Boot Camp Moms stay warm by constantly moving.

(I wrote the following story for The News & Observer and Charlotte Observer; it appeared in both papers on January 31, 2012. It appears here, with links.)

Used to be that neighborhood moms got together for lunch or a game of bridge. Today, they’re increasingly likely to gather for burpies, squats and to work up a good sweat.
The boot camp workout, born a decade ago and initially targeted to hard-core fitness buffs, is moving out of the gym and into local neighborhoods, where it’s finding a growing following among busy moms struggling to juggle work and family, let alone find time for a workout.
The workouts incorporate a variety of intense strength and aerobic exercises jammed into a half hour or hour. Boot camps continue to be one of the nation’s most popular group exercise programs, according to the non-profit American Council on Exercise, ranking with Zumba, TRX suspension training and interval training as 2012’s hottest options.
That boot camps are now coming to your neighbor can only enhance their attraction.
“One of the most commonly cited barriers to working out is that the gym is too far, it’s not convenient,” says Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist with ACE. “The workouts are fun, they’re convenient and they have the added social element of catching up with friends, of seeing your neighbors, of being part of something active.”
Fun?
Thirteen women from North Raleigh’s Harrington Grove neighborhood who gathered in 25 degree temperatures for their regular Saturday morning Boot Camp Moms workout a couple weeks back might take issue with that notion.
“My hipbone hurts!” complained one during a bout of figure-eight crunches.
“That’s because you have tiny butts,” shouted instructor Kyle Gill Furlow, attempting to spin the pain.
“Yeah, right.”
“We lie to them all the time,” joked fellow instructor Jennifer Pinder. “We find it motivates them.”
Friends Furlow and Pinder came up with the idea for Boot Camp Moms when both emerged from pregnancy five years ago, Furlow carrying an extra 45 pounds, Pender an excess 80.
“Kyle joined Jenny Craig and I joined Weight Watchers,” says Pinder, “but we knew we needed to exercise, too.”
They got in shape and in the process realized that other moms were in similar condition. Both got certified as group fitness instructors through the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America and hung out their shingle — via fliers placed around the neighborhood and word-of-mouth. The response surprised them.
“We had 22 women at our first session,” says Pinder.
The path for Missy Isom, founder and owner of Moms Evolution in Cornelius, was similar.
Prior to having her first child in 2008, she was a financial adviser by day, a body builder by night.
“But I always wanted to take my love of fitness and turn it into a job,” says Isom.
She, too, got certified through AFAA and initially struck out with Baby Boot Camp, a San Francisco-based franchise operation. But she found the focus was “less on the moms, more on the baby and the social aspect. My true passion,” she says, “was on taking these moms and helping them get fit.”
Which isn’t to say that baby doesn’t play a key role in her workouts. For some of her exercises the baby is integral to the exercise.
“We use the baby as weight,” says Isom. For curls, for overhead presses, for lunges ... .
Matthews, the ACE exercise physiologist, says that’s smart for two reasons.
“That movement, that up and down: out of the crib, into the car, how many times do you do that in everyday life?” she says. “Those are very functional movements.”
Further, she says, “In working with people who specialize in new moms, from a psychological standpoint that face-to-face eye contact is important for bonding.”
Isom’s group, which started in 2008 and averages 30 moms at any one time, uses space in a neighborhood fitness studio. Furlow and Pinder, who currently have 40 signed up in their year-and-a-half-old program, meet on the outdoor tennis court of the Harrington Grove neighborhood community club.
On that 25-degree morning, the 13 Boot Camp Moms who braved the cold for an hour-long workout that began and ended with aerobics (jumping-jack-infused sprints, running a circuit course) with strength training wedged in between. For strength training, the women rotated among eight stations, doing TRX, Bosu Ball pushups, snatches, equalizers, rowing, squats with a medicine ball, resistance bands, more squats.
“Your mind is going to give up before your body does,” yelled Furlow, the self-appointed drill sergeant of the duo (Pinder is the cheerleader). “Don’t let it.”
Melissa Diana didn’t let her mind give up, despite being “scared” at the group’s very first session.
“I tried everything,” she says of what Furlow and Pinder threw at her on day one. “I couldn’t do many reps.”
But Diana, who is 33, kept coming back. Within a year, she had lost 80 pounds. More importantly, she’s kept it off and she’s embraced an active lifestyle.
“I went from exercising zero days a week to exercising six days a week,” she says. “I like the group atmosphere. I like that we’re all in the trenches, doing it together.”
Julie Nelson, at 52 one of the group’s advanced moms, echoes the sentiments of several fellow boot campers. “I like that I have much more energy. I like the way I feel.”
That, says Furlow, is what ultimately counts: how you feel, rather than how many dress sizes you drop.
“Strong,” says Furlow, “is the new skinny.”

