Trainer Patrick Barresi, second from left, leads campers through a full body exercise at a recent session at Dolores Park while camp founder Jeremy Manning looks on. Photo: Roger Brigham

Originally published 10/18/2007
by Roger Brigham

Sometimes the best way to build a stronger community is to build up the strength of the individuals in it. That's the approach trainers Jeremy Manning and Patrick Barresi are taking with their outdoor Titan Fitness Camp.

"I saw the opportunity to teach an outdoor class," Manning said of the camps he and Barresi started running in late September. "We wanted to get the trend going for people to get into shape."

The phrase "boot camp" usually evokes images of mud and rain with crew-cut sergeants with beet-red faces barking out orders to "drop and give me 50," or rougher-than-a-cob fitness nuts leading packs of campers on death marches over blazing hot mountain trails. No pain, no gain, let's pray for rain.

"We have someone now who had an opportunity to go to another boot camp who had an ankle stress fracture the first day out," Manning said.

The Titan camps are saner than that. Held twice a week at Kezar Stadium and twice a week in Dolores Park, they combine basic calisthenics and jogging with balancing and core body strength exercises to get folks of all different levels of fitness in tune with their bodies' mechanics while building a solid fitness foundation.

"Sometimes a trainer needs to be an educator and an entertainer," Manning said. We try to give people whatever encouragement they need.

"I think overtraining and incorrect form are the most common mistakes I see when people are working out on their own in the gyms. They can be using too much weight or trying to progress too quickly. And they don't go for exercises that improve stabilization and flexibility. Most people go for the strength exercises."

Barresi said, "Our goal is to attract as broad a base as possible. We want to help people of all fitness levels, including people who are in shape and want to get into better shape.

"We help by giving them intensity. We keep them focused and we give them a variety of exercises," he added.

Barresi was the lead instructor for a recent camp session in Dolores Park. He led his clients through stretching exercises, flexibility and balance drills, some light jogs up and down the hill, and some very basic calisthenics. The emphasis was not on how many or how heavy or how fast; it was on how well form was maintained and which muscles were being challenged.

The camps so far have six clients, but the trainers said they are just starting to get the word out through recovery groups, student groups, and the HIV community. Basic fees start from $300 for 12 classes to $480 for 24 classes, but Manning and Barresi said they offer reduced fees for persons with low income, disabilities, or special health issues. Manning said they are approaching nonprofit groups about discount rates, trying to get exposure on Web sites, distributing handouts and fliers, and counting on word-of-mouth referrals. Barresi said, depending on circumstances, rates could be cut as much as one-third or one-half.

"So far we're just networking and trying to get the word out with the community," Barresi said.

Barresi teaches men's health at City College of San Francisco and will be starting a section on gay men's health issues. The camps are a great hands-on way for him to take it out of the classroom.

"I love it," Barresi said. "I really enjoy training – period. I usually work with individuals, but I like the group because I am a teacher. I love the energy and the interplay. For me, training is the opportunity to take it out of the academic and take it to the applied."

He said he sees the changes starting in people's faces.

"Usually I can tell right away from their reactions to their exercises," he said. "They look tired, but they look happy with what they've achieved. They look back and see they've gained in strength.

"The thing I hear a lot of times is that when they work out with me, they don't get hurt. Although, a little soreness is a good thing," he said.

Manning, a corrective exercise specialist, said, "We educate people on the importance and value of flexibility and stabilization. We show them they can get a workout by doing those things. Some people think they won't get a workout because they're 'above' that. Then they're surprised at how hard it is to do things correctly. Usually they tend to slow down for their own sake."

In particular, Manning said he hopes to be able to help clients dealing with HIV issues.

"They would benefit by staying healthy through healthy exercise," he said. "We just want to give back to the community. Any opportunity to help maintain their health is going to be beneficial."