For 30 seconds, you and a partner are shoulder- pressing a 30-pound tire together over your head. Just when your shoulders can’t take it anymore, you’re running 40 yards at full speed. Your jog to the next station is your break, only to throw a 10-pound medicine ball as hard as you can to your partner after squatting and then lunging forward with it. You throw back and forth with your partner for 50 seconds.
Throughout the next hour, your body will stay in motion without any breaks longer than 30 seconds, which is just long enough to gulp some water. Welcome to bootcamp.
Created by UF alumnus and certified personal trainer Chris Marhefka in September, Boris’ Bootcamps offer students a one-hour class five days a week on Norman Field that combines strength training, cardiovascular exercise and stretching.
“Many people are initially intimidated by working out in a group setting or even by the name ‘bootcamp,’” Marhefka said. “Our workouts are designed to challenge everyone, no matter what your current fitness level or experience is. We offer many variations and allow clients to work at their own pace while keeping (them) motivated for the entire session.”
Boot camps differ from most fitness classes in that they focus on interval training that keeps the heart rate up using high-intensity exercise followed by low-intensity exercise.
For example, you may run up three flights of stairs full speed and then do a wall sit for 50 seconds. After the wall sit, you’ll do calf raises with your toes pointing inward for 30 seconds and then run back up the stairs, repeating this circuit numerous times.
Boot camps also differ by focusing on performing an exercise for a specific length of time, not repetitions.
“Basically, we have an unlimited number of workouts,” Marhefka said. “I write a new workout every night.”
UF freshman Lindsey Cousineau, 17, found out about Boris’ Bootcamps by word of mouth through her sorority, Delta Gamma.
Although she can utilize the different on-campus gyms for free, Cousineau prefers Boris’ Bootcamps because the classes are outside and more engaging compared with being stuck in a gym and counting the minutes on a treadmill, she said.
Carlee Daylor, 20, a UF elementary education major, said she enjoys the fact that bootcamps require little instruction and skill.
“I don’t really like going to the gym a lot because I’m not very good with the equipment and it’s boring, so at boot camp, it’s different. We switch it up a lot,” Daylor said. (Marhefka) helps us with our technique, and it’s fun because we’re outside and there’s a lot of people so it’s easy not to get bored.”
UF student David Yergery, 21, also prefers Boris’ Bootcamps because they help provide structure to working out.
“Boris has been one of my friends for about three years, and when he told me about it, I thought it was a great idea because I have a lot of problems trying to stay in a routine workout,” he said.
Marhefka, who graduated from UF in 2008 with a degree in finance and a minor in entrepreneurship, said the nickname “Boris” came from his friends who felt that his first name didn’t match well with his Czech and Russian ancestry, he said.
“Our muscles (including our heart and lungs) adapt quickly to repetitive training and growth slows or plateaus. Classes are always different from week to week to keep our bodies guessing and our classes interesting. In addition, we combine strength, endurance and flexibility training so that our bodies grow in a natural, healthy mannerr without creating gaps or imbalances,” Marhefka said.
Boris’ Bootcamps are free for the first time. Five classes cost $49 and a month’s membership cost $59. Marhefka also sends out weekly e-mails to his customers informing them about training schedules along with fitness tips.
To see Boris’ Bootcamps in action, go to bodybyboris.com.