* * *

More info

• Boot Camp Moms meets Mondays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. at the Harrington Grove Clubhouse in North Raleigh. Cost is $8 per class, 10 classes for $50 through Feb. 1. More info at Bootcampmoms@gmail.com or here.
• Moms Evolution meets Mondays at 9:30 a.m. and Fridays at 10:30 a.m. at KadiFit in Cornelius. Cost is $8 per class, $50 a month, or $40 a month for a six-month commitment. More info at MomsEvolution.com.
• Another option for mom/baby workouts is Stroller Strides, a franchise that operates nationwide with several offerings throughout North Carolina. For more information go here.
• If you don’t live near one of the above options, the American Council on Exercise offers two free parent-oriented workouts you can do at home. Postural Workout for Parents “is designed to help people who have postural imbalances resulting from carrying unbalanced loads (e.g., children, a heavy shoulder or computer bag) for extended periods on a regular basis.” Total-body Conditioning Workout for Parents “is designed to improve muscular endurance and strength through exercises that focus on the correct execution of the five primary movement patterns (bend-and-lift, single-leg, pushing, pulling, and rotational movements) in all three planes of motion.”

Exhibit A: Tuesday, 1:18 p.m.

Yesterday, I was scheduled to do an 8-mile training run on single-track trail. I also had a boatload of work to do. But the night before, I’d done the math: 8 miles on trail, that’s about 1 hour and 20 minutes at my current pace. Add in 20 minutes of travel time to and from the trailhead and I was looking at an hour and 40 minutes (OK, an hour 50 when you throw in stretching and the fact it probably takes longer than 10 minutes to get to Umstead). I factored that into my workload, got up an hour early and got to work.  I can make this happen, I thought.

Then I looked out the front window and what I saw sent a shiver.

What I saw was the top photo. It sent a shiver because only Saturday I had spent six hours raking the front and back yards. Six hours bent over a non-ergonomically correct rake making nature’s leafy mess go away. Now, just two days later, it was back twofold. At the rate the leaves appeared to be

Exhibit B: Tuesday, 2:26 p.m.

giving up the ship, there could easily be a foot by day’s end. And with rain in the forecast for Wednesday, the act of raking could, literally, become a Herculean task.  I grabbed my work gloves and rake. So much for my run.

I’m not here to kvetch, however, about the occasional downside of home ownership. Rather, I use yesterday as an example of why you need to be flexible with your workouts. Yes, in a perfect world where the leaves fall only on my strength training days, yesterday would have been ideal for running. But I still got a good workout out of the deal.

I ended up raking vigorously for one hour and eight minutes. When I’d finished (see second photo), my body — my whole body — was complementing me on a good workout. Barbara Ainsworth, an exercise epidemiologist at San Diego State University quoted on the AARP website, says raking helps build upper body strength as well as strength in your core,

Exhibit C: Wednesday, 8:25 a.m.

your stomach and back muscles. (For the record, according to the Self.com calorie calculator, I burned 382.97 calories. According to the Runnersworld.com calorie calculator, I would have burned 1,000 calories on my 8-mile run.) Plus, there was no sooty carbon footprint attached to my yardwork and I had a spotless front yard to boot.

Or I did. Then I went out this morning to get the paper (see Photo Exhibit C).

Looks like I won’t be running today, either.

* * *

Postscript: I decided to run anyway, did 8.2 miles on the trail at Umstead, was grabbed by numerous roots and rocks hiding beneath the leaf litter, finished in a slow but study 1 hour and 28 minutes. I returned home and found this (Exhibit D) waiting for me.

Exhibit D: Today, 1:45 p.m.

Argh.

Something other than hiking that will build your strength, build your cardio, I answered. I ran through a litany of options, from riding a bike, to taking a yoga class to lifting weights. But I missed some obvious ones. Like work in the yard. Two things reminded me of that option.

First, a new study out of Kingston, Ontario’s Queen’s University reiterating that all kinds of activity provide good cardiorespiratory fitness, from simply taking the stairs at work, to vacuuming your rumpus room, to weeding your garden.

In the study, “inactive, abdominally obese men and women” were assessed for IPA (“incidental physical activity”), LPA (“light physical activity”) and MPA (“moderate physical activity”) for their CRF (“cardiorespiratory fitness”). I could sedate you with the footnotes, formulas and numbers in the thousandths reported in of the study; rather, suffice it to say simply that “both duration and intensity of IPA were positively associated with CRF among inactive, abdominally obese adults.” Even more simply said: People who become more active in their day-to-day lives — by mopping the floor, by mowing the lawn, by cleaning the attic — improved their cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF).

