Now that the daylight hours are shortening it's time to head back to the gym for boot camp class on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. About six months ago, the gym had an instructor change for the class and I heard mixed reviews. I had stopped going so that I could ride bikes in the evenings...but work got in the way of that plan more than I would have liked.
Last week I was all set for the return to boot camp. One of my friends was traveling on vacation so I messaged one of the other regulars for class. She was also away on vacation but she let me know that there weren't classes for the week since it was the fall break between sessions. Lucky me I got to delay the pain of boot camp for one more week.
Tuesday night I headed to the gym after work and headed into the locker room to get changed. I had some new Nike running capris to break in and paired them with a loose fit Under Armor workout shirt. Both super comfy for a mixed workout. I headed upstairs to the workout room and joined the waiting queue in the hallway. There were a lot less people waiting than in the past with the original instructor. It used to be a full house with people turned away from class.
We filed into the class room and discovered there was another new instructor. Tonya was the new instructor and this was everyone's first time to experience one of her workouts. She set the stations up in a circle and it was a little tighter than we were used to. Normally the stations cover the entire large room and we were maybe using about half of it. The stations were done in partners and involved a mix of weights and cardio. Most of the cardio were plyometric things like split squats and rowing on the Shockwave rowers. We did each station for one minute and sadly only made it through the entire circuit once before moving onto some drills with a 45lb weight plate. We pushed that weight up and down a circuit and alternated with a few modifications for each rep. The finish to the workout was much tougher than the circuits.
Most of the boot camp regulars were a little disappointed in the workout since it was more beginner level than the advanced level that all were used to. Well, fast forward to tonight and Tonya stepped it up a notch! Tonight's class was 10 times harder! The workout she laid out tonight was all done at your individual pace. It included 5 weight stations and 5 cardio stations. Each person alternated between the circuit doing a cardio rep then a weight rep. The weight stations were done to a count of 20 reps while the cardio stations were done for distance. Some examples that we did were power skips, high knees, and grapevine for cardio and push ups, dead lifts, tricep dips for weights. The weight stations felt heavy on the legs to me so I'm sure I'll be feeling soreness in the next day or two.
It feels good to be headed back to the gym and I look forward to getting back into my boot camp routine.
Showing posts with label boot camp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boot camp. Show all posts
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Friday, October 26, 2012
It's a Shockwave!
This week we got a new toy during our boot camp classes ...the Indo-Row Machine. This is a rowing machine with a patented water fly wheel to replicate the dynamics of rowing. The water in the tank provides the resistance and it is variable...just add or remove to increase/decrease resistance. Each rowing machine includes a small display so that you can review distance and time data.
Our boot camp instructor recently became certified in the style of circuit class that Equinox developed called Shockwave. This class involves mixing cardio and strength training circuits specifically with the rower for cardio.
At our boot camp class on Thursday we tried out a similar style of workout. First we split into teams of 2 with enough stations for each team. I got started on one of the rowing stations because it's best to get some of the hardest stations out of the way earlier! The rowers set the pace for the circuit flow. So each rower had a set distance challenge (round 1 was 300m and round 2 was 200m.) The rest of the class would complete their strength station until all rowers had completed the prescribed distance. Then everyone would move to the next station. Some of the stations during our class Thursday were step ups with a bicep curl, sit ups passing the ab ball to your teammate, overhead shoulder press, plank with row, bicep curls on the TRX, etc.
Rowing is a full body cardio activity. You engage your legs, core, arms, and back to complete the full range of motion. It definitely made me feel the burn and it got my heart rate up! It was a fun new cardio challenge and Thursday's boot camp class left me feeling worn out in a good way!
Have you tried rowing yet? What about Shockwave? I'm excited to see how the trainers continue to incorporate the rowing machine into our boot camp classes.
Our boot camp instructor recently became certified in the style of circuit class that Equinox developed called Shockwave. This class involves mixing cardio and strength training circuits specifically with the rower for cardio.
At our boot camp class on Thursday we tried out a similar style of workout. First we split into teams of 2 with enough stations for each team. I got started on one of the rowing stations because it's best to get some of the hardest stations out of the way earlier! The rowers set the pace for the circuit flow. So each rower had a set distance challenge (round 1 was 300m and round 2 was 200m.) The rest of the class would complete their strength station until all rowers had completed the prescribed distance. Then everyone would move to the next station. Some of the stations during our class Thursday were step ups with a bicep curl, sit ups passing the ab ball to your teammate, overhead shoulder press, plank with row, bicep curls on the TRX, etc.
Rowing is a full body cardio activity. You engage your legs, core, arms, and back to complete the full range of motion. It definitely made me feel the burn and it got my heart rate up! It was a fun new cardio challenge and Thursday's boot camp class left me feeling worn out in a good way!
Have you tried rowing yet? What about Shockwave? I'm excited to see how the trainers continue to incorporate the rowing machine into our boot camp classes.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
A Little Bootcamp Competition
Tonight I headed off to bootcamp after work. The bootcamp class is quite popular and usually reaches capacity so you have to go early to get in the line. As we filed into class, I got to catch up with a friend and tell her about my almost catastrophic fall down the stairs at work today. Luckily I was able to stay on my feet but it was slightly embarrassing since there were so many people around at the time.
Back to bootcamp! Jason the trainer tells us what gear to get out in order to set up the circuit. Today he requested that everything be set up in duplicate as a mirror image. Apparently we were in for a competition. Everyone would get a partner and then complete the circuit doing 20 reps of each exercise. The room would be divided into two teams and the race was on to see which team could finish first.
