Week 1: Boot Camp Assessment

*turned over to get out of bed* ..... some body parts said “Hey lady - stop it, don’t move!”

*raises arm to return a file to file cabinet* ..... pectoral muscles just requested “Hey lady, would you not do that!”

*cough, cough* ..... the lower abs just requested “Hey lady, stop it, don’t do that again!”

Information on Boot Camp:  Offered by the Midland Parks and Recreation Department and is free (can't beat that cost!) two sessions 6:20 AM - 7:20 AM and 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM - started Jan 10 and runs for six weeks.  They are trying to encourage people to get out of their recliners and get "outdoors" and more active!

Yes, I’ve been to “boot camp” and I’m very glad -- by “today’s sore” -- that I have gauged my beginnings and not acted like a Super Woman! The little bit-o-sore is not unbearable (or even that bad) but it lets me know that what is being done at boot camp is targeting the areas that I wanted to improve -- so WOOT!

So here’s the skinny (I wish)! The instructor said to gauge your efforts on a scale of 1 to 10 ... 1 being standing completely still :-) and 10 being you are winded while exercising and can’t speak at the same time. Taking that into consideration he said to aim for a 6 and to pay attention to any “unusual feelings” while doing the exercises -- I really like this fellow, straight way! 

This boot camp is being held at a church’s gym (a very nice gym, might I add!) and while the instructor set up the circuit we walked the parameter of the bball court to warm up -- we had the option of using some weights if we wanted and I grabbed 3 lb weights, since that is what I use at home ... well I did a turn around with them and put ‘em back in the “holder” -- it was all too obvious they’d been in the truck overnight BURRRRRRR, can we say frostbite on the hands?!

As we walked, he set up the circuits (Yippie ... so we don’t all stand in the middle of the court and do jumping jacks until we drop :-) !!!) It seems the circuits we are supposed to do 5 times around with 10 reps at each station -- I will say I was cautious (not only for me, but for Neal - who is doing this with me - WOOT!) and set my number at 5 reps at each station AND am totally glad I did! We’d gotten to 3 times around the circuit and I made a call that it would be too much for me to do a 4th and 5th time around ... this week ... even at only 5 reps. So we stopped and walked to cool down a bit and in about 5 more minutes anyway, we all got mats and sat on the floor and the instructor led us into a nice cool down stretch.

Then ... I drove like a mad woman back to the house (well not really we live under 5 minutes away from this church), showered, dressed, grabbed food to take to the office and booked to the office .. easy peasy -- still was there 10 mins early.

Okay FYI -- the Circuit was such a simple set up and the instructor encouraged us to teach others, here goes:

Equipment Items Needed: Mat (or I’ve even used towel at home), exercise band, hand weights (I have 1 lb and 3 lb at home and when I want more, I simply use both weights in one hand ... so I can have 2 lbs and 6 lbs ... okay, you’re probably smart enough to figure that out! OR as Dr. Oz is always encouraging you can even use cans of food!) and/or weight bar.

Station 1: Push up station (10 reps, if you can - less and work up, if you’re like me!). He had those little sets of push up bars, which I tried to use - but found I was more successful on the floor - I think the handles are actually harder. I also modified the push up to do the “from the knee” version. Push ups are my weakest - I will say it, I hate them, never have liked them -- therefore my pectorals are weak!

Station 2: Over the head press using resistance (he had many bands with different resistance). This is done with an exercise band under one foot and you pull both hand up and over your head at the same time - he said stopping at the shoulders is not the goal but pulling smooth all the way up over the head is -- I suppose if you don’t have an exercise band, you could use normal weights -- or food!

(Okay, I believe he did meant canned food
as this food would be a bit difficult to use!)

Station 3: Arm curls and boat rows. Once again done with the exercise band - a shorter version, but you can also use the long one .... once again under the foot and then pull up doing an arm curl (both arms are done). Then grab with both hands “over” and pull up to shoulder height - boat row.

Station 4: Abs - using the little rollers (or he also had two bigger rollers that were a bit easier to use) ... his word of wisdom -- don’t roll out so far that you can’t roll back up :-) seems that is counterproductive!

Station 5: “Tire Jumps” He had orange circles that he put down (probably 25-30 of them) and there were several modifications of going through them one foot at a time, two footed jump, alternating one foot jumps OR the “DEVIL” one footed jumps all the way down and then repeat on the other foot -- needless to say, I did not do that one; since my legs are relatively strong I did the two foot jump from circle to circle.

Station 6: Quick Shuffles ... he set up about 10 cones and the point was to shuffle (or run with little steps) as quickly as you could.

Station 7: Bar lift ... which could be done with regular weights, he had different weights of weighted bars (I used the 10 lb to start) ... stand up straight with arms straight and an overgrip on bar, bend down as far as you can go and then stand back up (the arms do no work, except to hold the bar) ... this is working all the good stuff in the “back” :-)

....go through 5 times (okay, I repeat myself ... LOL, hee, hee ... I said "repeat" -- okay, I probably only crack myself up sometimes!)

Then stretch to cool down :-) He said that as we progress into Week 6, he will be making things a little harder -- my goal is simply to be able to do 5 circuits with 10 reps at each station AND my gauge is the push up -- which will be a real miracle, if I can work up to 10 push ups at one time!

Okay one more day this week of Boot Camp - so I hope my assessment isn't too soon and I wake up Saturday AM with the inability to get out of bed BECAUSE I have a date with the Windlands "training grounds" this weekend!  Sorry, this has been a bit long, but I suppose makes up for my not rambling on for a while :-)

Good Day to ya Buddies -- get active!

PS  All images are internet finds stating they were royalty free - so, how's that for a legal? :-)