Bootcamp!

I'm not sure if many of you know (unless you are friends with me on facebook) but I've been partaking in a crazy little thing called bootcamp, military fitness stylee. It's pretty manic but I love it!

I've been going 3 times a week since January, but had a bit of a break from it whilst away in Marbella but I'm now back in full swing. It is run by an ex army fitness guru called Gavin who intends to kill us all slowly through extreme torture.

The hour long weekday evening class mainly consists of running up and down stairs over a motorway flyover bridge then getting down and dirty in a pile of mud on a car park grass verge in the pitch black darkness. Last nights class generally consisted of  'planking', 'squatting', 'crunches', 'press ups' and the infamous class 'burpees' man they are a killer! If you don't keep up, or you are slacking the whole group gets punished and you have to start again.

Saturdays in the daylight are usually a bit more fun. We are generally sent off on a 2 mile run followed by some gruelling team games in the middle of a rugby pitch. Gavin sometimes gets out the medicine ball for extra torment, or has us in teams of 5 commando crawling through each others legs then lifting the smallest person above our heads determine the winning team. Luckily no one has had to lift me yet! The worst bit is realising you still have to run 2 miles to get back to the car park to finish the class.

Why do I do this when I have membership at my lovely local warm and less muddy gym? It's actually really motivating and you really feel like pushing yourself further than you would anywhere else. Doing the class with another 20 girls (and the odd fella) really keeps you motivated and the added giggles make you feel like a team. Plus, the routine is changed every class and we are always doing something new and going home covered in mud makes me feel like I've done more than my fair share.

I'm considering cancelling my gym membership and doing this full time but we'll see! I'm still in the beginners class at the minute and the sight of the advanced class jogging past on their 5 mile run whilst carrying car tyres looks a bit too scary to be doing, especially when only the star jumps knacker me out!

Not for wimps