I was further reminded of the benefits of IPA cross-training when I worked in the yard for five hours on Sunday. I still ache in places that don’t get touched on a hike.

Bike to work: It’s good for your heart

Remember when people didn’t have gym memberships, didn’t run 5Ks, didn’t sweat to the oldies — and not because they hadn’t been recorded yet? This would have been back when we walked to the factory where they had physically demanding jobs. When we were more concerned about how many $ our clothes cost, not how many Xs came before the L.

Turns out folks back then didn’t need the gym because they had physically demanding jobs, according to a study from the Chronic Disease Epidemiology Lab at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. Their findings are believed to be the first to show that a physically active job — and walking or riding your bike to get there — do as much for a healthy heart as boot camp at the gym three times a week. The study looked at 28,000 Finnish men and 29,874 Finnish women over an average 18-year period.

While you can’t do a lot about your job — it either demands physical activity or it doesn’t — you can do something about getting to and from work. And that would be a good move, especially for women: While there was little association between heart failure and commuting for men, women who walked or biked 30 minutes or more to their jobs reduced their risk of heart failure by 20 percent.

More about the study here.

5 percent of us exercise daily

Hopefully, that last item inspired you to walk or bike to work in order to get your daily dose of exercise, because another bit of research, the American Time Use Survey, found that only 5 percent of us had participated in “vigorous physical activity” within the previous 24 hours. What were we doing? 95.6 percent of us were eating and drinking and 80.12 percent of us were watching television or a movie. 80,000 people aged 20 and up took the time to stop eating and watching TV to participate in the survey.

More here.

Yet those who do, thrive

From Mid Sweden University and the Karolinska Institute comes word that exercising regularly really does pay off, especially when it comes to “oxygen-uptake capacity.” And as we’re all aware, if you don’t have the capacity to uptake oxygen, your lifestyle options are limited.

This study focused on seniors as old as 90 who were active skiers (in the case of the Scandanvians studied, that would be the vigorous sport of cross-country skiing). Of the senior guys studied, the ability to take in and utilize oxygen was twice as great for the skiers than the non-skiers (basically, those 95.6 percent who spend their time eating and drinking and the 80.1 percent who watch movies). In fact, the older active skiers compared to guys 40 to 50 years younger who did not exercise. Muscle tissue samples for the active older skiers also were similar to the group half their age.

"The findings show that humans have a great potential to maintain a high level of physical work capacity and thereby better quality of life even at advanced ages," says Per Tesch, professor of sports science at Mid Sweden.

More here.

(For additional evidence that staying active as you age is smart, check this New York Times article about how exercises to improve balance can have a huge impact on our lives as we age. And if you don’t think balance is an issue, consider this telling line from the story: “Unintentional falls among those 65 and older are responsible for more than 18,000 deaths and nearly 450,000 hospitalizations annually in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.”)

Perhaps the best reason to exercise (yawn)

Finally, a study from the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Medicine has unveiled a new prescription for insomnia: Exercise.

The study was small — 23 sedentary adults, mostly women 55 and older who had trouble falling asleep at night. (Women tend to suffer from insomnia more than men.) The women were split into two groups: one that continued not working out, one that worked out several times a week at about 75 percent of their maximum heart rate. After 16 weeks the exercising group saw their Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores drop an overage of 4.8 percent.

Sominex? Zumba!

Read more here.

First fare. My first ride, fittingly was Sig Hutchinson, Mr. Mass Transit in the Triangle. Sig, who in addition to being a huge bike advocate is secretary of the Triangle Transit Authority, was crossing Fayetteville Street on his way to a meeting. “I have to be to a meeting in five minutes he said.” I got him there in plenty of time (his meeting was on the opposite side of Fayetteville Street) and managed to catch up on the latest developments in Triangle mass transit. (Story short: The climate is better for mass transit in the Triangle than it’s ever been.)

Love birds. I thought the best part of this job would be getting to ride a bike all day. I was wrong. The best part is the people you meet, people such as Vic and Ginger. I picked Vic and Ginger up on Fayetteville Street, near the courthouse. They were in town from Tampa and had heard about a vintage clothing store that Ginger thought was just off Dawson Street. Turned out to be Father & Son,  run by Friend of GGNC Brian Ownby. On the way over I learned that Vic impersonated the likes of Elvis and Michael Jackson, that Ginger was originally from Gastonia, and that they were crazy in love. After a two-hour shopping spree, I swung back by and took them to the train station. They were a delight; I should have tipped them.

My first fare, Mr. Mass Transit Sig Hutchinson (holding the bag) with Mr. Downtown, Greg Hatem and Mrs. Downtown, Samantha Hatem (a fellow refuge from The New & Observer).

