Boot camp is something different at 6 a.m. every day

• How she heard about it: In the spring of 2007, one of Kaffee Hopkins’ co-workers told her about a boot camp class she attended through Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. Hopkins considered joining her but two facts stood in her way: she hadn’t worked out in five or six years, and she was intimidated. Her co-worker was really athletic and 20 years younger, according to Hopkins, 47.

• What got her to go: When Hopkins learned that there were all levels in the class and that it was sure to be full of beginners since bathing suit season was coming up, she decided to try it out. Her first class was on April 9, 2007 and she’s been attending regularly ever since. That means getting up at 5:30 a.m. to meet at E. Rivers Elementary School on Peachtree Battle Avenue at 5:55 a.m., five days a week.

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ADRIENNE HUGHES-HARRIS/Special

Kaffee Hopkins says that her morning boot camp routine has become addictive. ‘I love that you don’t know what you’re going to do when you get there.’

THE WORKOUT
Peachtree Road United Methodist Church's next six-week session starts Jan. 5 and runs through Feb. 13. For more information, go to www.atlantaelitebootcamp.com.

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• Her first day: “The first day of each session you have to do a two-mile run and you have to see how many push-ups you can do in two minutes and sit-ups for two minutes,” says Hopkins. “My time was 26:20,” she says of her first two-mile run. “Most people could walk it faster than that!”

• A breakdown of the class: Each boot camp is a six-week session and the workout changes daily. “Some days we stay at the school for a track workout, which means we do 400- or 800-meter long intervals, and other days we may do the ‘church run,’ which means we go to all the churches up and down Peachtree [Road] and stop at each for pushups, squats, crab crawl, situps, bicycles,” she says. “It’s always a challenge every day.”

• What it’s done for her: “I am so much more fit,” says Hopkins. And that two-mile run? “I’m proud to say that my best time has been 18:27,” she says. “Am I really fast? No. But my stamina is better.” Plus, she says working out in the morning helps her mind. “You can tackle anything throughout the day,” she says.

• Getting up early: “You get used to the routine. I would say four out of five days I roll over and look at the clock before the alarm goes off,” she says. But if she were to accidentally sleep through her alarm, PRUMC Boot Camp offers five other classes throughout the day.

• Her favorite thing about it: “The challenge,” she says, adding that it’s always different. “I love that you don’t know what you’re going to do when you get there.” Plus, she likes the people, especially “the ones in the back with her,” she says.

• Her next goal: “Someday I’d like to be at 18 minutes or 17:59,” she says of her two-mile run time.

• Her advice: “Come try it. You’d be amazed at how addictive it gets to be. It’s amazing that somebody like me who hadn’t worked out at all is so addicted to it.”

Do you have a favorite workout? E-mail us at myfavoriteworkoutajc@gmail.com