Andrea's Bootcamp Blog - Week 2
After a few days off and having given the muscles a three day respite, I was determined to cut no corners this week at Bootcamp. Although I don’t have weighing scales at home (as I tend to get a bit obsessive!), it felt like I’d lost a bit of weight and my thigh, stomach and arm muscles were all starting to look and feel a little more toned (those painful lunges were worth it after all!). All was going well, until I woke up at some crazy hour on Saturday night remembering that my Fitness O2 “Recruit” T-shirt was stinky, sweaty and dirty from Thursday’s training and sitting in my laundry basket. Aware that failure to wear this results in 30 press ups, I got up bleary eyed to put a load of washing on, making a mental note to self to be more organised in future!
Session 4 – Sunday, 28th February
Surely all that rain earlier on in the day (bearing in mind all of the schools closed early because of it?!) would have resulted in Bootcamp being called off...? Of course not…off we went as usual running up the beach to get our muscles warmed up. Tonight’s session was a mix of fat-burning cardio exercises ("SWEAT OUT ALL OF THOSE NASTY TOXINS" yelled David encouragingly – which was enough to get me pumping my little arms!) along with strength and toning exercises using the resistance belt and working on our lower abs. We all worked really well as a team – helping each other through the exercises and having a few laughs along the way. The session felt less of a strain than the previous week, so I was feeling positive that I must have been making progress :-)
Session 5 – Tuesday, 2nd March
After warming up we began a round of military-style circuit training, with a minute worth of each exercise – squats, lunges, burpees, sit ups, press ups (I can now manage more than 4!!!), tricep dips and calf raises – giving all of the muscles in our body a good workout. We also did a bit of shadow boxing with the resistance belt (for strong shoulders!) and some fun cardio work outs before getting stuck into another round of the circuit and finally, cooling down and stretching off.
Session 6 – Thursday, 4th March
By now my muscles seemed to have strengthened and didn’t feel sore from the last session – David informed me that this is “muscle memory” – after a while your muscles get used to the routine of regular exercise and get straight back into workout mode! So, knowing that I’d have a few days off afterwards, I decided to really pull out the stops and work as hard as I could this evening. The session was great fun; by now I feel very comfortable with the group, our trainer, and feel stronger and more coordinated. The session was mainly cardio, which I like as I know that’s helping to lose a few pounds which brings me a step closer to fitting into my lovely wedding dress! We also worked on the core (mainly with the dreaded plank exercise) – the muscles within the muscles – which helps to give us better posture. The session ended with a game of touch rugby to warm our muscles up for a good stretch before we left.
Although I might’ve struggled with my first week of camp – I end this week feeling fantastic and not only proud of myself for sticking at it, but also stronger, slimmer, more toned and focusing a great deal more on my posture. If I feel this good after just two weeks, I’m certain I will be delighted with the results at the end of the four weeks. Apparently we have a new trainer next week – I’m excited to see what he has in store for us – but we’ll miss you David – thank you for getting me this far.