Friday, April 24, 2009
Last summer my personal trainer left the gym that he and I were working out at and moved to a new one. This gym was completely new in town and had sort of an intimidating name - THROWDOWN ETC (ETC stands for Elite Training Center). This gym was really intended for those people who were hard core fighters and those who wanted to become Ultimate Fighting Champions. Well, I am in my 40’s, and knew that I did not match the target audience. Plus, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the crowd that went there. When my personal trainer told me he was moving there, I was a little nervous, but I went ahead and signed up for that gym so that I could continue working out with him.
I was determined right away not to ever get involved in any of the classes - I was a little scared that I would get hurt if I took Jiu Jitzu, MMA, Boxing, etc. I’m too old to walk around with a black eye or worse yet - a broken hip! 
Well, everything went as planned for awhile. I worked out with my personal trainer only. I went into the place, stayed to myself, and tried not to make any eye contact. I couldn’t help but notice, though, that the crowd seemed a little tough. They had muscles where I never thought you could get muscles, walked with an air about them like they knew they could “take” you, and were COVERED in tattoos. I was none of those things! So, I was more than happy to show up in the morning, work out, and leave - never thinking again about the new gym.
I’m not really sure what happened, but at some point there must have been a moment where I was momentarily possessed. The fantasy of being some “old” man doing Jiu Jitzu or whamping someone’s A** in the “Cage” carried me away and I started looking at all the classes offered on the ThrowdownETC website. Just looking at the names of the classes made my palms sweat. But then I saw one that piqued my interest - Renegade Boot Camp. I had always wanted to do a boot camp, and was pretty sure I was finally at a point physically where I could at least struggle through the rigors of a boot camp. So, it was decided - I would try one of the Boot Camp sessions.
The first day I went I was almost sick from anxiety and anticipation throughout the entire day! I would be working, and suddenly I would remember that I was going to this Boot Camp! It scared the bejeebeez out of me! Was I really going to do this? Well, the time came, and I found myself checking in for the class. I went to the designated area and started to stretch out. I was getting cotton mouth. Some other guys showed up early. They were dressed in black T-shirts and camoflauged shorts. I was decked out in all things Abercrombie & Fitch. UGH! It was obvious that I did not fit in!
The Instructor (Jason Mertlich) arrived, plugged in his iPod to the stereo system, and hard rock reverberated throughout the gym. I was literally shaken to the core! Was it too late for me to bow out? Almost everyone else looked like they had been doing this for years. There were one or two other people that looked “scared” like me - THANK HEAVENS!
Jason started barking out the exercises, and everyone fell in line. Some of the exercises I had never heard of before. For example, he kept yelling “burpees”, but with the music and all I thought he was saying “herpes”. For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why an exercise would be called “herpes” except for the fact that it was the hardest exercise, and something you never wanted to do! You can imagine my embarrassment when I found out that he was not saying “herpes” at all, but rather “burpees” (to this day, I have no idea why they’re called burpees).
As the workout progressed, the gym heated up almost to unbearably hot. Everyone pulled together drawn closer by the mutual suffering we were all going through. Suddenly I was talking with “kids” and what’s even more unbelievable, they were speaking to me! And guess what - they were all SO COOL! I was really surprised. I was forced to let go of my preconceptions. Well, as the gym heated up, most of the guys took off their shirts to try to escape some of the heat. That’s when everyone started to compare their “tats”. There were skulls, spiders, zombies, japanese words, chinese words, cuss words, marijuana leaves, and one tattoo that took the cake. When one guy took off his shirt, written in a font resembling a halloween font (blood dripping from the letters), were the words “Satan Loves You”, but the word “Love” was substituted for the shape of a “heart”.
Oh, he was the hit of the boot camp! Everyone was slapping him on the back, and praising his tattoo. And then there was me. I stood in uncomfortable silence. I was facing a predicament that I wasn’t sure how to handle. I certainly didn’t want to offend anyone by criticizing the tattoo, but I also knew I was treading a very fine line with God at that very moment. I was convinced that it was just by His grace that I was still alive, as the workout was so difficult. I could see me saying something about how cool that tattoo was just to fit in, and then having God strike me with a heart attack right there on the spot! Or I could say something against the tattoo, and face the wrath of all the guys in the locker room. So, I stood in awkward silence.
Fortunately, at that very moment, Jason barked out the next round of exercises. No more time for chit-chat! Get a move on! Pain never felt so good!
| Daily Food Plan - Date: 04-24-2009 | ||||||||
| Plan | Actual | |||||||
| Meal 1 | 2 Eggs Poached | Meal 1 | 2 Eggs Poached | |||||
| 7:30 | X | AM | Whole Grain Toast | 9:30 | X | AM | Whole Grain Toast | |
| PM | Grapes | PM | watermelon | |||||
| Meal 2 | Protein Shake w/Water | Meal 2 | Pasta w/ Parmesan Cheese | |||||
| 9:30 | X | AM | 1 Banana | 11:30 | X | AM | parsley, pepper seeds, garlic | |
| PM | PM | watermelon | ||||||
| Meal 3 | Chicken | Meal 3 | Protein Shake w/ Water | |||||
| 11:30 | X | AM | Broccoli | AM | 1 Banana | |||
| PM | 1:30 | X | PM | |||||
| Meal 4 | Protein Shake w/Water | Meal 4 | Cottage Cheese | |||||
| AM | 1 Banana | AM | ||||||
| 1:30 | X | PM | 3:30 | X | PM | |||
| Meal 5 | Cottage Cheese | Meal 5 | Skipped this meal | |||||
| AM | Spinach | AM | ||||||
| 3:30 | X | PM | 5:30 | X | PM | |||
| Meal 6 | 1 Can Tuna | Meal 6 | Chicken - roasted | |||||
| AM | Carrots | AM | grapes | |||||
| 7:00 | X | PM | 7:00 | X | PM | |||
| NOTES: | ||||||||
| 1 gallon water | ||||||||
MORNING WORKOUT
Strength Training - Back & Biceps
1. Wide Grip Cable Row - 3 sets of 15 reps at 110, 120, and 130 lbs
2. Cable Pulldowns - 3 sets of 15 reps at 110, 120, and 130 lbs
3. Seated Lowerback Extensions - 3 sets of 15 reps at 315, 330, and 345 lbs
4. One-Legged Dumbbell Curls - 3 sets of 15 reps at 30 lbs
5. Hammer Curls - 3 sets of 15 reps at 30 lbs
6. Concentration Curls - 3 sets of 15 reps at 25 lbs
Throwdown ETC - Renegade Boot Camp w/ Cheryl Wong
6 minutes of jumping jacks, burpees, mountain climbers and crunches
Cheryl totally wore us out this morning! She likes to do a lot of circuit training type things, so that can be tough. We did exercises such as using a sledge hammer to hit an oversized tire, pushups on a ball, and kettle bell swings. Afterwards, we did sprinting on treadmill (7 mph) for 2 minutes, then wall sits for 2 minutes - 3 sets of these. Went back and did more circuit training - 20 step ups with 10 lb medicine ball, then throw the ball as hard as possible at ground 20 times, then throw “bouncy” medicine ball at wall, catch it, do burpee with hands on the medicine ball (20 of these). We did 3 sets of the last circuit training exercises. Finally, ended with core - 100 bicycle crunches! Whew! What a killer!
Tags: Diet Tips, Exercise, Lose Weight, Tone Muscles