My Boot Camp Experience
My Boot Camp
About a month ago, I got this alert from my Living Social account about a local boot camp one-month membership. I took the bait and signed up. It was $20 bucks. What did I have to lose? Well, about 5 lbs would be a good start. You may have seen my Facebook entries and Twitter posts about BodyZen Boot Camp from a few weeks back. How hard could it be? I thought. I can be at the park a couple of blocks from the house by 6 AM 3 mornings a week. I am not employed right now. I exercise regularly. I'm pretty fit. I can do this for a month.
So what, that I just found out that my hyperthyroid condition has returned and I am now taking two prescriptions to slow down my heart rate and hyperactive thyroid gland. Exercise is always a good thing.
I arrived 15 minutes early the first morning. At 6 AM, in Tucson AZ in the middle of July, it was already hot and muggy. Ugh! The exercise clase is conducted on the beat-up tennis court at Jesse Owens Park. It's really a rather nice park; with 3 baseball fields, two swimming pools, a playground, and these enomorous lights for night games that light up the entire neighborhood. The ball fields get lots of use all year round. Unfortunately, I have never seen anybody use the tennis court but us for our BodyZen classes.
That first morning, I had heeded the instructor's advice and had come well prepared. I had a plastic tarp to lay on the ground on which I placed my Yoga mat, so that it wouldn't get all grimy from being on the court surface. I had a towel, my water Thermos, and my bicycle gloves. My bike gloves substitute for weight-lifting gloves and they work pretty well, too.
The workout consisted of a series of familiar exercises, done in 30-second intervals. Not too bad, I thought. But, try doing that series of exercises 4 times, when the temp is 78 degrees and the humidity is 65 percent! I never stopped panting, like a dog, for the entire 45-minute class, and even through the cool-down. I was still panting in the car on the drive home - 2 blocks - and when I got into the house. I think I continued to pant through my shower, too!
I had asked Courtnie, the instructor, what the average calorie burn was for one of these sessions. She was very quick to inform me that one of her students in another class had set her monitor during a previous class session and came up with a score of 600 calories at the end of her workout. Wow! If I could average even 450-500 calories a session, I would be back to burning calories the way I used to when I jogged 20 miles a week. (That was a very, very long time ago,in a different galaxy.) I was hooked; for at least the next 4 weeks.
The next day's class was a bit harder: 45-seconds doing each exercise in a new series, 3 times, plus a 2-minute jog around the tennis court. I guess I should mention somethng about the make-up of the class. It consists of between 12-18 people in each class; men and women, ages ranging from twenty-somethings to 50-somethings. Some look to be pretty fit, while others look like they couldn't climb two flights of stairs without experiencing an angina attack. I can't imagine how they endure these sessions. Once each session gets under way, I don't pay much attention to what anyone else is doing but me. A friend of mine finds that very strange. I will leave that for another post.
I made it through the second class, with a little less panting. I started to wonder if maybe doing this while my hyperthyroid is still hyper has something to do with all my panting. Maybe I should have waited until my medications kicked in before starting this routine. Too late, now to worry about such things.
The next day was a rest day. Thank goodness. Because that was the first morning I awoke with muscle pain. Not real bad, but I could tell that I had worked out harder than I had in a long time. A good thing, I thought. My Third morning of boot camp introduced the Kettle Bell. I had worked with Kettle Bells in other classes so I was not fazed. As long as I stayed with the lightest, 10 lb. KB, I would be okay, I thought. All went well for my third class. I was pumped! I had burned 1500 calories in my first week!
The following Monday, I was ready for my second week of Boot Camp. Another new routine, with more Kettle Bells and short jogs. More panting. This week, the morning temperatures were the same but the humidity was now higher due to the increased frequency of our afternoon monsoon rains. Afterwards, I found myself unable to easily get up out of a chair and walk across the room without feeling wobbly on my legs. It must have been all those squats,lunges, and monkey walks. I made it through week two!
Monday of week three began like the previous week. A new routine including the Kettle Bells. I wasn't quick enough to get one of the 10 lb. bells, so I used the next best thing, a 20 lb bell. I only used it for the first round in the series, but apparently that was enough. At the end of our session, I noticed a little tightness in the back of my neck. Hmmm. That's strange, I thought. I quess I worked something a bit too hard, today. No matter. I will be fine tomorrow, I said to myself.
That night, as I was lying in bed, reading, and proceeded to turn over and reach for the nightstand lamp to switch it off, I felt this stiffening sensation run down from the base of my skull, down my neck and spread through my shoulders. Wow! Where did that come from? I was just lying here reading!
Tuesday morning of my third week dawned and I was unable to bounce out of bed and jump into my workout clothes. It took all my strength to just roll out of bed without doing more damage to my neck and shoulders. Ice bag to the rescue!
I spend the entire day doing my best to hold my head up. The pain felt like a sinus headache in the back of my head, bundled with a stiff neck. Aspirin didn't help. Ice felt good but wasn't fixing anything. The pain was so uncomfortable that sleep was not an option. By Wednesday morning, I knew I had to get some help. I called May, the massage therapist who had helped me last year when I messed up my leg and my back attempting to get back into jogging 2-miles every morning.
May was able to slot me in the very next afternoon. I had told her I had a bit of a stiff neck that I thought occured from the way I was lying in bed. At this point I had not made the connection to my last boot camp session.
By the time May started working on my neck, it was obvious this was not something I had done by lying in a wacky position on my pillow in bed. That's when I discovered I had muscle pain in my jaw, too! Then it came to me in a flash! The moment I finished swinging that 20 lb. Kettle Bell is when I felt the pain in my jaw and my neck! OMG! May worked on my neck and back for a full hour. As a result, I was now able to move my head from side to side with a lot less pain. There would be no Kettle Bells in my future for quite some time to come.
