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Rock Hard: Fitness Junkies take over Red Rocks
Rock Hard: Fitness Junkies take over Red Rocks
In a place where, “Bring it!” is a salutation and, “It burns, Joe!” is the mantra, the crowd makes Red Rocks Fitness group into their favorite cult following.
By Matthew Bjers
mbjers@mscd.edu
Photos by Leah Millislmillis@mscd.edu
Jim Pollard, front center, strains as he pulls Michael Savino, back left, and Kiley Gill, back right, up the stadium benches at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Members of the Red Rocks Fitness group paired off and took turns crawling up and providing resistance for each other during one of the many activities.
Group leader Joe Hendricks calls Red Rocks Fitness group, “a gun-sculpting, ab-ripping cardiopalooza.” But for Metro student Robert O’Leary, it’s “vomit-inducing.”
It might be because three times a week throughout the year, fitness junkies from all over the state join Hendricks in one of Colorado’s most intense workout programs.
“I’ve been coming for months and I still have to fight not to throw up,” O’Leary said.
The amphitheatre is engulfed every week by hundreds of people convening for a single purpose: to have their butts kicked by Hendricks’ crafted routine. His transformation from pro BMX biker to fitness guru has led him to cultivate the pet project Red Rocks Fitness group to become the stuff of local legend. Hundreds of pushups, hundreds of squats and thousands of stairs are climbed using both hands and feet. The routine, which lasts for at least 2 hours (often adding an extra “bonus” hour), is an intense mix of yoga poses, plyometrics, military drills, resistance band training and various other calisthenics.
Hendricks, who is part group leader, part drill instructor, has engineered the workout to completely fatigue even the toughest of athletes.
“I’m training for a marathon,” Metro student Rachel St. Clair said. “It’s kept me motivated because it’s a consistently challenging routine.”
And yet, battling through the grueling workout and rocky obstacle coarse, O’Leary still makes the weekly pilgrimage.
“I first joined to train for a triathlon, but now I’m kind of addicted,” O’Leary said.
While there are many who simply come to tone their backsides or midsections, there are even more participants who join to train for other sports. In addition to the 400-per-week participants, there are other independent athletes and fitness groups that pack into Red Rocks.
Holly Scott, a long-time member, recently placed first in the Ms. Fitness Colorado competition.
“Red Rocks is my gym and Joe is my coach,” Scott said.
The increasing popularity of Red Rocks as a training ground has presented a problem for park officials who feel compelled to ensure its identity as a tourist attraction is respected as well. Complaints from camera-wielding patrons have led to a series of park-issued edicts. The first to go was Hendricks’ loud, pumping music, which he blasted from the stage via portable speakers.
“A thousand people loved (the music) and two people probably didn’t, but those two complained,” Hendricks said.
Next, certain areas were limited in size and deemed off limits altogether, but these obstacles were no deterrent for the Red Rocks Fitness group. Although the group dwindles in the winter, the program doesn’t lose its popularity. Each summer, more people join and come back for the familiar-burning feeling.
“Some people go outside for smoke breaks, we go out for pushup contests,” Hendricks said. He began the group with a few friends as a way to keep them all accountable. Now, more than two years later, it is practically a movement. To make it even more legitimate, Hendricks picked up his first corporate sponsor in January — Colorado-based Hard Nutrition.
“Every week more people would show up to work out with us,” Hendricks said. “As the group got bigger, the workout got longer and longer.”
Originally, his workout lasted around an hour and thirty minutes. These days, the Red Rocks Fitness crew pushes three and a half hours almost religiously. That group of friends now reaches mob status.
“Wednesday nights are my biggest crew. Last Wednesday we were pushing one-fifty,” Hendricks said.
When asked why he thinks Red Rocks Fitness has become so popular, Hendricks stated plainly: “No way are you going to get a workout this hard at a gym. The group is just a way to keep people accountable.”
But to Hendricks, it also works both ways.
“I get a much better workout done with the group. I work that much harder knowing they’re there,” Hendricks said.
Stevie Vance, 20, enjoys a cooling blast of water from an amphitheatre maintenance worker after an intense aerobic workout at the top of the open-air venue. Over the course of the summer, hundreds of participants come to the scenic venue to lunge, sprint and jump in it’s rocky terrain. The grueling routine invites any body type and all athletes to experience to excruciating workout compiled by group leader Joe Hendricks.
Hendricks has seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm for leading all of his workouts.
Vahram Stepanyan does curls during the resistance training part of the Red Rocks Fitness workout. The long fitness sessions are known for their ability to challenge even the most dedicated athletes.
Michaele Graham strains to keep up with Hendricks as he leads the group in an intense aerobic session.