Boot Camp - Yet Another Exercise Adventure to Add to the Repertoire

E and I, on our never ending pursuit to skinny jeans and bikinis, decided to join a local boot camp at the urging of a woman we work with.

Great idea! We were looking for another means of exercise after our belly dancing adventure, but this time we wanted an activity that didn’t call for fancy costumes and getting in touch with our feminine, um, organs. Being of the body type where we both have a lot of muscle, I felt like the Incredible Hulk when I walked into the room that was filled with skinny, mousy women (I can’t speak for E, but I know she wanted to do something like boxing instead of dancing, so I’m pretty sure she held the same opinion as I did).

We signed up for boot camp about a month ago and eagerly (?) awaited October 4th, when we would start our journey to hotness. That morning (which happened to be yesterday), I woke up terrified. E was surprisingly excited when I saw her at work that morning, and MT, the person responsible for the boot camp signing up madness, was jogging on the spot when I looked over. What? Their enthusiasm was so not catching.

E sent me an email later in the day confessing that she was “slowly having more anxiety about this tonight.” Yeah, me too.

We started the class with a run. Oh, goody. By the end of it, I was bent over gasping for air and it was only supposed to be a warm up. “Then why push it hard?!” You might ask. Yeah, that’s just it. I didn’t.

Each member was to have a personal kettlebell swing lesson by one of the trainers – a male, and the only one in the vicinity – who looked like he would rather be anywhere than with us. He said I could use the small kettlebell or the heavier one. The heavy one was about 14 pounds. Seriously? I did like 30 pound swings with I worked out with M. I totally wanted to show off. However, he was extremely unimpressed with my skill, and gave me a simple “yep” when I asked if what I got was good. Fine.

Boot camp consisted of agility drills, cardio sets, and strength sessions. Strength, for me, isn’t much of a problem. I had to go down to knee push ups at the 30 second mark to finish off the minute, but I can usually hold my own when it comes to lifting and pushing things (See? Incredible Hulk! I wasn’t making that up).

Here are some highlights of the workout that I found particularly challenging:

1) Running - We had to run in between each circuit, so by the end of the hour class I was wheezing my way through the workout.

2) V Sits/Supermans - During these rotational exercises, E and I kept rolling into, and kicking, each other as we tried to get through it. We basically got tangled in the grass for the minute long set.

3) Bunny Hops (aka my personal hell) - It’s hard to jump over things, okay?! I almost hit myself in the chin with my boobs.

Really, though, it was actually really good. My calves are burning today and I know we got a good workout. We laughed our way through it, which is what I wanted more than anything.

And then I had a wee bit of chocolate when I came home. E said she had pizza. And MT had leftover birthday cake.

We’re superstars.

Hugs and Kisses,

Bella