Follow
I absolutely love to see new victims–I mean clients–at bootcamp. There are lots of reasons I love it. They’re almost always a little scared. Then there’s that look they get watching everyone pound out rep-after-rep of an exercise they can’t even do once. Such a classic look! Ah, and that look towards the end of their first workout. The one where you can tell they are trying their best not to be sick. I know, I know, I shouldn’t be laughing at them. I’m not really laughing, it’s just that we were all there at one point.
There are athletes of every level at bootcamp. Beginners, intermediate and advanced athletes, and lots of other levels in between. There have been so many times where we’ve finished a workout that has left me feeling a little defeated because I felt like I had to stop and rest too many times. Defeated because I saw what the more advanced athletes could do that I could not. Many of those times, I have been stopped by someone on the way out just to hear how impressed they were that I was able to do more than they could. And that reminds me that I have come a really long way. I can do so much more than I used to be able to do. It motivates me, too, to try even harder each time. Because if hard work got me from where I was a year ago to where I am today, think of where more hard work will put me this time next year.
Working out with a group of people like we have at bootcamp is such an indescribable experience. We are a family. Just when you think you can’t do something, someone starts cheering you on and helping you get through. If they have finished their 100 reps of some crazy thing Coach JC wants us to do, they’ll get down on the floor with you and help you finish your 100 reps, all while encouraging you. We push each other to be better every day.
Which brings me to my favorite “look” from someone who is new to bootcamp. It’s that look they get at the end of a Friday Fitness Challenge after finishing what they thought was impossible. That look of accomplishment, the “I can’t believe I just did that” look. That’s when you really know you’re in the right place. Because there is no better way to push yourself than to pull others along with you.