Publication Date: Wednesday Nov 12, 1997

Sweating it out

'Your goal here at the end of this six weeks is: I'm going to be able to stand on your stomach," shouted coach Jenni Bruning to her students, as they struggled to complete their assigned situps while lying on the gym floor. These 20 people have been getting up every day, five days a week, to make it to their 7 a.m. "Boot Camp" class at the Ford Center at Stanford University. Sixty others make it to the 6 a.m. class.

"As soon as you sleep in, it gets way too easy to do it again. Don't even think about sleeping in," said personal trainer Patty Gash, who founded the Boot Camp program.

Gash is quick to explain that the name of the class refers to the grind of getting up every morning to work out. The class itself is designed to help people enjoy exercise, rather than be a grueling military exercise. "It's tough being here five days a week. We're here to keep them accountable," Gash said.

Boot Camp started in May, after Athletic Director Ted Leland heard about Gash's similar program at Cisco Systems. Leland, Gash said, wanted an athletic program that would reach out to the community. The classes, which cost $200 per five-week session, are open to the community and are geared especially toward those who haven't exercised seriously before.

"Most people are here because they need to get back into working out," Gash said. "In general, the profile is it's people that have never done anything (for exercise)."

On the first day, Gash has her pupils say an oath to commit to the class. Then, they jump right into fitness tests: stomach crunches for two minutes, pushups for one minute, and laps around the track. They are tested again at the midpoint of the class, and again at the end. "Anybody that comes with any regularity, there's improvement," Gash said. "When they see they're improving, there's that spark of energy."

The range of athletic ability, age and exercise experience is broad. The youngest participant is 9 years old, the oldest in his 70s.

"One woman could only do four times around the track," Gash said. But, by the end of her class, she could do eight laps. "Her goal was to get here and walk around the track.

"It's essentially about getting people started. I don't want people dependent on me afterwards."

The whole Shapiro family of Menlo Park is taking the Boot Camp. "We're all getting up. It's bonding. It's fun," said 13-year-old Rachael Shapiro.

"We've been saying for months that we have to get in shape," said her mother, Sara Kaderlan. "The thing we liked was it was all sizes and shapes. I'm feeling strong; I'm starting to feel fit. It's something we can do, get out of the way in the morning."

Students move through a one-hour workout, including stretching, situps and other muscle-isolating exercises, and an obstacle course around the outside of the gym, including military-style "tire drills" using hula hoops, jumping rope and skipping from station to station. On alternate days, they climb stairs at Stanford Stadium or run around the track.

"What we tell people is just to keep moving," Gash said. "It's not an aerobics class; it's an altogether conditioning class. We're not training them to do a marathon."

Palo Alto resident Julia Leighton got tired of her gym workout and decided to try Boot Camp. "I wanted someone to tell me what to do," she said. "I wouldn't consider myself a runner, but now I'm clipping 10K ads."

Her goal, she said, is to run a mile without stopping. 

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