Doing mountain climbers in boot camp!
For those that missed my first boot camp recap, here it is. I just completed my second week, and I feel every single muscle in my body. Okay, maybe not every single muscle…but definitely most of them!
Jayme had us doing a wide variety of exercises this week. She really focuses on switching up the routines every day – she mentioned that while we may eventually do some of the same workouts again, they will be very spread out, and won’t occur again until much later in the session – which is why we utilize so many different muscle groups. We didn’t exercise outside this week because the humidity would have knocked us flat on our faces, so we spent our time in the gym, on the treadmills, the elliptical machines, the stair mill and in the group fitness room. Here’s what we did (normally class is Monday through Thursday, but this week was Tuesday through Thursday due to Labor Day):
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
This was a weight day. We did an assortment of different strength training exercises, from bicep curls on one leg, to rows and pushups on the ball, to lunges and dead lifts with weights. “Ok, I can handle this,” I thought to myself, as Jayme handed us the free weights and told us to do 20 bicep curls while standing on one leg. Sure it was easy – until later that night when I could barely lift my arm to turn off my bedroom light!
I do bicep curls all the time, and have even done them while standing on one leg before. So what was the difference between my own workouts and this one? More reps than I’m used to, and no breaks in between. Maybe I could have lifted at a slightly slower speed, but I wanted to give my best effort in the time allotted.
That evening I also decided to do some yoga—I love yoga, but bad idea on that particular night considering all the arm work we did in boot camp. My arms buckled beneath me during my downward dog, so I wound up creating my own pose, “laydown dog”, instead!
Wall jumps! Check out how high we can leap!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wow. This was a big time cardio day. Raquel, my colleague and one of the other boot camp participants, commented that she felt like her heart might leap out of her chest! I agreed. Our heart rates really revved during this day. Jayme brought us down to the gym, and instructed us to do a range of different boot camp-style drills. We did some mountain climbers, towel pushes down the gym floor, quick sprints, and wall jumps (jumping as high as we could while Jayme timed us). We finished with some cardio on the elliptical machine.
I enjoy a lot of cardio—friends refer to me as the Cardio Queen—but this was much harder than my normal 30-minute treadmill run. Why? Lots of high-intensity intervals, and stops and starts. Pushing the towel up and down the gym floor, and then going right into mountain climbers, followed by vertical jumps…I’m out of breath just thinking about it!
Towel pushes down the gym floor are NOT easy!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Another cardio day! Jayme walked us over to the stair mills and told us we’d be doing intervals. She mentioned that intervals, rather than stepping at a consistent pace throughout, would help us burn more calories during and after exercise. Sounds good to me! I liked the intervals a lot, because as soon as it got really intense and I felt like I was going to fall from the machine, Jayme had us bring it back down to a manageable level. She had us switching from levels 4 and 16, every other minute, for about 35 minutes! Whenever I amped it up to 16, I was still able to hold conversations, but it was TOUGH. I had to work really hard to manage my breathing.
Here’a a side note: I’m learning how important it is to remember to breathe throughout the duration of all exercises. It seems like a really obvious tip, I know, but I actually find myself holding my breath during the tougher exercises. This, of course, leads me to feel like I’m going to pass out, which, in addition to being a terrible feeling, also hinders my ability to perform the workout properly. My entire lower body felt like jelly for the rest of the day, especially after Tuesday’s sprints and towel pushes, but it was worth it. I feel great!
This was an awesome overall week of boot camp workouts. I love doing exercises that I normally wouldn’t do on my own (or wouldn't know how to do on my own). It’s really fun to try something different every day too – I never get bored! It’s also been a great way to break up the day, and I find that I have a lot more energy in the afternoon (meaning, I’m less likely to reach for that Snickers bar at 3 p.m. because I’m not suffering from my normal mid-day sluggishness).
Stay tuned for Week 3!
