy.
"It really has worked out wonderfully," Michaelson said. "On days we don't go to class, it's kind of like we don't know what to do with ourselves."
Striving to do better
Carney acknowledged that fitness boot camps can seem intimidating. But time, he said, is a great equalizer. The class might focus on one activity for a certain amount of time and each camper completes as many repetitions as he or she is able to.
With the level of intensity, some campers probably even feel discouraged at times, he said. But that's probably because people often are harder on themselves than others.
And it only takes about a week for participants to begin to notice a difference and gain confidence as they begin to feel and look better, he said.
"The object is not to keep up with the most advanced camper," Carney said. "The object is to keep bettering yourself day to day, day-in and day-out."
And while women tend to dominate the field, many men are getting involved in boot camp programs.
Jimmy Konderla, 44, had been working out off and on when his wife told him about Innovative Fitness. At 5 feet 7 inches tall, Konderla weighed about 175 to 180 pounds. He is down to 164 pounds and no longer has back problems now that his gut is gone.
The roughest part of the class, Konderla said, was running. The camper hadn't run a mile since his early 20s. But he has improved, he said, and running is no longer a problem.
Don't think his grandkids haven't noticed a difference in his energy level, he joked, explaining that he now goes outside and jumps right into their kickball and football games. Konderla, who's been a salesman for 20 years, said he also saw an unexpected benefit from boot camp -- an increase in his confidence, which helped him have his biggest year yet.
"I know if I go back to doing it myself, I am not going to push myself near as much as I would if I am in the boot camp," he said. "With the group thing, you're pushing people on and they're pushing you on. You pretty much go at your own pace, whatever you can handle, that's what you do. You continue to strive to do better. I think that's what really motivates me."
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