At Firm Body Boot Camps, clients work out using a variety of equipment, such as TRX bands, kettle bells, step ups and rowing machines. Photo by J.D. King.
It’s Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. and the warehouse-turned-gym at 2709 19th Place in Homewood is packed with women in stretchy workout pants and men in tees and sweats. As everyone stands around warming up, stretching quads and shoulders, all eyes are directed to a huge blackboard at one end of the concrete room. There, teasing and challenging them, is today’s workout:
- 15/30 atomic push-ups
- 30 weighted steps
- 25 band high pull
- 15 kettle bell rows
- 15 TRX pull aparts
- Run
Romen McDonald, who owns Firm Body Boot Camps with his wife, Keri, turns the music down in the cavernous space and begins directing the real warm-up for the day, then divides the group, assigning one of the exercises to each group. Instinctually, it seems, each person heads over to one of the dozens of TRX bands hanging from the ceiling, or the kettle bells toward the back of the room, and gets started with the 25-minute workout — ready to do each exercise as many times as he or she can.
“They like the variety of it because they never get bored,” McDonald said. For the past eight years, his boot camp classes have, until recently, been held in local parks or rented space from churches or local civic centers. Now, with a brick-and-mortar spot in Homewood, which opened Nov. 1, 2014, he and his wife have a place for their business to call home.
“It’s always been a dream to have our own place, and we wanted to do it our way,” Keri said, adding that now they can have more equipment to use during the workouts.
All of the equipment — the TRX bands, kettle bells, rowing machines and more — are housed in what used to be a warehouse, Keri said. It took the couple five days to clean it out and get it ready for use. Restrooms were under construction in late January, and a chiropractor will rent the front office space, she said. The workouts the company holds in other locations — Trussville, Gardendale, Pell City and Huntsville — will still be held there, too.
With six other personal trainers on staff to cover classes at all of the locations, McDonald has built a business from the ground up — workouts in Homewood used to take place at Homewood Park, even on the coldest days. Now, the gym, decorated with the image of the Incredible Hulk, will be the epicenter of Firm Body Boot Camps.
A family-oriented place: Keri and Romen McDonald with their children Cruise and Kolee-Brook at Firm Body Boot Camps’ new facility in Homewood. Photo by J.D. King.
“The first thing you see is the Incredible Hulk, so you know you’re about to do some work!” said Daniel Hudson, one of McDonald’s trainers. “It’s more high intensity and different from going to a regular gym.”
“It’s the only thing I’ve done consistently for five years,” said Mimi Dunn, 42, of Homewood. Dunn, who began attending Firm Body Boot Camps at Homewood Park, said she loves the new facility and relies on the accountability from the other clients and McDonald. “It’s the only thing I will actually go and do,” she said. “The workout is always something different.”
McDonald said he designs the workouts to focus on the whole body — one day his clients will work just on their core, while the next they will do intervals. “Every workout we do is functional fitness, so we hit the full body,” McDonald said.
Each workout is created to pump up the metabolism so clients will continue burning calories even after the workout is over. “We take the best stuff from every program and put it in ours,” McDonald said. As he told the 20 or so people at the beginning of the 8:30 a.m. class, “you have to get in and get it done and get the most out of it.”
When a new person signs up — trial packages are available at $29 for two weeks of classes, four times a week — each client is sent home with a suggested meal plan and recommended products. Keri said the diet they promote is high in protein and and encourages drinking a lot of water. “We try to focus on this being a lifestyle change,” she said.
At first, McDonald said he would recommend that beginners work out at 60 percent, and he will provide modifications for some exercises to meet the person’s abilities. “You can always tell when they first come in, they may be down on themselves,” he said. “Then, after five or six workouts, they’re standing taller.”
Allen Little, 40, Birmingham, started working out at Firm Body Boot Camp two weeks before Thanksgiving and has dropped 30 pounds so far, “and that’s over the holidays,” he pointed out. “It’s different from anything I’ve ever done, and I got hooked on it right away. I’m addicted to the feeling you get when you’re finished.”
Joseph Biggio, 46, Homewood, already had some workout experience when starting at Firm Body Boot Camp last May. He enjoyed doing exercise videos at home, but found the intensity level at McDonald’s classes is something he can’t get on his own. “It’s the fact of having someone there pushing you, but also looking out for you,” Biggio said. “It’s not a competition, but much more of a collegial environment. Everyone is there to work out, but also to have fun.”
For more information, visit firmbodybootcamps.com.
