Alumni promote fitness education

By: Emily McGuire

Posted: 9/24/08

NT alumni Laci Wallace and Brad Jurica took their passion for fitness further than the gym when they channeled their energy into becoming boot camp instructors for Adventure Boot Camp.

Adventure Boot Camp is a four-week boot camp that combines outdoor exercise with the tools necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle, including fitness assessments, food journaling and motivational training.

The camp was founded by John Spencer Ellis in 1998 and has become the largest boot camp program in the world, according to its Web site, with 30 locations in Texas alone.

Both Jurica and Wallace said they realized from an early age that sports and being fit made them feel good.

"People focus on looking a certain way instead of how you feel from the inside out," Wallace said.

Wallace said she wants people to become aware that physical fitness is just as important as mental fitness.

"You go to college to make more money and do something you find enjoyable," Wallace said. "But if you have health problems, all that can be taken away."

Wallace teaches several health courses at NT and is currently working on her thesis for her master's degree in kinesiology.

Disliking the commerciality of fitness, she contacted Kelli Calabrese, the international master srainer for Adventure Boot Camp.

"She went above and beyond for all of her clients to ensure they had the tools to succeed," Wallace said. "At this point, I decided that I wanted to be a part of this program."

Calabrese is also the owner of Calabrese Fitness Consulting, has co-owned several fitness centers, and writes and edits for a slew of health magazines, including Personal Fitness Professional.

She is famous for her fitness program "Feminine, Firm & Fit", a 12-week program that focuses is on living a healthy lifestyle, through eating right, working out and making good decisions.

"When you're strong physically, it helps you become stronger mentally," Calabrese said.

Calabrese said she decided at an early age she would make fitness important to her. Her family had a history of heart disease and cancer, and she said she wanted to protect herself from that.

"It's a part of who I am," Calabrese said.

Jurica, the Argyle Boot Camp instructor, was introduced to Calabrese and was asked to become a certified boot camp instructor. Impressed by Calabrese's passion and knowledge of fitness, he agreed to become part of the program.

"Every day I create a new specialized workout based on the fitness levels of the campers," Jurica said.

In addition to the workout, Jurica educates the campers on aspects of sport psychology, monitors and tracks their nutritional logs.

She also sends out daily e-mails with positive affirmations related to the campers' specific experiences and conversations discussed previously that day.