1 week down, 4 to go

Despite the fact that today is the very chilling "Friday, the 13th", and Atlanta is (quite appropriately) enduring some ear-popping thunderstorms, as we speak, I have actually had a great day! Not only is today my sister's birthday (Happy 33rd Birthday, Kenzie!), but it marks the end of Round 1 of boot camp. Woo hoo! Only 3 more weeks to go!

In case you want to add some "boot camp" to your current work out, here is a bit of what I experienced this past week:

Tuesday: We focused primarily on legs and butt. We ran throughout Piedmont Park (very hilly) for a total of 40 minutes. Intermittently, our instructors had has do various legs and/or butt exercises for approximately two minutes each, including, but certainly not limited to, running up and down stairs, running up and down hills (killer!), leg kicks, high knees, mountain climbers, etc.

Wednesday: Our focus was on our arms, shoulders, and backs. We did a bit less running than the day before. But, we did every variation of the "push-up" one could possibly imagine. Next week, I fully expect that we will work on the one-handed push-up. :) We also worked out with the exercise band (i.e. planting both feet in the middle of the band, and lifting the band with both arms...in every direction). Reps were typically for 20, and the sets were 3 in length.

Thursday: Abs! (I did row-boats, bicycles, crunches with my legs in the air, mason twists, mason twists combined with row-boats, etc.). Ehow.com has great how-to vids of these very-effective exercises. Again, reps were typically for 20, but with only two sets.

Friday: Friday's workout was advertised as "stretching", although we spent the first twenty minutes doing butt kicks, high knees, and sprints, and in between those exercises, we did the dreaded "burpees". Check out Wikipedia's instructions for the perfect burpee. Anyway, it was nice to end the week with a thorough stretch of our very sore muscles.

Needless to say, boot camp is very versatile; it keeps you guessing; and, it takes you out of your 30-minutes-on-the-treadmill-per-day comfort zone. I definitely feel accomplished after my first week!