Training for a healthy life

Variety, motivation and humor are some of the elements that make Bill Cole's boot camp class at Fitness Solutions successful.


Training for a healthy life

By Katelyn Harding, Staff Writer Twin State Valley Media Network
Sunday, June 28, 2009 8:36 PM

SPRINGFIELD -- Variety, motivation and humor are some of the elements that make Bill Cole's boot camp class at Fitness Solutions successful.

"[I've noticed] rapid strength gain, and I'm doing things I couldn't do back in high school," Springfield resident Jason Smith said. "I like the team aspect of it, and Bill pushes you to succeed along with the other members of the class."

Classmate Samantha Simonds of Rockingham, agreed.

"I love having somebody tell me what I have to do," she said, adding that since February of 2008, she and husband Mike have lost a total of 195 pounds and Cole's class helps keep them on track.

Simonds also said since they have opposite schedules -- she is a legal assistant and he is a corrections officer -- it allows them to spend time together.

"It gives us something in common," she said. "I love it. We're always doing hikes, trails, there's something different all the time. And it's such a great group of guys."

Bill Cole, 51, who served 20 years in the military as a Team Sergeant in the Army Special Forces, said his transition to becoming a personal trainer was seamless.

"It kind of falls hand in hand," he said. "I was in charge of the physical therapy program and I was a medic for a number of years."

Cole's time in the military took him everywhere around the world, including Iraq, Turkey, Bosnia, Korea and the Arctic before retiring in 2001.

"I've done a lot of cool things," he said. "I got paid to ski, climb, hike, meet all kinds of people and travel."

He said the years have taken a toll on his physical fitness; he has arthritis, he is scheduled for his second knee replacement this year, and he is considered 90 percent disabled, but none of that stops him, or even slows him down.

"I'm here to provide a service to help people obtain their fitness goals," he said. "I teach people how to work out correctly and safely if they don't know how to work out on their own.

Cole, a Chester, Vt., resident, said since he was always teaching others and keeping himself physically fit, "it was an easy process to become a physical trainer."

One reason Cole said he modeled his boot camp program after the 13-week P90X program is because it "accelerates results by constantly introducing new moves and routines so your body never plateaus," according to their Web site.

Also, he said one-on-one personal training can be expensive, but with his four-person class, it costs them $40 a week.

More importantly, he said the group "feeds off each other" and supports one another.

He said his first clients at the gym [he now has 22], which he bought in March, were his barber and her two employees, and they loved the class.

He's also had classes geared toward high school athletes and students who were planning on entering the military.

"The health of the country is in jeopardy," Cole said.

For questions, inquiries or more information call Fitness Solutions at (802) 885-5814.


http://www.eagletimes.com/ET/story/060928-kmh-spfldbillcole