Running Backwards

“Pain is weakness leaving the body!”, roars Tina Castaldi, A.K.A., ‘Master Chief', "Give me one mile...", -and then the clincher, “...backwards!”

Being that I’m one of the chosen few who can barely distinguish her right from her left without spraining an ankle, this was definitely a challenge! But away I went, running backwards-uphill no less-with a new perspective of Wildwood Canyon Park, Burbank, unfolding around me.

Castaldi’s Killer Boot Camp is a military-style training program which takes place in six-week increments, Monday-Friday from 5:30-6:30 a.m. in the Burbank hills. Tina Castaldi-an aerobics instructor, personal trainer, and professional stuntwoman-started the program in 1994, and it is still going strong today! Boot Camp is a hip, community-based, social way to get into shape. For six weeks, you reap the benefits of Castaldi’s vast physical, mental, and dietary
knowledge, as well as the camaraderie of fat-fighting with peers. At 5:30 a.m. SHARP, between blood curdling demands to, “Sprint!”, Master Chief takes roll as 50+ lost souls of all ages, shapes, and sizes prepare to sweat and watch the sun rise in perfect harmony. Each day is different, which I find particularly refreshing while getting my butt kicked; exercises include running/walking, crunches, pushups, squats, lunges, rope-jumping, relay races, obstacle courses and more. If it gets this insomniac out of bed at 4:30 a.m., it’s gotta’ be good! Castaldi’s positive attitude is contagious, pushing all of us to the brink and beyond with uplifting quotes and hard-hitting nutritional facts.

“There are two choices in life: to give up or to get up,” says Castaldi. “Failure is not an option”. And nobody knows how true that is more than Castaldi herself who was stricken with Legg-Calve-Perthes disease at age eleven. After being given a 5% chance of walking again without the aid of crutches, Tina persevered, and then some.

“Because of this personal experience”, Castaldi explains, “I have dedicated myself to creating the most effective ways to improve the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of self-empowerment”. Master Chief Castaldi expresses true appreciation for the ability to move, breathe, and live, passing those values on to her students.

So what possessed me to pay another human being to force me into contorting my body into a multitude of nightmare-inducing, de ja vu producing (I was always picked last in gym class), painful exercises? FAT, that’s what! Fat packed on while hunkering over a drafting table for hours on end whittling away at another infamous masterpiece. Fat consumed while contemplating life over one-too-many double, venti, caramel macchiatos at Starbucks. Fat accumulated during my regular, sedentary sessions of mind-numbing, eye-watering work on my laptop. Ahhhh...the simple pleasures of life: coffee with half & half, garlic stuffed olives, feta cheese, bleu cheese (ANY cheese), chocolate ice cream, red wine, the beach... the beach? Uh-OH: This body isn't being seen in a swimsuit until Master Chief says so!

Hence, Castaldi’s Killer Boot Camp! A six-week program of lung pumping, rope jumping, leg breaking, muscle making GLORIOUS torture! Tina Castaldi packs a lot of punch in her 5’ 2” frame. “Dedication always translates into giving hours of sweat, patience, perseverance, passion, courage, concentration, and sacrifice; be willing to go the extra mile” - maybe even backwards! For more information on Castaldi’s Killer Boot Camp, please
call (818) 513-5742 or visit her Website at castaldibootcamp.com.