Today’s dilemma. In my day job here at GGNC, I encourage folks to be as active as possible. That includes taking a walk over lunch — especially on the first 70-plus day of the year. So there I was, pedaling through downtown trying to talk people out of walking and riding in my rickshaw.

My shortcoming as a rickshaw driver. No one was more smitten by today’s weather than me: I just wanting to ride, ride, ride. People would wave to me, I’d wave back. Then it occurred to me: Maybe they're waving because they want a ride. Need to work on that.

Friendliest city in the U.S. I’ve lived here 18 years and I’m still in awe of what a universally friendly place this is. I was reminded of that yet again today by the folks who, understandably, preferred to walk, yet were unfailingly nice and polite in declining a ride.  Made me realize I wouldn’t last an hour doing this in most any other city.

Catching up. Great day for catching up with the old crew from The News & Observer, which is a block off Fayetteville Street and was my employer for 17 years. Thad Ogburn, Joe Neff, Josh Shaffer, John Rottet — good to hear they’re all doing well. (And always entertaining to hear what’s going on behind the gray walls of Raleigh's gray lady.)

On pedaling a 175-pound bike for six straight hours. It is a lot of fun. It’ll also wear you out (especially when you’re loaded with 300-or-so pounds of people). I forecast an early bedtime this evening.

Like now.

Top photo: These gals were lots of fun.

Usually, this gem is wedged between “Take the stairs, not the elevator” and “Walk 30 minutes at lunch” on the exercise to-do list. And usually, there’s little supporting evidence about why this is a good thing. You should just do it. Here, to bolster the case for parking in the nether regions of your mall parking lot, is some supporting evidence.

How much of a difference will it really make? I’ve wondered that myself. So I went to the local Target with my trusty pedometer to conduct some field research. First, I sought out the closest open spot to the front door, parked, and set my odometer and walked to the door: 26 steps. Then I got in the car, drove to the far end of the lot where there were spaces aplenty, parked, walked to the front door: 164 steps. Since this would be a roundtrip, that’s 328 steps. That right there is more than 3 percent of your government-recommended total of 10,000 steps per day.

What's the bottom line (meaning for my bottom)? For some of you, I realize, exercise boils down to one thing: How much weight can I lose? Let’s do some quick math. According to a poll of 3,000 women conducted by GE Money, those 3,000 women made, on average, 301 shopping trips per year. Let’s say that on every one of those trips you parked at the far end of the lot, 164 steps from the front door. That’s 328 steps, 301 times in the course of a year. Assuming you don’t stop at the Target snack bar and snarf a stuffed pretzel and a Coke, that’s 98,728 steps in a year. Using the oft-sited 2,000-steps-per-mile figure, that would be 49.364 miles (let’s just go with 50). And let’s say you’re walking at a fairly brisk 4 mile-per-hour pace (and, for calorie calculator sake, let’s say you weigh 160 pounds): You’d burn 363.6 calories in an hour. In the time it would take you to cover 50 miles (about 12 1/2 hours), you would burn 4,545 calories. Since you need to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound, you would lose about 1.3 pounds a year simply by parking a the far end of the lot. Granted, 1.3 pounds isn’t a lot, but it’s 1.3 pounds more than you’d burn loitering near the front door for a space.

Besides, there are other reasons to park far from the front door in a crazy shopping center parking lot ... .

Another bottom line Numbers on how many accidents occur in parking lots are hard to come by because parking lots typically are private property and public law enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction. Typically, the parties involved exchange insurance information and let the insurers figure out who’s to blame. But you can bet the number of parking lot fender benders is high, especially if you drive an econobox and find yourself backing out between two SUVs or minivans with tinted windows. You’re driving blind, basically. A number that is clear, though, is the cost of fixing fender benders. In a 2008 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, some of the 20 small cars tested sustained more than $4,000 in damage from impacts ranging from 3 mph to 6 mph. Even the best performer, the Ford Focus, sustained $600 in damage. Park away from the bumper-car action and you’ll reduce your chances of a costly fender bender. And don’t forget those door dings from inconsiderate neighbors, dings that often aren’t worth the time — or expense — to fix.

