Joanna and Naomi do Bootcamp

*So this was supposed to be posted on Monday…whoops

Today was the “assessment” day at bootcamp. It was supposed to be easy and relaxing, however I am now having difficulty reaching my hands over my head to put my guitar strap on. Hella lame.

The group is much larger than the “15 new participants” advertised on the website – in fact, the group is almost double that. I guess that means that less attention can be paid to the form of my 9 zillionth squat – which is actually alright with me. The assessment was not so bad; it consisted of 5 key elements:

1. How many push-ups can you do in 60 seconds = 15

2. How many crunches can you do in 60 seconds = 37

3. How long can you hold a plank position = 55 seconds

4. How long can you hold a 90degree squat = 1:24 minutes (with some serious shaking)

5. How fast can you run 1.1km = 6:29 minutes (which was my 5km pace only last year…sigh)

They promise that if we come to classes and lay off the sugar we will see considerable improvement by the last class. Only time will tell.

The worst part for both Joanna and I was the stupid plank hold. It seriously hurt our lower backs…I suppose that is because our abs aren’t strong enough to support the weight of our backs. Damn.

We also had to take measurements of the largest parts of our body. For obvious reasons I don’t feel like I need to tell the on-line world the exact measurement of my right thigh, however I will happily report how many inches disappear at the end.

The attitude of the bootcamp is of course non-competitive, they say that you are only competing against yourself. Yeah right. There’s no way I’m going to let myself be the first one to fall from the squat position, even though my thighs are shaking like a freaking earthquake. I think bootcamp will bring my competitive nature to exercise, which in my case will be a good thing.

Anyhow, enough of this…I am happy to report that I actually enjoyed the morning and it did not feel ridiculously early. Of course, it’s only lunch time as I write this…we’ll see how happy I am when I finish my day at 8:00pm tonight.