Boot Camp Adventures

[SadieKate]

I've been meaning to write up a report on my Boot Camp fun and games but just haven't gotten around to it. Tuckervill mentioned that she's going to one also. So, let's just start a thread about our drill sergeant abuse. I'm so glad I signed up for this because it motivates me to exercise (it was 8 degrees yesterday and this is my first winter in the cold) and it gives me some company (I work from home and I've moved so I know very few people in town).

Our "drill sergeant" is actually very nice, doesn't bark a thing but she definitely can make your a$$ feel kicked. I've been going 4 days a week at 6 am. The intensity variation has been pretty good though it seems that the post-Xmas sessions are not as varied (intensity vs recovery) but overall each are harder.

Just to describe my local Boot Camp -- Due to our winter weather, we're indoors at an in-line hockey/roller derby/volleyball/basketball place so we run a lot of laps in between other exercises. The exercises can be a variety of instructor led wall-sits, pushup, squats, jumping-jacks, horsepulls, step-ups, etc., or some kind of controlled chaos session. Cones are set up around the room with labels for various exercises for kind of a musical chairs approach. You run laps (with sprint intervals) until the instructor says "stop" and then you do whatever is on the nearest cone. Some days, it's a mini-competition. We split into groups of 3-4 and each team has a list placed at the top of the stairs. Each team works through the list, checking off the exercise (at the top of a flight of stairs ) as they finish. These days can be brutal but they're fun at the same time and get everyone talking to each other, which at 6 am can be a hard thing. But then folks who know me know I'll talk anyway (My goal is to make the 6 am class as social as the instructor says the 9 am class is).

After such sessions, she then leads a series of exercises focusing on the abs one day, or the arms with weights another, maybe butts and hips the next. On Monday we had a huge cardio day and were begging for wall-sits to recover.

Boot Camp touts that you will see improvement in a short period of time. Sometime in the first week of each session, you do a timed 10 lap run (supposedly = 1 km) and then various other calisthenic type exercises, some counted to fatigue and some just on time. This is repeated at the end of the multi-week session for a comparison. For instance, a count for how long you can hold a plank position (no butts in the air, ladies!) or the number of tricep dips. You can also do body measurements, weight and fat percentage comparisons.

I gotta say, it works! In just a few weeks I lost significant inches and body fat though I lost very little weight. While I need to lose weight, my focus was on strength and fat percentage. One of my benchmarks for strength is the plank position because it involves so much code body muscles, especially the lower back and abs. I'm back to being able to hold a plank and very slowly lower to the ground and back up. Seems so weird, but this excites me no end. It's just my personal measurement for strength. The impingement in my left shoulder has also improved dramatically. I still do a lopsided downward dog, but it's coming along. I couldn't do it at all 2 months ago.

Boot Camp here is outside during the warmer weather, but I'm just doing it for the winter as cross-training through the end of this month. I'll definitely be back next winter.

Great workout for your entire body. I'm anxious to sit how it improves my riding though I know I'll have to retrain my butt to sit on a saddle.

This is the camp I go to: http://www.bendadventurebootcamp.com/

This is the "parent" organization for the one I attend. There is a link to ones held all over the country. I'd definitely recommend trying one in your area (no, I'm not paid to say that. ) http://www.adventurebootcamp.com/abo...boot-camp.html