Caution! Of course while your car may be safer at the far end of the lot, you’ll still have to negotiate the craziness of the lot. According to the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration, 221 deaths and 14,000 injuries occur annually in “nontraffic backover crashes.”
A few tips for not becoming a backover statistics, from personal experience and from the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center:

• On your approach to the more crowded portion of the lot near the front door, pay attention to people getting into cars. Those cars will soon be pulling out.
• Watch for back-up lights. When they go on, you should go on red alert, either by stopping or maneuvering to a spot where you’re pretty sure the car isn’t going.
• Ditto the above for the sound of an engine coming to life (beware the silent-running Prius) http://blogs.automobilemag.com/6244387/car-news/boy-hit-by-quiet-prius-hybrid-spawns-debate/index.html
• Even at crosswalks, where you have the right of way, do not assume you have the right of way. On foot, you’re no match for a minivan on a mission.
• When dealing with cars, do everything you can to make eye contact with the driver. It’s not that they’re less likely to mow you down because you’ve made a personal connection; Rather, it’s the best way to assure that they’ve seen you and know you’re there.
• Make yourself as visible as possible. Don’t walk in the center of the lane, but do walk a foot or two out from parked vehicles to enhance you’re visibility.
• Do not — do NOT — use your cell phone while walking in the lot.
• Do not — do NOT — plug into your iPod while walking in the lot.
• If you’re with children, hold their hand. Children and older people are more susceptible to getting hit in parking lots, according to the NHTSA. Even if they’re older and claim embarrassment, hold their hand.

Besides, isn’t embarrassing your kids a key part of parenting?

Thus, our new occasional feature, Do This, Not That. As in, Do take the Stairs, not the elevator. Or, do park at the far end of the lot, not next to the door. Or, don’t sit in the La-Z-Boy to watch your favorite sitcom, sit on an exercise ball. Little things all, but little things that if done regularly can do wonders for you in seven different ways, according to the Mayo Clinic. Keeping active, states the Mayo Clinic, can — drum roll, please: 1. Improve your mood, 2. Combat Chronic Disease, 3. Help with weight management, 4. Boost energy levels, 5. Make you sleep better, 6. “Put the spark back in your sex life,” 7. Inject fun into your life. (For details, go here.) We’ll start the Do This, Not That series with a classic.

Do this: Take the stairs Not that: The elevator

Make a difference? Say you work on the third floor of an office building and swear off the elevator in favor of the stairwell. Between arriving for work in the morning, running to meetings, going to lunch and leaving at day’s end, let’s say you spend 10 minutes a day in the stairwell. According to our handy fitness calculator if you weigh 170 pounds you’ll burn 103 calories over the course of a day. Do that five days a week, 50 weeks a year (two weeks off for good behavior) and that’s 25,750 calories a year. Since you need to burn about 3,500 calories to lose a pound of fat, that means that everything else aside, you could drop more than 7 pounds in a year just by taking the stairs.

Study this: Participants in a study by the University of Missouri and University of Copenhagen were asked to limit the number of steps they took daily to 1,400. (It’s recommended that you take at least 10,000 steps a day, though the average American takes fewer than 7,500.) After two weeks, the participants’ glucose and fat levels increased significantly and it took longer to clear the gunk from their bloodstreams.

Save time: It may not just seem like the elevators in your building are slow, they are. At least they’re slower than you, according to a study at the University of South Carolina, where elevator riders and stair climbers timed their respective ascents and descents over a period of time. Turned out taking the elevator took about twice as long as the stairs, mainly because of the wait involved. So, show up for that crucial presentation on time with a little glow or late and looking suspiciously fresh. Your choice.

Benefits: Good, condensed cardio exercise that burns calories and can help combat high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.

Added benefit: Want the Reebok butt without dropping $125 on a pair of shoes? Take the stairs and you’ll be the one saying, “Dude ... Excuse me?”

Fountain of youth? Take the stairs and you could wind up like Cal State Northridge professor Ronnie Guie, who 19 years ago took some coworkers up on their offer to spend the lunch hour climbing stairs in their 10-story building. He’s been doing stairs as his main form of exercise ever since, which has helped the 59-year-old retain his boyish 30-inch waist and 155-pound frame.

And who knows ... Climbing stairs could even be your stairway to fame, as it has been for 25-year-old Thomas Dold of Stuttgart, Germany, who last week won the 33rd Annual Empire State Building Run-Up for the fifth time.  His time last Tuesday to scamper up the 1,576 steps to the Empire State Building’s 86th floor observation deck: 10 minutes and 16 seconds.

Next Do This, Not That: “Two and a Half Men” and an Exo Ball.

Photo: Today, a flight of stairs, tomorrow the Empire State Building.

The noise had come from somewhere not at all far behind us. It emanated from a living creature, that much I could tell. And it was by far the loudest, most attention-getting noise I had ever heard emanated by a living creature. The ground shook, it was so loud.

Er, what's the gauge of that fence wire?

“Those,” said Kim Barker, our tour guide, “were the lions.” There was a stunning matter-of-factness in her tone, which continued as she added, “They are still very much in possession of all their wild instincts.” The nine of us on the tour, already sticking close thanks to the sub-freezing weather, huddled closer still.

