Boot camp and basketball: a great way to spend the day

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

No plans for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday? There’s still room to participate in ‘Freedom on the Center Court,’ a three-part event at Staples Center that includes fitness, self-improvement and basketball.

For $25 participants can take a one-hour boot camp class on the center court, where they’ll work up a sweat doing push-ups, lunges, squats and run stairs. But don’t worry if you just segued from the sofa a couple of weeks ago — beginners are welcome, too, and instructors will demonstrate how to modify the exercises for various fitness levels.

Then a life coach will help people examine their bad habits and lend advice on how to conquer them — think unresolved New Year’s resolutions. After that two-hour workshop, there’s a basketball game with the Clippers playing the Minnesota Timberwolves. To sign up, call (818) 437-5523.

‘We wanted to do something fun and different,’ says Elaine Miller, a trainer and co-founder (with Narina Tatoussian) of All About You! Wellness BootCamp in Glendale, sponsors of the event. ‘We also liked the tie-in with Martin Luther King Jr. Day; to us that represents freedom, and we think people feel so much more free if they feel comfortable with themselves and their health is good.’

All About You! Wellness BootCamp also offers a training program for the Glendale Downtown Dash, a 5K run/walk March 8. The program, which just kicked off, is $20, with proceeds going to the Healthcare Foundation at Glendale Adventist Medical Center.

-- Jeannine Stein