About a month ago, I got this alert from my Living Social account about a local boot camp one-month membership. I took the bait and signed up. It was $20 bucks. What did I have to lose? Well, about 5 lbs would be a good start. You may have seen my Facebook entries and Twitter posts about BodyZen Boot Camp from a few weeks back. How hard could it be? I thought. I can be at the park a couple of blocks from the house by 6 AM 3 mornings a week. I am not employed right now. I exercise regularly. I'm pretty fit. I can do this for a month.
So what, that I just found out that my hyperthyroid condition has returned and I am now taking two prescriptions to slow down my heart rate and hyperactive thyroid gland. Exercise is always a good thing.
I arrived 15 minutes early the first morning. At 6 AM, in Tucson AZ in the middle of July, it was already hot and muggy. Ugh! The exercise clase is conducted on the beat-up tennis court at Jesse Owens Park. It's really a rather nice park; with 3 baseball fields, two swimming pools, a playground, and these enomorous lights for night games that light up the entire neighborhood. The ball fields get lots of use all year round. Unfortunately, I have never seen anybody use the tennis court but us for our BodyZen classes.
That first morning, I had heeded the instructor's advice and had come well prepared. I had a plastic tarp to lay on the ground on which I placed my Yoga mat, so that it wouldn't get all grimy from being on the court surface. I had a towel, my water Thermos, and my bicycle gloves. My bike gloves substitute for weight-lifting gloves and they work pretty well, too.
The workout consisted of a series of familiar exercises, done in 30-second intervals. Not too bad, I thought. But, try doing that series of exercises 4 times, when the temp is 78 degrees and the humidity is 65 percent! I never stopped panting, like a dog, for the entire 45-minute class, and even through the cool-down. I was still panting in the car on the drive home - 2 blocks - and when I got into the house. I think I continued to pant through my shower, too!
I had asked Courtnie, the instructor, what the average calorie burn was for one of these sessions. She was very quick to inform me that one of her students in another class had set her monitor during a previous class session and came up with a score of 600 calories at the end of her workout. Wow! If I could average even 450-500 calories a session, I would be back to burning calories the way I used to when I jogged 20 miles a week. (That was a very, very long time ago,in a different galaxy.) I was hooked; for at least the next 4 weeks.
The next day's class was a bit harder: 45-seconds doing each exercise in a new series, 3 times, plus a 2-minute jog around the tennis court. I guess I should mention somethng about the make-up of the class. It consists of between 12-18 people in each class; men and women, ages ranging from twenty-somethings to 50-somethings. Some look to be pretty fit, while others look like they couldn't climb two flights of stairs without experiencing an angina attack. I can't imagine how they endure these sessions. Once each session gets under way, I don't pay much attention to what anyone else is doing but me. A friend of mine finds that very strange. I will leave that for another post.
I made it through the second class, with a little less panting. I started to wonder if maybe doing this while my hyperthyroid is still hyper has something to do with all my panting. Maybe I should have waited until my medications kicked in before starting this routine. Too late, now to worry about such things.
The next day was a rest day. Thank goodness. Because that was the first morning I awoke with muscle pain. Not real bad, but I could tell that I had worked out harder than I had in a long time. A good thing, I thought. My Third morning of boot camp introduced the Kettle Bell. I had worked with Kettle Bells in other classes so I was not fazed. As long as I stayed with the lightest, 10 lb. KB, I would be okay, I thought. All went well for my third class. I was pumped! I had burned 1500 calories in my first week!
The following Monday, I was ready for my second week of Boot Camp. Another new routine, with more Kettle Bells and short jogs. More panting. This week, the morning temperatures were the same but the humidity was now higher due to the increased frequency of our afternoon monsoon rains. Afterwards, I found myself unable to easily get up out of a chair and walk across the room without feeling wobbly on my legs. It must have been all those squats,lunges, and monkey walks. I made it through week two!
Monday of week three began like the previous week. A new routine including the Kettle Bells. I wasn't quick enough to get one of the 10 lb. bells, so I used the next best thing, a 20 lb bell. I only used it for the first round in the series, but apparently that was enough. At the end of our session, I noticed a little tightness in the back of my neck. Hmmm. That's strange, I thought. I quess I worked something a bit too hard, today. No matter. I will be fine tomorrow, I said to myself.
That night, as I was lying in bed, reading, and proceeded to turn over and reach for the nightstand lamp to switch it off, I felt this stiffening sensation run down from the base of my skull, down my neck and spread through my shoulders. Wow! Where did that come from? I was just lying here reading!
Tuesday morning of my third week dawned and I was unable to bounce out of bed and jump into my workout clothes. It took all my strength to just roll out of bed without doing more damage to my neck and shoulders. Ice bag to the rescue!
I spend the entire day doing my best to hold my head up. The pain felt like a sinus headache in the back of my head, bundled with a stiff neck. Aspirin didn't help. Ice felt good but wasn't fixing anything. The pain was so uncomfortable that sleep was not an option. By Wednesday morning, I knew I had to get some help. I called May, the massage therapist who had helped me last year when I messed up my leg and my back attempting to get back into jogging 2-miles every morning.
May was able to slot me in the very next afternoon. I had told her I had a bit of a stiff neck that I thought occured from the way I was lying in bed. At this point I had not made the connection to my last boot camp session.
By the time May started working on my neck, it was obvious this was not something I had done by lying in a wacky position on my pillow in bed. That's when I discovered I had muscle pain in my jaw, too! Then it came to me in a flash! The moment I finished swinging that 20 lb. Kettle Bell is when I felt the pain in my jaw and my neck! OMG! May worked on my neck and back for a full hour. As a result, I was now able to move my head from side to side with a lot less pain. There would be no Kettle Bells in my future for quite some time to come.
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