Ashley

In May of 2004, I found boot camp for the first time. I have always loved competitive team sports. I grew up playing basketball, softball and other sports all throughout school. When my husband and I moved back to Atlanta in 2004, I began looking for a workout that would be intense and different and that would hold me accountable for results. I had little discipline for going to the gym or running on my own.

I was immediately hooked! I could challenge myself individually, and also be part of a team. Everyone pushes each other and encourages each other to be their best. When my husband still wouldn’t go to the gym with me, I went back again to another boot camp in early 2005 and I never stopped. Two months later, I convinced my husband to join me and he soon started drinking the Kool-Aid. We both became instructors. Outside of boot camp, I spend most of my time trying to manage my medical practice management and billing company and my tornado of a son, Mateo.

Crissie

I always thought I was burning enough calories with my boring workouts at the gym, then I started boot camp in June 2008 with my husband. I was wrong! We were looking for something to jump start our fitness routine and heard great things from our friends that had tried boot camp. They were right!

I was hooked in the first week! It's like recess all over again, time flies by every workout because we're all having fun. Boot camp is a group "class" every day with friends pushing you to get the best workout possible. The best part is I always felt like I was working out with people that genuinely cared about me and my health. I feel great and am stronger than ever, on top of being able to keep the old dress sizes from creeping back into my closet!

Jean

I joined Boot Camp in May 2005 as a student hoping to find a new exercise challenge. As a long-time distance runner, I thought I was in pretty good shape, but that one month showed me the error of my thinking! After missing the final week of that Boot Camp due to a pulled calf muscle, I returned to join the Winter Maintenance program and have continued with Boot Camp ever since, joining the instructor ranks in February 2006. I was an instructor with a couple of other local Boot Camps since 2006 before beginning Kick in the Fit at our great Agnes Scott location. I am a certified personal trainer with CPR certification. My real day job is working for a local university.

Marlis

For many years, I struggled to find a way to make working out part of my everyday life. I was hesitant to join a bootcamp because I did not enjoy running and knew that was a big portion of the program. One day I heard about Bring a Friend day and gave it a try. Immediately I was hooked; it was so much fun! The varied workouts and the friendships I made kept me coming back month after month. I can now say that I love running and have trained and completed two half marathons, something I never thought I would do. Bootcamp has broadened my horizons in so many ways. I loved being a boot-camper and I am thrilled to instruct and help others realize their fitness goals.

Michelle

Boot camp is proof that it is never too late to find fitness in your life. I joined up because friends were doing it and were showing positive results in terms of increased energy level and weight loss. I thought it was going to be another experience like trying a new class at the YMCA. I was wrong! For the first time in my late thirties, I discovered a path to sustained fitness. After several attempts at being a committed exerciser over the years, boot camp was my path to discovering my inner-athlete. With this program's support, I blew past old bad habits, excuses, and disinterest in work outs and have established a permanent connection to my health. It has added years to my life and at the age of 40, I am in better shape than I was in my 20s! I can't imagine feeling weighed down by extra pounds or lack of stamina ever again. This program gives you the tools to get to the next level and stay there.

Vic

As a former soccer player, physical fitness has always been an important part of my life. But like many people, I added a couple pounds each year and I found myself more out of shape than I wanted to be.

Encouraged by my wife to try “this Boot Camp thing”, I tried it and I’m hooked. I love the camaraderie, the personal responsibility and the challenge of the outdoor workouts. Since starting boot camp several years ago I’ve lost 20 pounds and I love to challenge each new boot camper to achieve their own goals through hard work, better nutrition and the desire to improve. I am a certified personal trainer with CPR certification.

Henry

I hit my 40’s and I had just quit smoking while my metabolism started heading south.  I put on a lot of weight and anything physical took so much effort.  I signed up with KITF and over the next two years, lost much of the weight I had put on, became stronger and actually became a runner competing in 5k events.  The reward for me was being asked to become an instructor and join the ranks of those who had been inspiring and pushing me since I began boot camp.  Now it is my turn to push and inspire and I love every minute of it!  The expression that a boot camper has when they have just reached or exceeded a goal is what truly inspires me.

Suzanne

After having twins, I was in the worst shape I had ever been in in my life.   I was tired, overweight, and every muscle had atrophied.   I knew I had to do something drastic, and walking around the neighborhood or a pilates class wasn’t going to cut it.   I had never been an athlete and always attended the gym begrudgingly to maintain my weight, so when I had heard about boot camp, I believed it was not for me, in fact, the very thought frightened me.   But one evening, I logged onto the internet, took the plunge, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.    The first couple of months were extremely hard; I was starting at zero.   But I stuck with it, accepting it wouldn’t be easy and determined that I was going to make it happen, and it did.   Not only did I get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I toned up and have strength and stamina I never had before.   I could not run around the track once my first day; last year, I ran the Peachtree Road Race.   I also found a part of me that I never thought existed:  someone who genuinely enjoys keeping fit.  Many of the instructors who guided me, pushed me, and cared about me are still with us today.   I have made some of the best friends I have through this program and look forward to the challenges, hard work and laughs we share each morning.

Paige

Physical fitness has always been important to me, but at various points in my adult life, being physically fit became more of a "theory" than a "reality."  Whereas I grew up playing soccer and added long distance running to the mix in my 20's, when I reached my 30's and was working long hours as an attorney, I knew my typical weekend warrior workouts at the gym were not cutting it at all. I was horribly out of shape. Plus, I was bored. I needed something that would challenge me. Encouraged by a co-worker to try boot camp in the fall of 2005,  I showed up at the dark and early hour of 5:45 am questioning my sanity.  I still remember how sore I was after that initial workout.  But, something in me clicked, and I knew this "boot camp thing" was just what I needed!  I signed up for the following month and quickly became hooked.  Now, as an instructor, I truly enjoy helping boot campers reach their goals and do my best to push them to work outside their comfort zones. The variety of the outdoor boot camp workouts keep me coming back, and the incredible people who are a part of this program are icing on the cake. But not real cake of course.