On Monday morning I dragged myself out of bed at 5am and put on some shorts, t-shirt, and sneakers. I grabbed a bag with my exercise mat, weights and a towel and headed out to Mine Brook Park, right outside of town. There I found about 15 other women similarly garbed and outfitted ready to begin Fitness Bootcamp.
At 55 I've gotten terribly out of shape and overweight. I've tried, but haven't been able to find in myself the motivation to train on my own. While I walk a lot, it hasn't been enough to make a difference in my overall energy levels or general wellbeing.
One day this summer we were out doing errands and saw a black Element in the parking lot. I was bemoaning the trade-in of my Element last fall and noticed the signage on the vehicle's door advertising the Fitness Boot Camp. I made a mental not of the web address (amazingly I remembered it and checked it out when I got home.
I thought to myself, this is something I can do to make my life better. I hate gyms but this meets outdoors. It's for women only, so hopefully there will be a few folks like myself and they won't all be former cheerleaders. And the cost of $17.45 an hour is much less that I spend on agility classes. This was something I could do for me, that would benefit my dogs too.
So we are now finished with day 3 of camp and it is hard, but it is great. I have so much more energy during the day and I think my brain is waking up from it's long sleep. We do everything; aerobic, core, strength, flexibility and balance exercises. Many of the other women are old timers at camp and quite a bit more fit than me (I think a slug under ether would be more fit and energetic than me) but they are all supportive and friendly and funny. So when many run, I walk fast. When we do 20 reps of something, I do ten, rest 5 and do another 5. When the weights are too much, I put them down and do the exercise without them. My goal is to be able to do them all by week 4. That is realistic I think.
About 45 minutes into class, I am wishing it were over. But then we get through the remaining 15 minutes, I go home, shower and head out for work feeling much more awake and energized than I felt as the class ended.
I am so happy to have found this class. I know I will be grousing when it gets cold. But in the meanwhile....I get to watch the sun rise every morning.
If you want to find a program near you go here: Boot Camp Finder
11 months ago
4 comments:
Well yay, go you!
That Boot Camp sounds like the perfect thing for both getting in shape and for agility specific training. That seems like a pretty good deal too. Once you get in a routine you won't want to miss workouts, even in the cold. You just pile on the fleece and you won't even notice it.
I love having some kind of workout before work, the day doesn't feel right without it.
Oh good for you! I sure wish there was something around here like that for me!
Johann's Mum, Leslie
Awesome! I've been talking to people about finding someone who could help me with stuff like this. I see there's a location in San Jose. Woohoo! I'll check it out.
-ellen
I did it--I signed up for the boot camp. Only 3 days a week for 4 weeks. Finishes just in time for Nationals. They asked a lot of questions on the form about back problems and knee problems (both of which I have), so I'm half expecting a call or email saying, sorry, you're too damaged for us to want to take the risk of having you. But we'll see...
-ellen
Post a Comment