Tag: fitness

R8D8to10 – Busy Week, Bootcamp Kickoff

Wednesday was the first day of the fitness bootcamp I am running at the gymnastics club. I have to say that I have a new respect for Tony and Shaun T because trying to communicate and work out at the same time makes your head and lungs explode. I took the new members through a variety of stuff, a little cardio, mostly bodyweight work and gave them a general feeling of what it will be like once the program starts. We were allowed to use part of the floor in the gym for the last half hour which was great because the yoga room where we started got hot in a hurry! I think it was a success, it wasn’t so hard they won’t come back but hard enough that they know it’s going to be a challenge.

For myself, I got a pretty amazing workout trying to demo, participate and talk at the same time. Being with people pushes you harder, leading people makes you push yourself like a maniac. Thursday I opted for Chest Shoulders and Arms using the rings again for dips and Friday I was off since I am coaching 3 nights a week again now. Today I managed a Plyometric Cardio Circuit workout and my strained calf didn’t bother me at all, neither did my hip flexor so I think I can close the book on both those injuries. The plan for tomorrow is probably a P90X workout, maybe back and biceps or legs and back or I might opt to bounce forward to an RKC workout since Monday may end up being a day off due to coaching. I have to try and sort out what I can do on Monday and Friday, I suppose I could mark them both as days off, that would give me 5 of 7 as workouts which is fine given the intensity.

I’m watching The Only Way Is Essex on my Patriot Box. All I can say is wow, sometimes I am so glad I left England when I did. It’s like Jersey Shore for Britain but somehow more painful and, if possible, less substantial…

R8D7 – RKC. How Much Is 10lbs? Bootcamp Musings.

I said last week that I had picked up some new equipment, having tried and loved the rings it was time to check out the new kettlebell.

Anyone who tells you that 10lbs isn’t much weight should try moving from a 45lb to a 55lb kettlebell. It didn’t feel like much at first and I was only scheduled to do 34543 ladders, not even 55555 but still by the middle of the last 4 ladder I was struggling to get the bell overhead. Not only that, the handle is less smooth than my 45 and so my hands feel like they are getting shredded, even though they are not. However, I struggled through the workout, however opted to skip the swings between each set just in case, I did manage to bust out the 70lb for swings at the end though. It went like this:

With 55lb KB

3 rungs with chinups
4 rungs with chinups
5 rungs with chinups
4 rungs with chinups
3 rungs with chinups

5 swings with 45lb KB
5 swings with 55lb KB
5 swings with 70lb KB
10 swings with 45lb KB
10 swings with 55lb KB
10 swings with 70lb KB
15 swings with 45lb KB
15 swings with 55lb KB
15 swings with 70lb KB

I have to admit I am a little nervous about tomorrow. I am leading a bodyweight workout class at the gym where I coach, and it’s not that I am concerned about the content, or even that we will be in a studio type room not a gym, but rather I am afraid I might break someone. I guess I am used to coaching gymnasts or young athletes for the most part, and when I am not working them hard I am pushing myself as hard as I can. I am just not accustomed to taking it easy on people. Hopefully that is what they signed up for. I have to say I do hear people often say that they wish they could go on shows like Last Ten Pounds Bootcamp or Shedding For The Wedding so they could have Tommy Europe whip them into shape. Well if that is the case, then they should get what they are asking for. However, I don’t think many people are aware of the effort it takes to keep up a regimen like that. I also think that they may be unaware of the reaction they will have when someone tries to stop them from quitting when they want to. Anyone over the age of 12 in this world seems to think that they have a right to disregard the rules, whatever they may be, if they want to. Even most personal trainers in globo gyms won’t push you hard for fear that you just won’t come back. But that’s not helping anyone. A huge part of a successful lifestyle is discipline, and that means following the rules. Not only the rules for diet and schedule, but also the rules for effort level, number of reps and determination. I will have a fine line to walk tomorrow between getting the most work out of these people and discouraging them. I just hope to have enough motivation in my welcome speech to see them through. It is only once a week after all, and you can do anything for an hour once a week, right?