Fitness Magazine: Boot Camp Buddies
Commiserating over crunches at 5:30 a.m. has a way of connecting people. Just ask (from right) Linda, 56; Vanessa, 41; Isora, 34; Michelle, 41 (Shown here with instructor Stacy Papakostas); Jenn, 30 (not pictured); and Tracy, 36 (not pictured); who met three years ago at NYC Adventure Boot Camp, a fitness program whose participants gather at dawn fice days a weel. “The workout we get is great, but the besta part is all the friends I”ve made.” Michelle, a television editor, says “We find the fun in exercising.” Isora, an education administrator, says: “We’re different ages and have different kinds of jobs, but there’s a certain personality type that’s willing to work out that early. You really respect each other for doing it.”
The women regularly meet for girl’ nights out, organized by Linda, the group’s “cruise director,” but the workouts are the key to their relationship. “When we say ‘See you tomorrow,’ we really mean it!” Michelle says. The sessions keep them close. “With my other friends, we’re busy with work and life, but these women see me day in, day out,” Isora says. “That means we share everything: how a presentation at work went, who had a fight the her boyfriend, you name it.” The group has also reaped plenty of fitness benefits: They’ve all lost weight – Michelle has dropped 20 pounds; Linda 15 – and gained energy, and some of them have started running races. “We’re more confident now because we’re getting so strong,” Michelles says. “We feel like Charlie’s Angels!”