The Conservator’s Center is about the last thing you’d expect to find in rural Caswell County. NC 119 north from Mebane rides the crest of the Piedmont Plateau, open meadows interspersed with stands of the region’s trademark oak/hickory forests. There’s a slight savanna feel, though nothing to suggest the 20 or so lions, 9 tigers and other assorted critters, mostly cats, who hail mostly from Africa. Nothing to tip you off when you head west down Huffines Road, nothing when you veer down the gravel drive where Huffines Ts into Hughes Mill Road. The handful of old farm buildings suggests an old farm. It’s only when the lions roar, which sometimes sets off the New Guinea Singing Dogs, that you sense that you aren’t in Andy’s North Carolina anymore.

The Conservators’ Center was started in 1999 by Doug Evans and Mindy Stinner as a refuge for wild (mostly) critters that were in bad situations. Many were wild animals that people bought as kittens, pups or cubs under the assumption their wild tendancies would vanish and they’d remain cute and cuddly forever— then they start looking at the children a little too longingly. Others came from legitimate zoos that closed. Roy , for instance, a native eastern bobcat,  came to the center  when a zoo in Maggie Valley closed. Three of the lion prides (11 lions in all) were rescued from a breeding facility in Ohio shuttered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The facility’s emphasis is on giving these displaced animals a home. The notion of opening the facility to the public didn’t occur until 2007, and even then it’s not a prime emphasis. Visits must be arranged in advance and they’re largely restricted to weekends. Perhaps the main sign that the facility isn’t about tourism? The “gift shop” is in a 12-foot-by-15-foot plywood shed.

Before we head into the compound, Kim goes over the rules. Don’t yell or make loud noises; it upsets the animals. Try not to make sudden moves; that doesn’t go over well, either. Don’t run (prey runs) and if a critter appears to be stalking you, don’t playfully stalk back. Stay behind the barrier ropes. (This causes more than one look of concern: “Barrier ropes”? These critters are in cages of some sort, aren’t they?) And perhaps the biggie: If an animal comes to the fence and turns around, move to one side or the other as quickly as possible — you’re about to be sprayed. Properly alert, we enter the compound to face —

Well, aren’t you a sweet kitty! “Taz,” Kim tells us, is a caracal, a cat that can jump six feet in the air, all the better for catching tasty birds. He’s most notable for his long, pointy ears that end in hairy antennas. Caracals, which range from 30 to 50 pounds, have a wide range of tastes, from birds to lizards to goats and sheep. Cute and very carnivorous.

Ditto the servals, of which the Center has 11, the lynx , even the shy Geoffroy’s cats, which may remain kitten size, around 10 pounds, “but don’t let the cute face fool you,” Kim tells us. “She can be pretty intimidating.”

The first half of the tour focuses on small critters, the aforementioned cats, binturongs, kinkajous, and lemurs. Then it’s time to visit where the ground rules really apply.

Up to this point it hasn’t been much of a concern that the only thing separating us from the residents is a chain-link fence that appears to much like the one separating your backyard from the Wilson’s next door. A little higher, with a cover over top. But standard chain link none-the-less. The chain link becomes more noticeable when we pass by the wolves (of whom, Kim tells us, the males are OK with the female visitors on the tour, not so much the males), the New Guinea Singing Dogs, the tigers and, especially, the lions, who had unleased such unearthly loud roars upon our arrival.

(In fact, I'm told by Julia Matson, the center's director of Fundraising and Outreach, the fencing is 9 gauge steel, "much stronger than typical chain link and material recommended by the USDA for housing these species." According to fence meister Master Halco, 9 gauge is the second stoutest gauge of the six standard chain link fence gauges.)

The lions are kept in three pens, divided by prides Kim tells us, at the far end of the compound. We walk a dirt path alongside Sam & Company’s pen, stop short of the pen with Mufasa and his pride. Again, a chainlink fence the only thing separating us from perhaps the most feared predator to man. Mufasa’s pride is at ease, lounging about, absorbing the patches of sunlight that take the chill off the 30something temperature. Sam’s group, though, is moving about. Sam lazily walks toward us, turns. Our penchant for listening to directions about how to act around lions causes us to obediently — and very quickly — part like the Red Sea.

As Sam begins to return to his pride, Micah assumes a pounce position and lets out a roar that’s twice as attention-getting when you’re just 10 feet away. We freeze, Kim pauses her narration. One of the other females seems intent on unearthing Micah from her throne, a wooden platform three feet off the ground. More roaring, more pacing, more posturing. A short chase ensues. Sam roars. There’s a tension you don’t have to be part of the predatory animal kingdom to appreciate.

