A few months ago my old friend Juliet posted about a nighttime boot camp at her fitness studio on her Facebook. She was holding a weekly one hour intensive workout at Juno Fitness.
I had always trained alone, or at gym classes at high school and in college. While I have received some advice and tips from athletes and trainers, I hadn’t really worked directly with a trainer before. I had definitely not tried an exercise class like a boot camp, and I decided to try it out just out of curiosity. I also wanted to say hello to Juliet.
I’m definitely no stranger to working out. I’ve been working out at least three times a week for the past twelve years, and have trained for and run in nine marathons, seven long distance relays, and a gaggle of other races like 5Ks and 10Ks and other Ks for the past four years. I figured an hour long workout would be pretty easy for someone like me.
Wrong.
I do work out a lot, but after just one night time boot camp I realized just how much I had not been paying attention to my overall fitness. My legs felt fairly good after the boot camp, just a little sore, but my arms were like spaghetti! And my gut was tight and sore. I realized just how much I had been neglecting my upper body fitness and my core in my workouts.
So I kept coming back, paying the drop-in fee for a few weeks. Every night was different: Different exercises, different intervals, and different paces, but all designed to work out your entire body.
I think I was getting some extra special treatment during these boot camps since Juliet has known me for so many years. “Come on! It’s not a purse!” (I was holding a kettlebell incorrectly.) Sometimes Juliet would appeal to my machismo. “Not that weight, this weight. You’re a man after all!” Well, yes, I am a man, it’s true, but I don’t know how effective that appeal to my masculinity is going to be, considering at least half of the women at a typical Juno Fitness boot camp could probably kick my ass.
The trainers at Juno do strive to push me, and I realized they push their other clients as well once they had gotten to know them. A woman picked up a fifteen pound weight, and Juliet just took the weight out of her hand and gave her a twenty pound weight. They don’t push too hard, not past your limits, but they do push. Trainer Jennifer takes special interest in how I handle my upper body exercises, sternly encouraging me to go the extra mile.
Not only have the boot camps helped me get in better shape, it has also influenced how I carry out my own workouts. I’ve adjusted my own solo workouts when I hit the gym after a run or on cross training days. I pay much more attention to my upper body and core workouts, and my gym time has become a lot more structured: Setting specific blocks of times and reps, and a better overall workout plan rather than taking the “whatever” approach.
I also use a lot of the exercises I’ve learned at the boot camps on my own time, especially for my abdominals and upper body. I go to Juno’s bootcamps at least once a week now, having bought the boot camp package, and not only has my upper body strength improved, but I’m starting to slim up even more. Even my love handles are shrinking. I didn’t think that was possible! I’ve been hitting fitness goals much more efficiently and quickly. (Marathon PR at the California International Marathon in December? Yes, I think so!)
With better overall fitness, and with the weight loss, my overall running abilities have really taken off. This is a habit I’m definitely going to stick with.
