FOR YOUR HEALTH: Everybody Needs A Swift Boot Now and Then to Kick-Start Fitness Program

Rodney Harris and Ken Harsha may be football tough, but they extremely patient and professional in helping boot campers reach new levels of health and fitness.

Let’s face it. Everybody needs a swift boot in the rear every so often to jump-start their health and fitness program. Enter Lance McCullough, owner of Fitness Results, which is currently running a daily boot camp out of the Upland Arena with two of his top trainers, Rodney Harris and Ken Harsha.

But don’t think this Boot Camp is going to beat you up and prepare you for the Marines. Rather, it’s going to build you up, slowly, safely, methodically and progressively, at your own pace.

“I was kind of against the term, ‘boot camp,’” Lance said from his 11th Street Fitness Results studio just down the block from The Arena. It implies something that it’s not. There’s no drill instructor yelling out, ‘Give me 10.’

“Marines are young men. Of course, they’re going to get in the best shape of their lives. They’re told when to eat, when to get up and they run and exercise all day long.”

“But for the average person, we go live our lives. We do an hour boot camp, but it’s really an hour exercise class. The reason it works is that it’s interactive. Everybody’s there to motivate one another. It’s like the old aerobics class but we’ve modified it and advanced it using decades of fitness knowledge and experience.”

By using The Arena, boot camp instructors Rodney and Ken make sure campers use the entire well-equipped facility.

“We use the soccer fields and basketball courts and the bleachers, plus we bring in a lot of our own tools, such as rubber bands and resistance bands and jump ropes and medicine balls,” Lance noted.

“Unlike working out in a park or an asphalt parking lot, which can be hard on your legs, knees and feet, putting you more at risk for injury,” Lance added, “we’re working out on an indoor soccer field or a gym floor, which is a wood floor that actually gives and is going to be a lot easier on your knees and joints.

“We’re in a controlled environment, so we don’t’ have to worry about the smog, or if it’s too hot or stepping in a gopher hole and twisting your ankle. We think we offer a better facility to help you get better and safer results.”

Instead of hoisting barbells, campers go through a series of carefully planned exercises and calisthenics that take advantage of the exerciser’s own body weight. “Half of your muscles work with gravity, and half work against it, so we use the resistance bands to cover the difference,” Lance explained.

Of course, even more important than the facility and the program are the trainers conducting it, and in Rodney and Ken, Lance has two of the best. Rodney received a full-ride scholarship to the University of Kansas, where he received All Big 12 Conference Honors and the Iron Man Award presented to the player that the coaching staff considered the team’s hardest worker. Today, he is a U.S. Career Institute Personal Trainer and Nutritional Specialist.

Like Rodney, Ken is also a highly skilled football player, who not only played semi-pro football for many years, but also went on to own and coach his own semi-pro team. To perform at such a high level, Ken trained for many years with Lance, learning everything he could from the champion lifter and using Lance’s mentorship to create his own fitness programs for a wide range of clients, from beginners to the most advanced trainees.

Together, they make the perfect Boot Camp team, providing clients with just the right combination of strength, agility, coordination and aerobic training in one full and fun action-packed hour.

“We’re always analyzing our program, comparing the benefits versus the risks,” said Rodney. “So we try to do things that provide the most benefits with the least risks. We will work everyone at a safe intensity based on their current fitness level.”

The camp is really a team effort, with everyone working at their own level to achieve the best results.

“We have alternatives for the more fit and the less fit,” Ken added. “For example, let’s say we’re doing push-ups one morning. Now, a lot of women can’t do pushups, not even a lot of guys can do push- ups, so instead of doing the traditional push-up where you’re on your hands and your toes, we’ll have you do them on your knees and your hands. If that’s too much, you can do it where you’re on your knees in a bleacher. If that’s too much, you can just stand at an incline against the wall.

“Then as you improve and gain strength, you can move to the more advanced.”

What every camper wants, of course, especially after starting class at 5:30 a.m., is results.

“The first four weeks, our biggest loser lost 11 pounds,” Lance said. “That was fantastic. We had other people who maybe didn’t lose as much weight, but they dropped inches. One lady lost 2 ¾- inches in her waist in just four weeks. Several people lost an 1 ½- inches in the hips and 1 ½-inches in the waist.”

Shedding pounds, of course, doesn’t tell the whole fitness story.

“Just because you’re not losing the weight,” Lance added, “you have to remember that muscle comes on faster than the weight falls off. A pound of muscle will take up less volume than a pound of fat.

“You’re not going to lose 20 pounds in the first four weeks, nor would you necessarily want to. But once you’re in camp, you’re going to start looking better and feeling better and you’re going to want to start making better choices with your eating, too.”

Before boot campers start their programs, they have their weight taken and body mass index measured. Other tale-of-the-tape measurements, like chest, waist, hips and biceps, are also recorded and repeatedly benchmarked from week to week.

“You can expect to be challenged and see great results, while having fun,” Lance said.  “Our boot camp will give you maximum results with a dynamic and high-energy routine. We have been in the personal training business for 16 years and have seen that most people really just want to lose weight, tone up and be healthier.

“If that is what you want, this is a great program for you.”

Fitness Results Boot Camp offers a wide range of prices for every schedule and budget. The four-week, five days a week plan costs $249. The four-week, three days a week session runs $199 — a modest investment toward getting the body and lifestyle you want.

For more information about designing the right boot camp plan to help you meet your health, fitness and weight loss goals, please call (909) 305-0188 or (909) 608-1780 or visit www.fitnessresults.com.

The Upland Arena is located at 1721 West 11th Street in Upland. For those traveling from San Dimas or La Verne, exit Baseline off the 210 freeway, head south on Benson to 11th St. and turn right until you reach The Arena.

Reported June 7, 2010