10:20pm Tuesday 19th January 2010
By Kelly Buckley
WHEN I was asked to do a one-on-one work-out with the Southend arm of the Essex Boot Camp, I was probably mid-scoff of a tasty Christmas morsel, or if I wasn’t in mid-scoff, I was probably contemplating a scoff.
I’m a 37-year-old who has not done any form of exercise since giving up my dance classes about nine years ago, that is if you don’t count the running around I do after a three and four-year-old, or the following of the Vicky Entwistle (aka Corrie’s Janice Battersby) work-out DVD. This emerges from my cupboard once in a while, when I blow the dust off it and decide now is the time to “definitely be good”.
I’ve been to a gym once or twice in my life. I hated it. I hated the enclosed rooms and the cold, hard equipment and dank, extreme air-conditioned atmosphere.
Nevertheless, for the sake of art, and also because 2010 is a another of those times to definitely be good – no, definitely, definitely this time – I agreed.
It was to take place opposite the Thames Estuary Yacht Club along Southend seafront, using the steps and hills of Cliff Gardens.
My colleague Louise, who was covering the Colchester location of the camp, was really up for it.
She goes to the gym umpteen times a week, goes running and plays netball. She seemed to be excited by the idea of the stereotypical “come on you maggots” boot camp push.
I thought of fierce trainer Harvey Walden in ITV’s Celebrity Fit Club a few years back, who mercilessly put the overweight unfit stars through their paces.
Louise helpfully showed me a picture of my personal instructor, John Hawker, on www.essexbootcamp.com Oh dear. He was a hottie.
Visions of me puffing and panting up and down the picturesque cliffs, like a big, fat, red embarrassed tomato, under the amused twinkly blue eye of the lithe Mr Hawker, not to mention half of Southend seafront’s sprinting fit brigade, sprang to mind.
The humiliation factor had heightened... quite a lot.
Forward-wind, and two weather-related cancellations later, the morning arrived when we could put it off no more.
Still snowing, but less icy, and with John bringing along more props than usual to adapt to the weather, rather than a natural location-based workout, we set to task.
What I’m about to say may sound a bit of a cliche, but it’s very true: As soon as we set to work, any thoughts of being embarrassed just melted away.
John pushed me and ensured I kept up the momentum, making sure I had a damn rigorous, but safe workout (otherwise what was the point?). He was, however, not at all judgmental about the fact I have been a lazy bint who has sat on the sofa eating cheese and drinking wine for the past several years.
I was here now. It felt like a positive move. It also wasn’t at all disconcerting to be exercising in the outdoors in front of passers-by, the complete opposite, in fact.
We started with a warm-up,and went on to more rigorous cardio-vascular work, stretches, lunges and all sorts of clever exercises designed to tone, recondition and strengthen the muscles.
We used a medicine ball (heavier than it looks) dumbbells, (heavier than they look) and kettlebells.
The latter were so heavy I felt as if I was going to do a comedy topple over when I tried to lift them off the floor, after strapping John had given a demonstration which involved sort of swinging them about like they were mere over-sized, oddly-shaped paperclips.
But I got to grips with the technique and gave it my all, and was soon swinging them about too.
We also used the benches up on the cliffs to do press-ups and dips to work out our triceps.
John explained we would usually have done a lot more running, and even worked on the sand on the beach, but, thanks to the snow, we were far more limited than usual.
Under normal circumstances I would also have been pushed a little more, running to-and-fro between the individual exercises, but I was obviously stopping to ask questions and it was my first time.
To be honest, I was perfectly happy with it all the way it was – it did feel like I had a very thorough work-out, but none of it was to the point of being really uncomfortable.
“When you do a boot-camp with a crowd, you get all sorts of people at all sorts of levels,” says John.
“There are people who come who are total beginners, who haven’t done any sort of fitness for years, or people who are really very fit and used to this kind of workout.”
He adds: “Everything is designed so people can go at their own pace.
“If you really are too tired, or cannot do anymore, of course, you should stop and take it easy.
“You can also hide be-hind people more when you do it in a crowd, more than one-on-one,” he jokes.
The hour session passed quickly, not least because I was having great fun.
Although it was serious, it was also a giggle. My favourite thing about it was definitely the outdoors factor.
Despite the freezing weather, I was sweltering ten minutes into the session.
It definitely added a real feel of wholesome goodness to be breathing in the fresh air and working out overlooking the sea, using the beautiful environment of the Cliff Gardens.
I will, definitely, definitely, be going again.
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