Ex-marine Steve Tighe has gone from fighting pirates to fighting the flab with a new boot camp style exercise class for Driffield women.
The 34-year-old who previously worked securing ships against Somali Pirates, is ready to whip the women of Driffield into shape with his weekly Blast Bootcamp classes.
“I like to hear people and see people absolutely training their hardest,” said Steve, who spent six years in the Royal Marines.
“We are doing actual military style drills, and it is the closest you are going to get to the real deal without joining up.”
“The theory behind it is you are not letting your team members down, which is what I learned in the marines.
“We are trying to keep the team spirit but with a real sense of fun.”
Steve was encouraged by his girlfriend Stephanie Clappison, who runs Nail and Beauty Secret, Middle Street South, Driffield to start up the classes.
The first session ran on Tuesday 28 May.
“With the ladies there is sometimes that little bit of timidity and self consciousness. If it is a mixed group they do not feel as comfortable,” said Steve, who runs Blast Fitness, a successful gym in Bridlington.
“But at the end of the day everybody is covered in the same mud and everybody is breathing the same.”
The boot camps may not be for the feint hearted, as Steve promised no one gets away with mistakes or laziness, however forfeits are scaled to suit individual ability.
He said: “You can’t just stop, because everybody else gets put in the push up position.
“You will be surprised how many people won’t let their team mates down.
“It is a fun way to get fit and it is a really nice social group. In Bridlington, the boot camp group run social outings.”
Additional instructors, or ‘strikers’ who are ex-forces, will help the pair keep boot camp participants in line.
Activities at boot camps include man down training drills, where participants have to rescue team mates in a mock emergency, and the aim of improving fitness is key.
“In this day and age the biggest problem we have is the food we are eating,” said Steve who was the Royal Marines and Combined Services Boxing Champion in 2006.
“The amount of sugar and rubbish that people eat causes so many health problems.”
Rob Murray, 23, who plays for the Driffield Rugby Club, has been conscripted to work with Steve on the Blast Boot Camp project.
He said: “It is going to be tough, and people will get out of it what they put into it.
“More than anything it is going to be a laugh, and a big social thing as well.”
Boot camps are proposed to continue every Tuesday from 6.15pm until 7.15pm.
In the future, Steve and Rob are planning to run another class each week, and also an advanced class.
Sessions are at the Rugby Training Ground, Kelleythorpe Industrial Estate and are £6 a session.
For more information visit www.blastfitness.co.uk
Alternatively, contact blastfitnesstraining@gmail.com