Boot camp!

by Caroline Miller
(San Diego, CA)

I joined a gym and was just doing basic cardio stuff, like treadmill, elliptical, bike, etc.

It was getting really boring, and I did not have the self control to actually continue with the cardio activity long enough to produce results!

Looking at the class schedule at the gym, I saw a class entitled "Ab School". My stomach has always been a problem area for me, and, at 25 years, my stomach seemed to be not going anywhere.

SO I thought it would be great. It was only 15 minutes, I figured i could do anything for 15 minutes!

Ab School was intense, but doable. I learned a lot of new exercises that I could do at home.

Then teacher mentioned that she taught a "Boot Camp" following the abs class, and I wanted to give it a try and put myself up to the challenge. IT WAS TOUGH.

It was a combination of step aerobics, ab work outs, lunges, working with 10 pound hand weights, a LOT of jumping jacks (we totaled 500 during the duration of the class...)

We worked with a partner using a medicine ball and throwing it back and forth.

The step activities actually required a lot of coordination. We used jump ropes and had to jump rope for 3-5 minutes (depending on the exercise)

Many of the people in the class were people who had participated before, and even they struggled. Luckily, our instructor was tough (drill seargent) but knew when we needed something a little less intense for a few minutes.

I was SO sore the next few days, I felt like I had fallen down a flight of stairs. I never did participate again, only because of the pain I felt the next day.

I thought it was an awesome workout overall, but an extremely tough to a new beginner.

Caroline

Note from Dr. Dan

Caroline,

There's this great feeling that you can get from working out. It's a feeling of a little soreness in the muscles -- that makes you feel like you've gotten stronger and really done something for yourself.

And then there's what you describe. Your body telling you, "That was way too much!"

Dr. Dan