Interval fitness training: Anything is possible in boot camp

What a workout yesterday during the 90 minute Boot Camp. I will never look at Bald Hill the same again. The beautiful trail that travels through Bald Hill farm has everything from a nice flat walking trail to single track gravel trail and lots of uphill routes to the top of the hill that you can walk, run, bike, lunge and do push ups on during the climb!

The group was quiet during our warm-up and I am sure they were wondering what was ahead. I explained the game plan and the goals of the class. We would be working at a 3-10 today on our scale of 1-10, (1 easy, 10 very challenging.) After the warm up and stretch we started up the wide track trail to the top.  We started out with 20 fast walking  steps then 20 slow jogs then back to 20 fast walking steps and so on. With interval training anything is possible because you are able to work your body hard and then recover. It forces your body to work outside of it’s comfort zone and then recover to be able to do it again.  We did this for the first 35 minutes of the workout and added exercises as we went up such as 20 jogs, 20 walk, 10 push ups, 15 lunges each set, etc. Your body is constantly moving and working a different muscle group while the others muscles get a rest.

Once we reached the top of the hill we continued our workout with more intervals of upper body and lower body exercises. The trip down was a nice recovery as everyone in the group chose a fast walk or jog. We made it to the Barn and continued with hill repeats, balance and core work. Our class finished with very relaxing stretches and deep breathing exercises all the while enjoying the beautiful views of the valley and watching the sun rise .

It started out tough, really tough, but I saw the determination in everyone and that showed me they could do it, they would be rewarded with recovery in the form of little breaks, and that anything was possible. They knew that if they needed more time to recover they could take it whenever needed. No one in our group is ever asked to do more than they are able and  we help each other work harder and have fun. If you would like to join our group and see if this workout is right for you, contact Shandra Milstein of Corvallis Fitness Adventures, LLC at (541) 207-8526, by email at outdoorfit@comcast.net, or simply click the “contact” button on this page.