Written by Amanda Coers – You may have noticed some increased activity at Alcorn Park in Brownwood. At various times in the day, ranging from the wee hours of the morning at 5 a.m. to 6 o’clock in the evening, you’ll see groups of people jogging, doing push-ups in the grass, having relays in the parking lot, and a whole lot of high fives. It’s all part of a rapidly growing fitness group in the Central Texas area: Camp Gladiator.

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Camp Gladiator (CG) is an outdoor fitness group that offers one-hour, full-body workouts, outdoors in a teamwork-inspired setting. The company was founded by Ally Davidson after she won the title of Grand Champion on the NBC show “American Gladiator” in 2008. Ally used her winnings to launch her own fitness business, beginning in Dallas, and has since expanded to over 2,000 locations nationwide. One of the newest Camp Gladiator groups is right here in Brownwood and Early, with three different locations: Alcorn Park, Early High School, and Riverside Park.

The lead trainer for this area is Misti Bailey Pope running the Alcorn Park group, and her newest team member Crystal Norris, who runs the Early group. Misti moved to Brownwood from Granbury in January of this year to launch Camp Gladiator.

A fitness trainer for six years, Misti became involved with Camp Gladiator in Granbury after several campers began using her healthy meal planning service. The CG trainer, Bethany, reached out to Misti to get to know her, and the two became fast friends. When Bethany needed to take maternity leave, she asked Misti to join the program and become a part time trainer.

“Once I learned what the company was really about, I decided I was all in,” Misti said. From that point there was no part-time about it, Misti began running her own CG locations in Granbury.

With some success under her belt, Misti quickly found herself with an opportunity to establish groups in a completely new area in Brownwood, but it would mean starting from scratch to build a group.

“I knew I wanted to go into leadership at some point,” she explained. After talking about it with her two children, Misti made a leap of faith and relocated to launch Camp Gladiator Brownwood.

She began advertising the new fitness group in December 2016. The following month, 65 people showed up for Misti’s first CG Brownwood 4-week camp, and 45 of those campers purchased memberships to continue attending camps for six months or a year-long contract, called ‘going BOLD,’ with Camp Gladiator. The very next month, Misti had 70 BOLD campers. And interest has continued to grow.

The buzz generated here in Brownwood earned Misti recognition from the Camp Gladiator company. During a recent competition, Misti won first place for the fastest growing new area. And she certainly has some happy campers.

“You might think you are so far out of shape that you can’t run a few steps, but then you get in the atmosphere and actually do it,” said camp participant Amy Seymour. “You do this hour-long, hard workout, and at the end of it you are amazed at what your body can actually do. That is inspiring and keeps you going back.”

All fitness levels are welcomed at the workouts, with Misti and Crystal giving ‘success options’ to modify a particular exercise if needed. Though the name Gladiator could be considered intimidating, the atmosphere of the workouts is positive and uplifting.

“We encourage everyone to come try it. You don’t have to be in great shape to come to camp,” Misti said. Campers come in all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life, from busy professionals looking to squeeze in a workout at 5 a.m. to moms bringing their kids along to workout and play in the park in the afternoons.

No workout is ever repeated, as part of the Camp Gladiator formula to keep the body guessing and keep campers interested. While it might seem like a walk in the park, the workouts are no joke with a full hour of high intensity interval training exercises that involve both cardio and strength training.

“CG is like ‘old school’ recess! We are working out like crazy hard but it really doesn’t seem so bad,” said camper Melissa Evans. “I would never work this hard on my own. We have a very friendly sense of competitiveness that makes me push harder. I truly feel like an athlete!”

Evans, a 49 year old business woman from Rising Star, was one of the first to join Misti’s group with a workout the day after Christmas. Six months of regular workouts has caused her resting heart rate to drop from 63 to 48, a sign of good cardiovascular health, and she’s enjoying the way her clothes fit. Evans drives almost 50 miles to camp three times a week. “My feet hit the floor at 3:50 a.m. and usually don’t stop until 5 p.m. or later. It’s that good.”

Camp Gladiator workouts are always held outdoors, except in the case of very bad weather in which the workout will be moved to an indoor location. A workout is also never cancelled. It’s a serious commitment from the trainers, but Misti feels it’s all worth it in her quest to help others see results.

“Getting fit is more than physical, it’s emotional,” she said. “It feeds into our core and how we look at ourselves.”

And she feels that Brownwood is a perfect place for Camp Gladiator’s community-minded spirit.

“It’s like coming home,” she said about Brownwood. Misti grew up in Rising Star and has enjoyed moving back to a smaller town environment. “Everyone knows their neighbor and supports each other during crisis and celebration. That’s more how I was raised, and my children like it here. They felt very welcomed and accepted when we moved here.”