“Hoo-yah, Instructor McGuire!”

More than 3,000 Richmonders herald John McGuire III with this greeting — and it’s not only at practices for SEAL Team Physical Training. McGuire says he can barely run an errand without getting tagged by a client. A retired Navy SEAL (after 10 years of service), McGuire founded the Richmond program in September 1998. It combines fitness training with leadership, confidence and teamwork.

Two years ago, McGuire discovered the true strength of the team. He was doing back flips on a trampoline with his children when he fell on his neck and was instantly paralyzed. “I thought I was back in hell week,” he says of the painful wait for the ambulance, followed by surgery and five months of tedious recovery. He received 850 visitors in the hospital, so many that the VCU Medical Center gave him a private room.

The SEAL Team hosts one-hour training sessions five days a week (at three times: 5:45 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.) at outdoor locations across Richmond, including Byrd, Robious Landing, Bryan and Forest Hill parks, as well as Belle Isle and Dogwood Dell. Each workout day varies, focusing on different parts of the body, interwoven with running and team drills such as wall-climbing, obstacle courses and bear crawls.

The main strength of the teammates, McGuire says, is their breadth of backgrounds, ethnicities, ages and fitness levels.

One of these teammates is Biff Pusey, a fit 42-year-old who joined the team more than six years ago and says it gave him fresh motivation to work out. “The SEAL Team has challenged me to push beyond the artificial limits I had set for myself to do things — be it running or biking or triathlons or whatever,” he says, adding, “It’s fun to be in my early 40s and chase down the teenagers.”

For more information, visit sealteampt.com.