This is something I got talked into and then talked others into it also. I think that’s how it works. No one in their right mind would choose to do this. The very idea of boot camp stirs visions of mud, sweat and pain. It’s not like the word brings to mind a nice shiny, clean, toned to perfection, youthful body to the forefront of my imagination. I hear groans, huffing and puffing but before those of you with smut riddled mind sets go off on tangents I really don’t find the whole boot camp thing sexy unless you’re into that sort of thing.
It began on the first Sunday of March at 9.30 am. This alone was punishment for me as I consider Sunday Morning to be a day to ignore my alarm as I curl up victoriously back under the duvet after hitting the snooze button several times.
A group of about forty people of all ages, genders, shapes and sizes met up in a car park to train on a public pathway consisting of air, mud, hills and a brook running along side. A dog walkers haven no doubt too and I daren’t wonder what else could be mixed in with the mud. But it’s not like we’re going to eat it so I decided to embrace the whole outdoorsy getting mucky feel good fun loving idea lest the fear of what we were about to do take over my mind.
There was lots of jogging and running for the first part I began to wonder when we would get our break. Running with high knees, butt kicks, clapping hands under our legs. Running with over arm swings, under arm swings, butterfly stroke then turn around and do it all again in the other direction. I began huffing and puffing. Now the Ex Marine trainer was actually very nice, he wasn't shouting at anyone as I expected, but to throw in the towel amongst all those people and to be the first to do it was probably the first point of motivation. No one was doing that, these people including me would rather collapse on the floor and die than give up right now. Then there were the breaks where we would stop running briefly only to do press ups, sit ups and side planks then more running. Did I mention I dislike running. There were other movements like burpees, lunges, squats alternative planks. We did things in pairs, we ran and we crawled backwards up hills, climbed over fences and tricep dipped whilst someone held our legs. There was no equipment necessary we just used what ever was at hand and if it meant another human then we used it. Halfway through we were allowed a squirt of water but literally that was all because our trainer said any more might have made us sick.
Now if it all sounds like technical gym jargon I have to point out that all the moves were demonstrated for those who were new to training and there were variations for different levels for example press ups can be practised from a kneeling position to make it easier.
By the end of the workout I felt surprisingly energized though I did pull a muscle in my shoulder trying to rush through a set of repetitions (so It was my own fault) After a warm shower and some lunch I knew I was going to ache for the next couple of days. It was well worth making the effort, I did it again this week and the moves were and always will be different but the level of exhaustion remained the same.
Training in the open air, much as I moan and groan has got so many benefits such as more oxygen available, greenery raising serotonin levels, sensory stimulation far more pleasant than an echoey gym, and of course for the coach it keeps the overheads down considerably. It challenges your body running up and down on uneven yet slightly soft surface and it just generally makes you feel so good, especially when it’s over and you get to pat yourself on the back.
I would thoroughly recommend it. I feel great for getting out of bed early on a Sunday and doing that for an hour as opposed to lounging around all day not really feeling motivated to do anything. I cleared a mountain of tedious important paper work when I got home which I can’t usually even begin until late afternoon.
Marianna Martin
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