I went to a “boot camp” on Saturday morning at Dusty Rhodes Park in Ocean Beach. The session was put on, free of charge, by Dave Sten and Chris Daly of s10fitness.com

There were eight participants, seven guys and one gal. The ratio reminded me of being at a club in Vegas.

Dave and Chris took it easy on us and only made us do five exercises with one set per exercise. I’d say we exercised for about six minutes all told.

Three people puked and I was closer than I’ve ever been to chucking. I went through Marine Corps Boot Camp and never came close to puking. Do I need to say that it was intense?

I sat out the final exercise.

Why didn’t we stop before we got the puking point? Here’s the deal.

While you’re doing the exercise you don’t notice the exertion that much. You do notice it but your body is in work mode. The moment you stop, the body adjusts, blood flows to different places and that’s it. You’re vision narrows and you puke.

It’s not a bad thing. I found myself wishing I had puked just to relieve the pressure.

I need this type of intense exercise. When left to my own devices, I wander around the gym or go for an easy run. I never push it when I exercise alone. It’s good to get in a group setting and go hard — especially if you puke.