Vernon Park boot camp hit with Stockport gym-shy bods

An ‘odd-bod’ Vernon Park boot camp has become a Stockport-wide success with over 30 regular attendees now taking advantage of the weekly ‘gym-phobe booty camp’.

Cheryl Brocklehurst, 51, is the brains (and brawn) behind the group.

Having battled her own body confidence issues to shed seven stone and become a qualified fitness instructor at Stockport’s Life Leisure, Cheryl said:

“The ‘booty camp’, as I call it, is specifically for women and men who don’t really engage with the gym – or at least don’t have the self-confidence to yet.

“The whole thing just started off as having a laugh in the garden with my friend to help us both be more active and snowballed from there.

“We’re now simply a great bunch of odd bods having fun in Vernon park every Sunday. We play games like leap-frog, horses and riders and heads, shoulders, knees and toes – it’s about being active but not really thinking about exercise. People get fitter and gradually build up their self-esteem at the same time. It’s great to be part of.”

Inspiration for the boot camp came from Cheryl’s own experience of taking the first steps towards improved fitness.

The grandmother of five from Brinnington previously weighed 23 stone and was incredibly self-conscious.

“When I first took up running I would only ever go out at night just so people wouldn’t see me, so I know exactly what it’s like to feel self conscious about exercise.”

Cheryl was encouraged to go to the gym by her 19-year-old daughter Bethannie who wanted to get fit before she went on a gap year.

“The thought of it was my worst nightmare”, said Cheryl, “but my daughter wanted me to go with her and I wanted to show support. I was your typical ‘fat bird’ stood in the corner not wanting to get stuck in. It was hard, everyone was jumping around and really fit, I felt out of shape and out of place. I couldn’t even lift my leg up to do the leg stretch.

“But I made quite a lot of friends, and as the weeks passed, I began to really enjoy it. I lost about a stone just going to the classes.”

Cheryl, who also works for Stockport Council, said:

“It was a whole new world. I realised I could do more than I thought I could which was a great feeling, my PT Nigel was really encouraging too. He identified the things that I loved to do and organised our fitness sessions around that, like boxing and weight-lifting.

“The nerves I felt about first stepping into a gym, and then the benefits I felt from focussing on what I found fun, inspired me to become an instructor and to help others tackle their self-confidence issues to have a great time and be more active.”

The new-found fitness fan has already run six 10k’s and the Manchester half marathon, in addition to running the booty camp and sessions at Life Leisure.

Cheryl got on so well with her personal trainer Nigel Wilkes, she helped him set up a gym with his business partner Shane Lee , Zestus Fitness, also based in Stockport.

Cheryl, whose four-year-old grandson Eddie suffers from Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, also takes on challenges to raise money for the charity Ehlers-Danlos support UK.

She added:

“If you’d have told me eight years ago that not only would I be going to the gym several times a week, but I’d be leading gym sessions, I never would have believed you. I hope by sharing my story I can inspire people like me to give it a go.”

‘Brockie’s Booty Camp’ takes place at 9am every Sunday, starting at the Bandstand in Vernon Park. Anyone is welcome to go along.

For more information you can contact Cheryl on email or go to the Facebook page, Brockie’s Bootycamp.