Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Fitness Challenge: Day 79



Many gyms in NYC offer 45 minute boot camps. While these are a great way to stay in shape, the 45 minute classes are over before you know it.

I found a few gyms and outdoor boot camps that offered hour long classes. These were much more challenging, in addition to being, well, longer.

Now there is a new frontier. P.E.P.P.E.R. Practical Exercise Personally Planned Equals Results has 75 minute boot camps in Central Park and other NYC locations. Breaching the hour long class feels like Spinal Tap going to 11 on the volume button.

Our class, in a bucolic setting that belied the torture to come, started with light jogging - then tapping the ground, side shuffles, high knees, skipping and butt kicks.

We had stations, each with a trainer, to do bear crawls, crab walks, gorilla swings, dive bombs and hopping on one foot up a hill. We also had to partner up, running up a hill carrying someone and doing wheelbarrows. But these were not playground exercises - we kept our heart rates up and worked every muscle.

And there was no let up. Towards the end, we did duck walks (try this after an hour of cardio and strength training) followed by an endless variety of ab exercises.

The trainers were encouraging, the setting was magical and the fitness was unparalleled.

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