Bootcamp!

I've been teaching all sort of aerobics classes for 10 years. I first started taking aerobics classes when I was a sophomore in college and remember very well why this came about.

I went on a retreat in January 1999 with Christ on Campus, a college ministry I was involved in while attending the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. The retreat was in Colorado and we skied at Breckenridge, Keystone, and Copper Mountain for a few days before going to the retreat. I remember being at the top of a mountain and just really out of breath. Some of my loss of breath was probably due to the altitude, but I attributed it to the fact that I was really out of shape. I didn't work out much at all my first year and a half of college and decided to change this.

When the second semester of my sophomore year began, I started going to the HPER center and taking the free step aerobics classes that were offered. I really enjoyed the classes and was getting a good workout. As the weather warmed up I started walking around the one-mile track at a local park each day after the step class. I really enjoyed this and could tell a difference in my "fit-level."

I transferred to Missouri State University in Springfield, MO, and started taking the step classes on campus. I started talking to the instructors and they told me about a workshop being offered to help train people how to be an aerobics instructor. I took that class, and then applied to a job at Cox Fitness Center to teach step aerobics. I'm so thankful that they hired me . . . and kept me on after they saw my first few classes. I was such a bad teacher in the beginning! But I kept with it, got a little more training, and now, 10 years later, I'm still teaching!

I've taught everything from step, kick boxing, toning, spin/cycling, sport conditioning, fit ball, and boot camp. This summer I've been teaching a 5:30-6:30am boot camp class at the YMCA and have loved it! Eighteen people signed up for this class and I'd say more than half have stuck with it since the first day of class on June 21. On Tuesdays we run to a parking garage and do drills, sprints, run stairs, lots of different things outside. On Thursdays we run one mile and then go to the gym for drills and sprints. I have really enjoyed teaching these classes! Here are a few workouts I have done. I dare you to try one!

Workout #1

1-mile run

Back to the gym:
Run one lap around the gym
Bicep curls – 30 seconds
Right side shuffle around the gym
Side raises – 30 seconds
Left side shuffle around the gym
Triceps dips on bench – 30 seconds
Walking lunges around the gym
Butterfly press – 30 seconds
Burpees – 30 seconds

1 minute rest

Sprint down, back pedal back
25 punches with weights
Sprint down, high knees back
25 punches with weights
Sprint with weights, 1 minute
Crab walk
Mountain climbers – 30 seconds
Push ups – 30 seconds
Stairs – up to fourth floor and back down to gym
Squats – 30 seconds

Shoulder/arm exercise:
Partner Push up/Press
Partner A does 1 push up, partner B does one press
Partner B does 1 push up, partner A does one press
Continue switching and increase one at a time – 2, 3, 4, 5, to 10

Workout #2
1-mile run to parking garage

Top of garage:
High knees across
Butt kickers
Crossover step
20 jacks
20 windmills
20 burpees

Stairs, 3 times through:
A does 1 set of stairs (all the way down, all the way up)
B does decline push ups
Switch

1 time: suicides using the white lines of half of the parking lot