“Should we call someone?” Kim asks fellow guide Mandy Matson. They aren’t sure what’s going on.

More short chases, more posturing, more warning roars. Now Spike’s pride is getting agitated. Mufasa, apparently, is agitated, too. He lets out a series of bellows from his adjoining cage. His intervention appears to dissipate, if not resolve, whatever was going on in Sam’s pen. Slowly, the alert level lessens from red to orange to yellow.

The animals paid us no heed during their spat, but being just feet away from them we were very much a part of whatever was going on. It was visceral, striking a chord that makes you appreciate the essence of being an animal. About the importance of staying on top, of staying sharp, about surviving. Mufasa’s intervention was a show of power, of the true value of strength. Not about one’s ability to start a fight. Rather, to keep one from happening. It doesn’t matter where you are in the animal kingdom, strength, as we’d just been shown by the critters at the top of the food chain, breeds a degree of respect.

Even if you’re a cage away.

Interested in learning more?

To learn more about The Conservators’ Center, go here. To arrange a visit, go here.

Well, pardon me, where's my sense of propriety? Happy New Year, everyone! Now, what was I saying? Oh, yes ... .

— exercise trends for 2010, according to the American Council on Exercise. Today, five more.

1. Functional training workouts Functional training workouts will increase in variety, including popular Suspension Training® tools such as TRX.  The portability and time-efficiency of these workouts will appeal to people looking to stay fit at home, the office, the gym or while traveling.

Evidence: Go to Target or one of the Marts (K, Wal) and check out their sporting goods section. Compact items beginning with resistance bands are jamming the shelves. Do a little Googling and you’ll find out why: These gizmos let you do a nearly endless variety of exercises that increase flexibility, strength, balance — everything you need to simply function more efficiently and effectively. And you can do them in your own home.

2. Growing health and fitness awareness “The importance of health and fitness is gaining greater awareness among commercial and governmental organizations.  There will be a strong movement towards collaboration between these groups and health and fitness organizations throughout the New Year.  These diverse groups will work together in the fight against physical inactivity and obesity.”

Evidence: If you doubt this trend you aren’t an employee of the State of North Carolina, which in October proposed making overweight workers pay more for health insurance. The state took a fair amount of heat for this move, which shows just how serious it is about having healthier workers. Look for more innovative ways to emerge as employers battle to keep health care costs down.

3. An increase in properly credentialed trainers “Health and fitness clubs are recognizing the need for, and the importance of, hiring trainers who hold high-quality, reputable professional credentials.”

Evidence: No evidence, but something I vow to look into in the next month or so. Personal trainers come with a wide array of credentials. But how can you tell what those credentials mean? Which credentials are from the Harvard of the PT field and represent a thorough knowledge of physiology and strength training, and which are the “earn-your-four-year-degree-in-a-weekend” type? I’ll report back.

4. Specialty exercise classes “Specialty classes such as ethnic dance, hooping, pole dancing and Zumba will remain popular due in part to the continued success of shows like 'Dancing with the Stars' and 'So You Think You Can Dance.'  Fusion-type classes will be popular among fitness enthusiasts that want to switch up their typical workout programs.  Additionally, more gyms will offer unique group exercise programs and mind-body activities.”

Evidence: Again, we suggest you check out your parks & rec catalog. You may not find pole dancing (that’s a little advanced for most municipalities) but you will find an assortment of dance-oriented classes such as Zumba (described by Zumba Fitness as “a fusion of Latin and International music that creates a dynamic, exciting and effective fitness system.”

5. An increase in fitness training tools “Technology is continuing to infiltrate the fitness world.  The use of tracking and online training and scheduling tools will increase in the coming year with more people looking to better gauge their progress by accessing and monitoring details of their fitness programs. Some popular examples of tracking gadgets include GoWear fit and Fitbit, while online tools such as TrainingPeaks software offer fitness programs and meal plans that people can access 24-7. Mobile applications are even bringing fitness on-the-go through iPhone applications and other downloadable programming."

Evidence: Remember back in the late ‘70s when Jim Fixx’s running log came out (on the heels of his 1977 bestseller, “The Complete Book of Running”) and everyone had to have one? It was basically a calendar for runners, but, with the aid of a pencil, you could record your every workout. It was revolutionary. If you (or your parents) thought that was something, you need to check out its contemporaries, such as MapMyFitness and TrainingPeaks. There’s room to record your workouts — and so much more. Easy to see why these are becoming so big.

Photo: The Distance Meter Pro app tells you have far you've gone, how fast, how many calories you've burned, your altitude, your longitude, your latitude ... .

Here are the top 10 fitness trends for 2010, according to a survey by the American Council on Exercise. Time and money appear to play a key role in how we’ll be exercising in the year ahead.

