KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - Wichita's Toughest Workouts : Fitness Bootcamp
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We’re getting close to the holidays, that means a lot of parties, food, and drink, for many folks…a few
extra pounds. One way you can keep the weight off is by starting to workout or stepping up your workouts
if you alreadt hit the gym.
We want to show you how to do that,starting the week ofNovember 10th at 5pm. See Eyewitness News
reporters Matt Mauro and Jenn Bates try to find Wichita’s Toughest Workouts. You’ll be able see Matt
and Jenn’s report cards and see what they really think about the workouts.
I had heard a lot about fitness bootcamp before Matt and I did this and was really excited about it. My sister-in-law did it for 6 weeks before she married my brother and she lost a ton of weight and really toned up, so I was pretty pumped to see what it was all about.
Right away I loved it because our head trainer Edgar was a Florida Gator Fan! Matt and I both went to Florida so we bonded with him immediately! We used that as a lot of motivation later. We started with a nice jog in Riverside park mixing in some Indian runs as well until we got to our location. If you’re not sure what an Indian run is, it’s when you run in a line and the person in the back sprints to the front of the line with everyone going at least three or four times. We did a lot of cardio in the beginning, like sprinting up a hill both forwards and backwards, while mixing in a lot of pushups (which were my favorite until this workout!)
What was cool about bootcamp was the incorporation of SPARQ training. It’s a type of training that a lot of professional and collegiate athletes use to maximize speed and agility. Matt and I were paired up with one of the trainers with a band around each of our waists and an elastic band in between us. Matt and I ran while the trainers acted as our resistance, forcing us to really dig in and battle through.
The whole time Edgar, the other trainers, and the other participants were cheering us on and encouraging us to really dig deep and try and yelling things like, “You’re almost there just a little bit more! Come on push!” By far this was the most motivating workout. Not to mention we were outside on a gorgeous day and I’m a huge fan of exercising outside and getting fresh air.
I was sore for the next couple of days (also probably because we had done the APEX session just two days before!) and I could totally feel the lactic acid build up when I tried to sit down. Of all the exercises this is definitely one that I would pay to do on a regular basis. It worked you out, but not to the point where you had to stop. Great program!
You’ve heard of bootcamp, where military instructors whip new recruits into shape; now Jenn and I are doing Fitness Bootcamp, where a buff guy is going to try to whip us in shape!
If you’re tired of being a couch potato and need some motivation to workout, then Fitness Bootcamp is great for you. Jenn and I met our instruct Edgar Smith at Riverside Park for an hour of fun. It started out easy enough, with some stretching and calisthenics. In fact, it kind of made me think of middle school P.E. class again. And then the work started.
We started running and before long we were sprinting, running up hills frontward and backward and doing pushups. The whole time, Edgar was there “motivating” us to keep going. That includes cheering, clapping and occasionally yelling and taunting! But it was all in good fun. It made me want to work harder and tell myself I could keep going back to the end. We also did this in different parts of Riverside, so it kept the scenery fresh and never got boring.
Then we ended up back at Riverside Park for some hard work. Edgar and both put these bands around our wastes; they were connected by an elastic cord. The goal was for me to run and Edgar would act as an anchor to slow me down and make me work harder. Geesh! I never guessed how hard this would be. Edgar started out easy on me then when he wanted it to get harder, he made it a lot harder and before long I felt like I was running in place trying to pull a Mac truck! It was a great workout though. I could feel my legs burning and my heartrate was skyrocketing.
Then we did some drills that reminded me of football practice: running with high knees, shuffling side-to-side and windsprints. Again, this all may not sound hard, but you just keep going and going through it. Edgar gives you just enough break to catch your breath so you don’t faint, then you’re back at it.
Fitness Bootcamp is a great cardio workout! If you can get there, Edgar will make sure you keep going!
