Latest exercise craze involves 'a little pain and misery'

Former military fitness trainers Matt Parrish and Andrea Logan are the drill sergeants at Corporal Punishment Boot Camp in Cary.

“You're going to experience a little pain and misery out here,” Parrish said.

Logan, who says she’s “the nice one” and Parrish is “the evil one,” pushes the boot campers by getting in their faces “kinda like old school.”

Camp member Mary Anne Lutz said the different style of exercise keeps her from getting into “the same old rut” of boring exercise routines.

Boot campers flip tires, drag weights by chains and use cinder blocks, sandbags and sledgehammers in their workouts.

When the campers feel like complaining, they look over at 73-year-old Sue Pfuetze, a grandmother and retired nurse who runs marathons and is a boot camp regular.

“I love working out. I just love being active … I can't beat ya, but I can outlast ya,” Pfuetze said, laughing. “(It) builds endurance, builds total body.”

She does boot camp three days a week, runs on her own, does other daily exercise routines and says she has never had any health problems.

For Pfuetze, the cinder blocks and other weights are a bit smaller. The program accommodates different levels of ability and strength.

“You're reaching goals, and you'll see changes quicker,” Logan said.

The gain comes with a little pain, “but at the end of the workout, you're going to feel good about yourself,” Parrish said.