Flab no match for boot camp-style workout

By Cassie Tomlin

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 | 2:13 p.m.

The two small women don't bark like drill sergeants, but they get their followers out of bed and in formation before dawn.

Veterans Memorial Park is the training grounds for Boulder City BootCamp.

Nikki Wendt and Krista Rendon, both 35, in January started the fitness regimen modeled after military training.

The agenda: go hard for an hour, nonstop, up to five days a week, in the early morning hours.

About 15 people show up at 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to participate in the workout group.

Rendon and Wendt, sisters-in-law from Henderson, lead them in cardiovascular exercises and upper- and lower-body training.

The two sweat alongside their pupils in fitness.

"We all complain during the hour," Rendon said. "But we feel great once it's over."

Rendon's son rides at the park's BMX bike track, which is how she and Wendt picked the spot for their group.

Cathy Domzalski, 38, lives in Boulder City and works out at 6 a.m. four days a week with Wendt, who leads the morning group. Rendon leads the evening group.

Domzalski said that since January, she's dropped a pant size and lost 2 percent body fat.

She's also training to run the three-mile Race for the Cure in May, and for a half-marathon in October.

Wendt is like a personal trainer, Domzalski said.

"Even in a group, it's one-on-one," she said. "She doesn't let you slack, but she's very encouraging."

Wendt said attending a boot camp-style fitness group in Henderson inspired her to teach her own course.

The workout is appropriate for all shapes, sizes and ages, she said.

"I was never heavy, but I was never in shape," she said. "When I turned 30, I couldn't just sit on the couch and eat whatever I wanted anymore."

After two and a half months in the Henderson group, she dropped 20 pounds, she said.

Wendt said working out in a group is a motivation.

"I would never come out here by myself with a 12-pound medicine ball, working constantly the whole hour," she said.

She said every day's regimen is different.

"If they knew what we were doing every day, they wouldn't come," she jokingly said of the Boulder City BootCamp members. "But they do come and afterward they feel great."

Mike Pream, who lives in Boulder City, said he's always liked to hike, but BootCamp is his first workout program.

He said he holds himself accountable to working out because he's part of a group.

"She's got you working down to the last second," he said of Wendt. "If I was at a club or a gym, there's no way I'd keep moving for an hour."

Pream said the workouts set the tone for the rest of his day. At 7 a.m., he returns home to make breakfast for his two daughters.

"I'm up and energized," he said. "It gets (the morning) off to a good start."

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].