CAMP RED CLOUD -- A new state-of-the-art fitness facility where Soldiers and civilians can do the cutting-edge workouts best-suited to the day-to-day physical needs of their jobs and lifestyle opens Aug. 9 at Camp Casey.
The 6,637-square-foot Health and Human Performance Center (HHPC) opens 11 a.m. in bldg. 3030, the renovated former site of a taekwondo training facility, next door to the Hanson Fitness Center.
It features a large room for functional fitness workouts, a cardiovascular workout area, a flexibility and recovery room for stretching, and a "stress-less" area. It'll also offer group exercise programs, biofeedback or "stress" cards, health and fitness brochures, and pamphlets on therapeutic rehabilitation.
The center has kettle bells, medicine balls, stability balls, Bosu balls, balance boards, resistance bands, dumbbells, jump ropes; Olympic rings, TRX suspension bands, sandbags, assisted pull-up ropes, heavy ropes, plyometric boxes, hurdles, speed ladders; a glute-ham developer, foam rollers, a lower-back exercise machine and abdominal strengthening machine; a boxing station with a heavy bag and speed bag; stationary bikes, a rowing machine, adjustable flat benches, a weight-lifting platform and barbell, and other equipment.
"It's not your traditional fitness center," said Robert Gobble, health and fitness director with the U.S. Army Garrison Red Cloud and Area I's Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.
"Everything in that facility is tailored toward improving your overall health and wellness by focusing on core stability and multi-joint exercises," Gobble said.
In a functional fitness workout, said Gobble, "you do exercises that kind of mimic what you do in everyday life. In other words, if you have to get in and out of your seat a lot, then you have to do some squats. If you had to stoop over and pick up a lot of things, then you could work with the sandbags, the kettle bells, the TRX, the heavy ropes. There's a lot of different things you could work with.
"Functional training simply means that you do things in the exercise room to help you become more efficient in your daily life," he said.
It's in the functional fitness room that the TRX gear is set up, and the majority of the center's other equipment.
The cardio room is equipped with two treadmills, three stationary bikes, a Jacob's Ladder -- a machine whose rungs are in continual motion -- and a seated rower.
The flexibility and recovery room is set up for stretching workouts but also has massage rollers, balancing equipment and exercise mats, physio-balls, a situp bar, and slant boards.
The "stress-less" area has two massage chairs with electronic controls.
"They're well-padded and comfortable, like a reclining chair, sort of vibrates gently to make you feel better," Gobble said.
Also in the room is a vibrating "power plate"
"You stand on it and it vibrates," said Gobble. "Good for working on flexibility, strength, massage and rehab."
Also available at the center will be public health brochures with key information on things like heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, hypertension, asthma, general strengthening, the benefits of walking, quitting smoking, good nutrition, and guidelines on therapeutic rehabilitation, said Gobble.
"We're trying to promote health and the people need to be informed," he said. "And by having public health brochures that people can read when they come in there, it's beneficial.
"There's three things we want people to do: be informed, take action and feel better," said Gobble. "Be informed, by asking questions and reading the public health brochures; take action, by engaging in physical activity and exercise, and eating healthier; and feeling better, as a result of changing your behaviors and your lifestyle."
The Health and Human Performance Center will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.
"I think the importance of this is it meets the needs of everyone," said Gobble, "the active-duty Soldiers, the dependents, the spouse, the couch potato, the moderate athlete, the high-end athlete, the power-lifter. It meets their needs because it has something there for everyone."
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