For the past month, four Chapel Hill Police Department employees have met at 7 a.m. daily at the at the Chapel Hill Community Center Park for strength and conditioning workouts.
The officers, who have been participating in a fitness camp led by UNC alumnus Darryl Pierce, have endured hour-long workouts five days a week.
“I hated it at first, but now I need it every day,” Chapel Hill Police Investigator Johnnie Britt said. “I am addicted to it.”
The Paragon CrossFit boot camp involves such exercises as pull-ups with resistance bands tied to monkey bars, squats and throws with medicine balls and runs with sandbags. Paragon is a CrossFit affiliate that just started in Chapel Hill.
CrossFit — the principal strength and conditioning program for many S.W.A.T. squads and military units — is gathering momentum around Chapel Hill. The program also was used to train cast members of the movie “300.”
“It’s constantly varied functional movement at high intensity that keeps the body guessing,” Pierce said.
UNC students also are working to start a CrossFit group on campus.
Sophomore David Blumberg said that every time he goes to the gym he sees a new person doing a CrossFit exercise.
“CrossFit is about functional strength, so whether your goal is to climb a mountain, run a 5K or just be in better shape, it will work for you,” Blumberg said.
Blumberg is working to get approval from CrossFit to form an official group and appropriate funds to buy official equipment or take trips to local CrossFit centers.
Police Investigator Celisa Lehew said what sets apart the CrossFit workouts is that they focus on multiple parts of the body and require extreme intensity in short bursts.
“You really have to give yourself the will to go on,” Lehew said. “But it feels good afterward.”
Pierce’s camp ends today, and participants will measure how much they have improved their strength and endurance.
“They’ll never look at a playground the same,” Pierce said.
Pierce is a former manager for UNC’s men’s basketball team. He also has been a trainer for Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Timberlake and Oprah Winfrey.
Paragon CrossFit will open to the public on Oct. 13 with small group boot camp training programs. Free weekly trial workouts will begin at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 11 at the park.
A main element of the program is that every person does the same workout no matter what his or her athletic ability is.
“The same thing Navy Seals do a 60-year-old grandmother can do; we just alter the intensity,” Pierce said.
Some students opt to keep up with the CrossFit program through daily workouts on its Web site, which includes demonstration videos for the public.
“CrossFit specializes in not specializing,” said junior Mitchell Osborne, a certified CrossFit trainer who works at CrossFit Durham as a personal trainer and instructor.
“Everything we do is functional and can be applied to everyday lift,” he said.
DEMONSTRATION VIDEOS
crossfit.com
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