Letters From Hollywood

Six weeks ago I decided that my pre-triathlon summer training needed a swift kick to the pants. I found myself going through the motions without any real motivation.

A little asking around pointed me in the right direction. The popular fitness program here is military style Boot Camps. I had seen all kinds of marketing for them but always thought they were more of a gimmick than anything else. I assumed they were something from the TV infomercial variety.

Boy was I wrong. There’s a reason why these are popping up faster than Starbucks in 1999 – they work. After a little research I decided to commit to Extreme Boot Camp. Ok, so maybe it was the name that hooked me – but The Wall Street Journal did rate this as the best workout program on the West Coast.

This particular Boot Camp was one hour a day, five days a week, for six solid weeks. Or in my case, since I did both the morning and evening classes, two hours a week. Yes, I’m crazy… but I like results. These programs are geared towards a wide range of people. I wasn’t sure how much I would get out of it since I was already in good shape. Here’s the rundown of my experience.

Day one is where you weigh in and measure up. All your dimensions are recorded. You proceed through a series of pushup, sit-up, and running speed tests. I started with 180lbs, 15.5% body fat, 28 pushups, 50 sit-ups, and a 6:18 mile. I was assigned the Alpha group.

After the first day, the easy part is over. The first two weeks are the toughest for your body to adjust to. Even though I already led an active lifestyle I found myself very sore and tired after workouts.

Another surprise for me was the nutritional guidance. You’re issued a nutrition guide and mess log for you to record all of your food consumption throughout the program. Instructors check your daily eating habits and correct you as needed. Cake and cookies will earn you extra running miles, pizza extra sit-ups. And I could swear they’re trained to tell when you’re lying about what you eat. Eating programs are customized based upon your goals. It was never my desire to lose weight – increasing muscle mass is what I was working towards. I was put on a high protein, high calorie diet to fund my overactive lifestyle.

Workouts varied everyday. If we went for a long distance run one day, the next we’d be sprinting almost to the point of puking. One day we’d do pushups until our arms felt like falling off, the next abs until we couldn’t move, and the next legs until we couldn’t walk. Workouts were always a surprise and included things like running, stair climbing, calisthenics, resistance training, plyometrics, power yoga, agility and power drills. Sometimes we’d even push cars, and run obstacle courses.

The group was encouraged to work as a team. Slackers would cost everyone else extra repetitions. The instructors would push everyone to new limits. While there was yelling involved, they really weren’t overly militant. If anything, I’d say they were rather inspirational.

It’s not a program for the faint at heart. If you make it to the last day you’ll get to test out and see just how much your hard efforts paid off. I finished at 177lbs, 9.8% body fat, 56 pushups, 60 sit-ups, and a 5:50 mile. It’s certainly more than I expected to achieve. Nothing can explain how much better I feel about my overall health. I no longer crave pizza daily, or even that Hershey’s bar in the grocery checkout.

California is by far one of the most health conscious states in the country. They say trends start out here and work their way East. Here’s a little tip for all you want-to-be entrepreneurs over there; start a fitness boot camp. You’ll be one of the first on the block with a sure hit.

Until next time, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

Kemer