By DENNIS WYATT
209 Living
There are no banks of TVs or endless rows of cardio machines.
If you’re looking for a juice bar or a tanning bed you’re in the wrong place.
But if you’re looking for a workout that mimics what you do day-to-day or is tailored to a particular sport and has such touches as a sand pit for intense workouts that lead to more powerful running this is the right place.
The place — 209 Core Athletic Performance — is located in a warehouse-style facility at 17960 Ideal Parkway just off East Highway 120 east of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District office.
It is here you will find a fitness facility that is both family friendly and goal oriented. 209 Core offers 1 on 1 sessions, training for athletes, body sculpting, and bootcamps.
More importantly, you will find an attitude and atmosphere that is geared to the novice as well as to those pursuing specific skills such as how to clear trach hurdles quicker.
And if you are a bit iffy about whether you can exercise, this is definitely the place for you.
“A lot of people think they have to lose weight before they can start a workout,” owner Robert Iniguez said. “That’s what the workouts are for — to lose weight and build muscle.”
Bootcamps at 209 aren’t designed to mimic Navy SEALS training in terms of intensity but they do deliver what the “hardcore” programs do which is results.
Depending upon your fitness level those results run the gamut from losing weight, being in better shape, and building muscle to challenging yourself and achieving a sense of wellbeing.
Bootcamps are
best of both worlds
Iniguez notes bootcamps are the best of both worlds. You are working out in a group but at the same time the instructors are keeping a watch out for proper form.
And because you are working in a group, you’ll find others encouraging you. Not only does it help to make you more at ease but you’ll eventually develop “workout friendships.”
Between the set times and knowing there are workout friends expecting to see you, Iniguez said is easier for people to keep the commitment they make to themselves to work out, lose weight, and get into better shape.
The bootcamps are designed to mix things up and be fun. Virtually everybody who gets to the point they make workouts part of their routines discovers that it is a great stress reliever and allows them to reset their minds, Iniguez noted.
Iniguez said anyone can try out a bootcamp session for free to decide if it is right for them.
“If you’ve never jumped off a 32-inch high box, we’re not going to make you jump off a 32-inch high box,” Iniguez said. “Everything can be modified and you can work up to your potential.”
He noted it may be as simple as starting out doing pushups with your knees while concentrating on form and then one day trying to do the pushups on your toes and then going back to your knees the rest of the work up, and progressing in that manner.
Bootcamps take place Monday through Friday at 5 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. You are not restricted to one bootcamp session time and are able to drop in as well when the gym is open to workout . The gym is open Monday through Friday from 5 to 7 a.m., 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and 4 p.m. until the last person goes home. Open gym is also on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.
Month-to-month pricing is $120, a one-year contract paid monthly is $85 or a full-year paid upfront comes to $75 a month.
One definite unique
feature — a sand pit
Core 209 also offers the area’s only sand pit.
“You don’t have to drive 100 miles to the beach to get a sand workout anymore,” Iniguez said.
Plyometric sand training fits right into the 209 Core philosophy.
“You can train intensity in sand and (avoid injuries),” Iniguez noted
Sand pit workouts are able to allow the muscles to contract quicker. It generates work at a higher rate that allows muscle to become more powerful.
Resistance is increased when you run in soft sand since the surface is giving anywhere from two to three inches under your foot which requires your leg muscles to exert more force as you run. It improves the power of the entire leg including the quads on the front of your thigh.
The bottom line is running in sand and making cuts not only builds your muscles quicker but also makes you run faster on solid ground.
Developing useful muscle is why there is a dearth of “machines” at 209 Core designed to build a specific muscle so it pops more. Instead you will see more free weights and equipment designed to build strength for everyday activities such as lifting boxes and such or for sports endeavors.
Iniguez fell in love with workouts when he was a freshman at Los Banos High. He was 128-pound player who made up for his size by going at I harder than bigger athletes. When he discovered how a commitment to working out could change his body — he gained more muscle mass and strength — ne started working out before and after school each day.
Besides building his strength it built his confidence
“I found it was fun to work out,” he said.
While at Modesto Junior College and Fresno State University, Iniguez worked with a number of athletes on their training programs while continuing his studies in kinesiology and sports training. After graduating from Fresno he moved to Manteca
He got into offering bootcamps by accident. Several of the parents at Victorious Elite Cheer that his girlfriend at the time ran asked him to do an impromptu bootcamp in the parking lot. He did that for a while at no charge but then the numbers dwindled down from four to none. When he was asked to do it again he said he’d do so for a small fee. The bootamps restarted in the parking lot and then moved to a local park. He then opened 209 Core Performance in the Manteca Industrial Park before relocating to his current facility three years ago.
He also works as a hurdles coach for the East Union High track time and works with MJC hurdlers as well.
209 Core’s sports specific training that entails a personalized strength program, speed raining and nutritional guidance has proven popular with a number of local high school athletes. It offers 20 sessions a month that is $150 month-to-month or $100 a month with a three-month contract.
Iniguez noted that the athletes involved have built friendships and respect with those training who play for other schools.
As a result they may “play for the red, school, blue school or green school but they see each other as athletes and friends,” he said.
The sports training just like bootcamps is based on functionality.
For more information go to core209.com or call 209.923.0871.
