No more excuses

  • Published
  • By Lorin T. Smith
  • Northwest Guardian
Domingo Agpoon's right leg still hurts where he was wounded in 1974 while fighting in the dense jungles of Vietnam. Nearly 40 years later, the medically retired Army officer received some even worse news -- he has diabetes.

Instead of letting the disease get the best of him, he researched the costs and locations of gyms in the area and learned the Joint Base Lewis-McChord McChord Field Main Fitness Center is two miles from his house and free. After running for an hour on the treadmill while watching television built into the machine's console, Agpoon started a new routine to keep the diabetes in check and strengthen his leg.

"I plan to try to do an hour of cardio every day," he said, "and this great facility is so accommodating, that shouldn't be a problem."

The Main Fitness Center and Fitness Center Annex buildings fill 45,000 square feet with every workout amenity possible. An outdoor pool, available in the summertime, separates the two gyms. In the Main Fitness Center, guests can lift free weights, work on their upper and lower bodies with selector-pin resistance machines, stretch out sore muscles in the stretching room, shoot hoops on the regulation basketball court, play racquetball or sweat away the pounds on treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes or stair steppers in the cardiovascular rooms. Handicap accessible upper-body machines are available for wounded warriors as well.

Next door is the Annex, offering runners preparing for an upcoming physical fitness test a freestanding, column-supported elevated running track. Popular classes provided by trained professionals in yoga, cycling, zumba, pilates and kickboxing, are offered at various times throughout the week, starting at 6 a.m.

Can't find child care that early in the morning? No problem, as the Annex features a children's area that provides exercising parents a free direct line of sight to their little ones.

"It's another option parents have to sneak in a workout," said Thomas Ward, Main Fitness Center manager.

Having spent 13 years in the commercial fitness management industry, Ward has spent the past year at the fitness center overseeing the recent Annex remodel. Just about as old as the Air Force, the Annex was built in 1947. The Main Fitness Center building was built nearly 40 years later in 1985.

The smaller facility has seen several renovations during the past 60 years, the most recent one a new track to help Airmen prepping for the new Air Force Physical Fitness Test requirements. The locker room was expanded to provide more space, a little-used juice bar was removed and more fitness equipment installed.

A staff of 15 active-duty Airmen pride themselves in maintaining a clean, hospitable environment in which the machines always work. For staff member Senior Airman Jeffrey Juan, 627th Force Support Squadron, when he's not manning the front desk providing customer service or showing gym-goers how to properly use the equipment, he's running around the Annex track for one of his five daily workouts. Airmen looking for motivation to max their PT test should talk to Juan, who is just one percentage point away from that feat.

"People should live a healthy lifestyle to live longer," Juan said. Ward, a former infantryman, also sees the importance of staying in shape for Soldiers and Airmen.

"You never know how the mission is going to change, and you need to change with that," Ward said.

Because the Army and Air Force team up downrange to support convoy missions, Air Force personnel might find themselves in ground combat.

"Maintaining fitness in those environments, responding to conflict occurring with the population," he said, "it's not just to be healthy, but to save your life."

For those who prefer outdoor activities, JBLM offers intramural leagues in several sports that anyone on base can sign up for and participate in. McChord boasts three softball fields, a tar-based deck hockey arena, tennis courts and a football field. On Outer Road are four fitness stations with fitness equipment that people can use to vary their workouts during runs around the base.

Ward wants his customers to have the same experience for the Airmen, Soldiers and their families living on McChord and using the Main Fitness Center or Annex, as many of the users of the Lewis gyms do. He is looking to change the fitness center signage and looks forward to the new name for the McChord Field gym's hardwood basketball court.

"My end-state goal is to capture that same type of feeling and experience those on the other side of the fence have," Ward said. "It's never too late to start having a healthy behavior."