Meret will be blogging about her experience, but first let me introduce her by posting her "before" picture for the world to see :-)
A couple of weeks ago, as part of the October Challenge through www.socialworkout.com (if you haven't yet, check it out and sign up! It's amazing and tons of fun!) I won boot camp for a month! OMG, I was almost salivating when they were talking about the prize and when I actually got it...it was awesome! Of course HOW I was given the prize was almost as awesome as the fact that I got it...basically, they "had to give it to someone who they know would be able to handle it..."
So, I should mention that while I'm super-excited about the bootcamp, I'm entering it as a bit of a skeptic. I have no doubt that the workouts will be challenging, but I'm not coming into this without having had a regular workout schedule for a while or with eating habits that will make Ariane wanna cry. Instead, I've been working out 5-6 days a week for the past 10 months, 2 times a week with an amazing personal trainer, and I've already hugely overhauled my diet. Yes, I'll stray from the "one true path" that I know to be a healthy life-style occasionally, but overall I'm healthier, stronger, happier and in better shape than I've ever been. I've completed races, taken up tons of new activities from boxing to pole dancing, and have recently become enamored of the twice-a-day workouts. So, yes, I hereby challenge Ariane to give me all she's got, to kick my ass, and to help me tweak my lifestyle in a way that will push me (and my progress) forward.
Today was the day, the beginning of the 6:30am Brooklyn Bridge Bootcamp Slim & Strong Program. I live in far-away Queens, which means I got up at 4:15am (ew), had a breakfast of oatmeal and fruit and was out of my house by 5:15am (need I say it again: ew). First, measurements were taken, which resulted in a minor shock to my system as I had to acknowledge the full extent of my falling off the wagon since late summer. I'm back up to 27% body fat (another ew) from my low of 22%. Sigh...well, what can you do. It was the reality check I needed. Ariane wants me to get back down to 24% by the end of the month-long bootcamp. I think I can get there...who knows, if I really buckle down with my eating (which is precisely where I've been messing up), I might even surpass that goal. But...let me not get ahead of myself.
Before starting the workout, we did an initial physical fitness test, which I think I did pretty well on. I did 36 marine-style sit-ups in a minute and 41 knee push-ups in a minute. Finally, we began the actual class. It was definitely a different experience from my usual workouts with Trainer Mike. With him, my heart right stays high throughout the session even when we work the weights. He also chooses weights that are heavy and that I can do only about 12-15 reps with. During this class, my HR didn't really get too high, and we used much lighter weights while doing tons more reps. So, while according to my heart rate monitor, my calorie burn wasn't high (about 350 in 50 minutes, since we started late because of measurements) my muscles were, indeed, BURNING. We didn't break between resistance exercises, so it was like super-set upon super-set of weights. The focus was on core, arms and back with some squats thrown in for good measure. I really liked Ariane's sense of humor, the fact that she remembered everyone's names and made sure to give each person some 1-on-1 time, and the constant reminders that she wants to "kick our ass."
After the bootcamp, I did a quick 10-minute run and then headed to work. I felt good, and refreshed from my active start into the day. Though I definitely have the feeling that the soreness will sneak up on me later. A few hours later, I headed to the gym for a quick 30 minutes of extra cardio.
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