The circuits were:
1) Bosu ball crunch with a weight overhead
2) Straight leg dead lifts
3) Bicep curls
4) Squat with overhead press
5) Oblique crunch on stability ball holding a band taunt
6) Push up alternating hand on a step bench
7) TRX bicep curl
8) TRX squat
9) Plank with knee raise on the stability ball (kind of like a mountain climber)
10) Lateral side raise using a strength band
11) Bridge raises with feet on a step bench and weight added
12) Tricep dips off a step bench
So the fun came in if you found yourself waiting. You couldn't start the next exercise until the group in front of you had finished and you couldn't start the next exercise until your partner was ready. If you got backed up waiting then you had to do a waiting exercise. These included straight arm planks, crunches, push ups, jumping jacks, and high knees. Jason would alternate these and you never knew what was next.
The first round was won by the front half of the room. As the winners, we got a water break! The losing team had to do 40 leg lifts before they got a water break. Round two was two trips around the circuit and sadly the front half lost. Our punishment was 40 pushups and they were tough.
The competition aspect really kept us moving quickly between stations. I'm afraid I'm going to be sore tomorrow. The pushups where we alternated one hand on a step and one hand on the floor were really tough. My form was awful and I really felt weak doing them. Below is a pic of a similar set up.
This class has been a fun addition to my workout schedule. It really has helped me see that I am a lot weaker than I knew:( I like the variety of exercises that we do and like that you only have to do each exercise for 1 min at a time and usually just twice in a class. You can do anything for a minute!
How about you...Do you go to any group classes? Boot camp is the only one I go to. I used to be a regular at spin classes but haven't gone in a few years. I just use my bike trainer at home instead. Have you tried TRX bands yet? This has been my first introduction to them and there are some moves that are pretty tough like mountain climbers and squat jumps.
Back to bootcamp! Jason the trainer tells us what gear to get out in order to set up the circuit. Today he requested that everything be set up in duplicate as a mirror image. Apparently we were in for a competition. Everyone would get a partner and then complete the circuit doing 20 reps of each exercise. The room would be divided into two teams and the race was on to see which team could finish first.
The circuits were:
1) Bosu ball crunch with a weight overhead
2) Straight leg dead lifts
3) Bicep curls
4) Squat with overhead press
5) Oblique crunch on stability ball holding a band taunt
6) Push up alternating hand on a step bench
7) TRX bicep curl
8) TRX squat
9) Plank with knee raise on the stability ball (kind of like a mountain climber)
10) Lateral side raise using a strength band
11) Bridge raises with feet on a step bench and weight added
12) Tricep dips off a step bench
So the fun came in if you found yourself waiting. You couldn't start the next exercise until the group in front of you had finished and you couldn't start the next exercise until your partner was ready. If you got backed up waiting then you had to do a waiting exercise. These included straight arm planks, crunches, push ups, jumping jacks, and high knees. Jason would alternate these and you never knew what was next.
The first round was won by the front half of the room. As the winners, we got a water break! The losing team had to do 40 leg lifts before they got a water break. Round two was two trips around the circuit and sadly the front half lost. Our punishment was 40 pushups and they were tough.
The competition aspect really kept us moving quickly between stations. I'm afraid I'm going to be sore tomorrow. The pushups where we alternated one hand on a step and one hand on the floor were really tough. My form was awful and I really felt weak doing them. Below is a pic of a similar set up.
This class has been a fun addition to my workout schedule. It really has helped me see that I am a lot weaker than I knew:( I like the variety of exercises that we do and like that you only have to do each exercise for 1 min at a time and usually just twice in a class. You can do anything for a minute!
How about you...Do you go to any group classes? Boot camp is the only one I go to. I used to be a regular at spin classes but haven't gone in a few years. I just use my bike trainer at home instead. Have you tried TRX bands yet? This has been my first introduction to them and there are some moves that are pretty tough like mountain climbers and squat jumps.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Uffda, this is going to hurt!
A few weeks ago I started a new job and one of the perks is an awesome corporate gym. I have been going to this gym for a while and paying the guest fee in order to swim with my friends and training partners so I was really excited to get the job so that I could officially join the gym!
A few of my friends have always loved a Bootcamp class at the gym and encouraged me to join them when the new session started today. I was told to show up early because the class can get full and they actually will cut people off from entering if it's too full. I met up with my friend Cathy as I was heading into the locker room to change. I told Cathy I was a little scared for the workout!
The class started out with a series of ab moves then moved onto circuit training. As Jason the trainer walked through the stations I got even more scared! The stations covered a full, total body workout. Some of the stations included exercise bands, dumb bells, stability balls, and even the TRX bands. I had never tried the TRX bands before and by the end of each station could definitely feel the burn. I also struggled with doing the mountain climbers and had to take some pauses during those stops on the circuit. For the most part, I was fatigued by the time the trainer hollered to switch to the next station and I'm fairly certain I will feel the workout tomorrow.
As we finished up the class, I asked one of my friend's in the group how come I was sweating and they weren't! His remark was that they have had more practice and know how to cheat better!
A few of my friends have always loved a Bootcamp class at the gym and encouraged me to join them when the new session started today. I was told to show up early because the class can get full and they actually will cut people off from entering if it's too full. I met up with my friend Cathy as I was heading into the locker room to change. I told Cathy I was a little scared for the workout!
The class started out with a series of ab moves then moved onto circuit training. As Jason the trainer walked through the stations I got even more scared! The stations covered a full, total body workout. Some of the stations included exercise bands, dumb bells, stability balls, and even the TRX bands. I had never tried the TRX bands before and by the end of each station could definitely feel the burn. I also struggled with doing the mountain climbers and had to take some pauses during those stops on the circuit. For the most part, I was fatigued by the time the trainer hollered to switch to the next station and I'm fairly certain I will feel the workout tomorrow.
As we finished up the class, I asked one of my friend's in the group how come I was sweating and they weren't! His remark was that they have had more practice and know how to cheat better!
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