Makeshift gyms spring up in Iraq

[thedrifter]

Makeshift gyms spring up in Iraq


By Juliana Gittler, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, July 14, 2003


NAJAF, Iraq ? Living in a hot desert far from a proper gym doesn?t let servicemembers in southern Iraq off the hook for staying in shape.

So, in sparse Marine camps, tiny gyms have appeared: beside a staircase in Diwaniyah; under camouflage netting by the river in Babylon; behind a building at Najaf.

The Marines use leftovers and ingenuity to create exercise equipment. They run with weapons for added weight and flex muscles using barbells fashioned from machine parts.

?It?s not that great, but it?s better than nothing,? said Cpl. Jacob Romero, with Company C of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment in Najaf, where Marines built a gym in the machine shop of the former university they?re living in.

Foam duct-taped to a bench serves as a lifting bench. Sand-filled water bottles with welded machine parts work as weights.

?There?s not very much to choose from,? Romero admitted.

The Marines also run. At Romero?s camp, Marines sprint with weapons; Romero runs with his M16-A4 rifle.

?I carry it in one hand. You just switch positions when your hand gets tired,? he said.

Romero, from Sun Valley, Calif., runs about three miles a day, usually in the cooler morning or evening. But when time doesn?t permit that, he?ll run during the sweltering 120-degree days.

To make sure they survive the run, Marines make sure they have one key element nearby: water.

?I just drink a lot of water,? said Cpl. Kwasi Oppong of Brooklyn, N.Y., with the 6th Communications Battalion, also from Brooklyn.

Oppong works out every day, sometimes twice a day, in the heat.

?I like to stay healthy,? he said. ?It?s just a little hard on the body.?

Oppong runs several miles a day and hits the tiny outdoor weight room like clockwork.

?Anywhere you put me, I?ll work out,? he said.

Sgt. Johnny Perez, also with the 6th Communications Battalion and winner of the last two Camp Babylon 5-K races, runs about 10 miles a day in Iraq. He runs more back home in New York, where he?s a running coach. The drier air helps, he said.

At Camp Babylon, there?s also the fun of working out in the makeshift gym by the flowing Euphrates River. Maybe it makes servicemembers at Camp Babylon feel pampered, Perez said.

?You can do weights like you?re in a club or resort,? he said.

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Sempers,

Roger