“Consumers will really look to maximize their workout results while maintaining a close eye on their budgets this year,” ACE Chief Science Officer Cedric X. Bryant, said in a press release.  “Along with financial constraints, we understand that people are busier than ever and will look for workouts that offer the results they seek while fitting within their already jam-packed schedules.”

In addition, says ACE, look for more “alternative fitness programming and classes,” as well as more classes aimed at Baby Boomers trying to stay active. We’ll share five on the list today, five tomorrow.

1. Cost-conscious workouts at fitness clubs and at home “The impact of the economy continues to affect the choices of fitness enthusiasts and health clubs alike. Gyms will alter programming and training to better serve the needs of the cost-conscious member, while in-home workouts utilizing small, portable fitness equipment will be popular among individuals watching their budget.”

Evidence: Witness the abundance of cable TV ads for the likes of the Ab Rocket, the Ab Circle Pro and the Ab Coaster. Look for more gyms to drop their enrollment fees (Gold’s) or to offer gift cards applicable to gym services when you join (Lifestyle Family Fitness offers a $150 gift card to new members).

2. Personal training in small groups “Individuals will scale back on personal training sessions to take advantage of small-group training and group class participation as another way to save on expenses. Health clubs may alter some programs to better suit the needs of larger groups. Likewise, individuals may find that the group setting offers additional motivation and support of their fitness efforts.”

Evidence: During a recent training session with the TRX suspension training system at Seaboard Fitness, personal trainer Larisa Lotz said she’s seeing more demand — and supply — for group personal training. She suggested two ways to approach this: Call a local gym and see if they offer the service, or, find two or three people who are in similar shape (though you don’t necessarily need similar goals) and hire a trainer to work with you. With three people there’s sufficient time for personal attention in a 45- or 50-minute session, she says, and the cost savings in significant.

3. Time-Efficient Workouts “Shorter yet higher-intensity workouts will be more appealing to those with busy schedules because they can reap significant fitness rewards with relatively minimal time investment.  Boot-camp style workouts will continue to be one of the most popular of these trends in 2010, offering the ability to burn sufficiently large number of calories while simultaneously improving muscular fitness.  Circuit training will also be a time-efficient workout of choice due to its combined strength and endurance activities.”

Evidence: Over the past 10 years, the medical and fitness community has continued to re-evalutate how much exercise you need on daily. First, they said you only needed 30 minutes a day. Then they said you didn’t even need to do all 30 minutes at once, that three 10-minute workouts would do. Now, there’s a cottage industry in 10-minute workouts. “Tony Horton’s 10-Minute Trainer,” The “10-Minute Workouts,” Kathy Kaehler’s “Total Body Workout: 6 Ten Minute Workouts”. Sean Foy’s “The 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough” is based on the principal that you need 4 minutes of aerobics, 3 minutes of resistance exercise, 2 minutes of core work, 1 minute of stretching and deep breathing a day. That’s one jam-packed 10 minutes.

4. Exergaming “Exergames will continue to climb in popularity and be taken to the next level: fitness clubs.  By integrating fitness-based video games into their programming, clubs will offer unique exercise sessions for game-lovers and those looking for variety within their workouts.  Studies conducted by ACE on exergaming-type systems, including Nintendo’s Wii Sports and Wii Fit and the PC-based Dancetown, offer insight into the true fitness benefits associated with these alternative fitness options.”

Evidence: The jury is still deliberating on the effectiveness of exergames such as the Wii Fit, but their popularity continues to grow: Witness EA Sports introduction of its Active program, which runs on the Wii Fit platform.   Watch for GetGoingNC’s occasional reports on whether we find the Wii Fit a helpful training aid.

5. Boomer-specific programs “Special fitness programming for aging adults will remain a strong trend next year.  Growing numbers of boomers recognize the multitude of benefits that come along with regular exercise participation, from lowering blood pressure and cholesterol to maintaining one’s functional independence and overall wellbeing.”

Evidence: Check your local parks and rec catalog for winter and you’ll see that the number of class options for “Seniors” — and yes, fellow Baby Boomers, we’ve nearly all passed into this 50-plus classification — is growing. The Raleigh Parks & Rec Leisure Ledger for winter 2010, for instance, includes: Chair Yoga, Kripalu Yoga for Seniors, Horseshoes, group walking clubs, Senior Weight Training, Seniorcise and a host of exercise programs at seniors centers.

Tomorrow: functional training workouts, health and fitness awareness, importance of proper professional credentials, specialty classes, fitness training tools.

Photo: You can't get much trendier for 2010 than an action-packed 45-minute TRX workout with your personal training group at a gym that's waived its enrollment fee. Photo from fitnessanywhere.com