Brandon Shewbert has been an athlete his entire life, competing in track, field and football in high school and at Concordia University.
But after taking part in a 20-minute “boot camp” workout put on by Kirkland’s X Gym, even Shewbert, like a handful of other gym members, was left feeling the burn.
“Your heart rate is jacked up. You can feel it in all of your major muscle groups,” Shewbert said.
At a recent morning workout at Marina Park, amid the panting, groans and grimaces of these boot campers, X Gym owner PJ Glassey led the group during a demanding core-strengthening exercise and lended words of encouragement.
While plenty of other local gyms offer boot camp-style training, Glassey says what sets his gym’s program apart is duration and rigor — the high-intensity, two-times-a-week sessions last just 20 minutes and are designed to induce complete muscle failure.
Boot camp members see double the results in about one-third of the time, Glassey said.
And after each X Gym session during which participants’ heart rate is pushed up and down at different intervals, Glassey says boot camp members continue to burn fat for four hours following their workout.
“It’s working out for way less time, burning way more fat and getting stronger faster,” Glassey said.
One hour of steady-state exercise, the kind that keeps the heart rate steady, burns fat for one hour after a person is done working out, according to Glassey.
“Other gyms offer sub-fatigue stuff. People are able to do it, they’re able to keep going, plugging along for an hour and it’s fine and dandy,” said Glassey, who holds a degree in exercise science from Seattle Pacific University.
His boot camp is designed after what he’s seen work best in the years since becoming a personal trainer in 1987. He estimates he’s also logged about 5,000 hours researching the latest in exercise science.
The cost of the boot camp is $177 per month, less than the $295 the gym charges its members for its standard one-on-one training. A custom nutrition guide is included for free.
X Gym members range in age from their teens to 80 years old, and from novices to competitive athletes. Glassey says his program works for everyone.
And he’s certainly made a believer out of new boot camp member Camille Elliott.
Last year, Elliott used an on-line personal trainer to prepare for a half Ironman but still had 25 percent body fat. She’s now down to 12 percent body fat — just nine months after joining X Gym.
“Here I don’t train for as long, but I get more benefit from it,” Elliott said. “I actually get stronger. Previously I was doing long endurance activities and now I’m just having fun and working out less and seeing more benefit. It’s a good thing.”
For information, visit www.xgym.com or call 425-822-9496. X Gym is located at 126 Central Way, Ste. 150.
