To me, exercise, like most things, is all about results.
I've never been a fan of workouts geared around lunging and stretching which promise to lengthen, tone and burn fat without even breaking into a sweat - surely there's no way it can work?
So the idea of being put through my paces by an ex-Military personal trainer for an exercise bootcamp was right up my street. Heck, if these type of army-style workouts get TOWIE girl Lucy Mecklenburgh looking reem and leaves songtress Shola Ama in control of her curves, sign me up.
Fast forward to a drizzly Sunday morning and all of a sudden I feel less keen at the thought of some army beefcake shouting in my face as I skid through mud on the pretence of losing a couple of pounds. Thankfully, my day spent as a member of the Prestige Boot Camp involved no shouting. The rain eased off. And I had fun (promise).
So, what exactly did the day entail?
I'd already been prepped to eat a high energy breakfast no later than 8am, and could choose from eggs on wholemeal toast, porridge or a fruit smoothie. Oats and milk were the simplest of the three so a hearty bowl of porridge it was. Staff Reitze had also advised that we bring fruit or oatcakes as a morning and afternoon snack and a healthy salad-heavy lunch.
We started out with a slow jog across our section of the park to a big grassy space where Staff Johnson was waiting to kick off our stretching session. It was given a fun twist by playing on the idea of 'Simon Says' but in this case, if a series of stretches weren't preceded with the words 'Staff Says', anyone who mistakenly followed orders had to do 10 lunges on the spot. Hilarity and childlike competition ensued.
Next, it was time to don big red gloves for a spot of boxing. We split into pairs and took it in turns to be the boxer or hold the focus pads, and worked through a series of punching exercises that focused on the biceps and triceps. I found this was my toughest area, with the upward punches (where I was sitting on the floor rapidly punching up into the pads held by my standing partner) sending my arms into spasm. But hey, no pain no gain, right?
My favourite part of the day came next, when we split into pairs again and exercised our way around a circuit course, made up 18 different exercises. There were six that focused on arms, six that trained the abs and then six of cardiovascular exercise. We never spent any longer than 60 seconds on each before switching to the next, interval training is what the pros call it, and it's apparently the best way to get the your heart rate hammering and the body burning fat.
After a lunch of a salad wrap and more oatcakes, we split into three groups and were encouraged to compete with each other throughout a sequence of challenges, including standing in a line and throwing a rugby ball through our legs and over our head to the person behind and sprinting short distances. It was essentially what school PE sessions (should) have been like back in the day.
Now, part of the fun of this bootcamp is not knowing what's coming next so I'm shutting up. But seriously, check out the Prestige Boot Camp website - your muscles will thank you.
