Day 3.
Welcome back veterans! Our instructor team is excited to have our favorite campers with us and to welcome three new campers looking to get their Boot Camp on! We have a tight bunch of campers with us this month which makes for fast and fun workouts!
Week one is all about acclimation for our new campers. It's normal to have sore calves, shins, gluts and just about every other muscle! If you're not sore, something is wrong!
Stretching at the end of a workout is so important to help decrease soreness. It increases flexibility, reduces lactic acid (chemical known as soreness) and prevents injury. Stretching throughout the day is also helpful. Don't forget about ice and elevation on ankles, knees or other body parts being "acclimated"! Keep in mind, for most new campers we're dusting off the cobwebs that have gathered during a sedentary period of time. Expect an adjustment period. You have to start somewhere just like the rest of us!
In my opinion, the workouts are the easy part! The only responsibility you have as a camper is to show up for the scheduled workouts and do what you're asked. Muscle confusion as well as intervals of cardiovascular and strength exercises are the name of the Boot Camp game. No worries....we'll guide you the whole way. Yes, some of the exercises may feel awkward at first, but by week 2 you'll be a pro!
Back to my statement, "In my opinion, the workouts are the easy part!" Allow me to explain. Campers come to camp each day and give our instructor team their very best. We love it when the group leaves all they have in the grass before climbing into their cars to head home. Now, let's talk nutrition. In my opinion, making the best nutritional choices could very well be the hardest part of living a healthy lifestyle!
Think about it. You've worked out hard and your instructor team is there to attest to the fact. What happens when you get in your car and start your day? Are you starving and in a hurry so decide to skip breakfast? Or maybe you grab a pop tart and diet coke on your way out the door? Hmm. If you eat both pop tarts in the package, you've pretty much added back the calories you've just burned. This is not so bad if you had chosen a better way to fuel your body after the workout, but because pop tarts are not really fuel, you'll feel great with the burst of sugar energy at first. When the sugar is done giving you a quick energy fix, you'll soon feel your energy level plummet. In turn, you'll look for another "boost" and so the vicious cycle begins.
When we ask our campers to not cheat, we're not saying that there are foods out there bad enough to be considered a "cheat". It's just food. Let's not give food the value of being a cheat. However, in terms of Boot Camp and the results you are after, the question is....Are pop tarts the best fuel for the machine you are working so hard to create?
It's our job as instructors to teach the possibility of eating healthy most of the time. It usually does not happen over night. Most of us have to do a little rewiring on how we view food so that we make conscious efforts to eat nutritionally well until those same efforts become unconscious or dare I say "a way of life"?
It can be done! It takes effort, education and determination....all the while, no one's looking. No one will know if you choose cake over an apple.
What's exciting about the journey towards healthy nutrition is you learn to be honest with yourself. You learn to trust and respect yourself. With that, only positive results will happen in your life! We guarantee it!
Happy, Healthy Eating!
OBC Gwinnett~Hamilton Mill