Shape’s intern Jess discovers that crawling like a bear is not as fun as it sounds, in this weeks boot camp blog.
Living the brand
I realised that after some of my previous posts readers might be asking: How did this fitness-phobe, uncoordinated, and largely unfit girl end up joining boot camp?
Well, I have Shape to thank for that. I have only been with Shape for four months, but I have learnt quite quickly in my few months here, that we do what we preach. On a daily basis we tell our readers how to live a healthy life, and therefore we should be doing the same. Live the brand- it is that simple. No one even had to tell me when I arrived because I could guess from the array of salads at lunch time, and the very few treats on the desks, that Shape is a healthy office. Well I have never had a problem on the food front. In fact I consider myself a rather healthy eater. Oats and fruit for breakfast, chicken and salad on rye for lunch and a veggie curry for dinner is pretty much the staples of my diet. But exercise? I left that to the others in the office- until now.
So this is me living the brand, and it’s a hard one to live. But it’s the right one for my body and my mind.
How low can you go?
This week, I was feeling slightly ill and not in the mood to run around a field, or do a push up. So of course we had one of the toughest classes of all time. After holding planks for a minute (20 seconds for me), every minute on the minute, it was time for the bear walk. I imagine this involves crawling on all fours around the field- not the most glamorous exercise but also not the most difficult. But as soon as the trainer mentions the bear walk, the addicts (these are boot campers who have done boot camp before) let out a huge- “NOOOOO”!
I quickly guess that it’s not the army crawl I envisioned. The trainer bends down on all fours and then lifts his knees a few centimeters above the ground. He tells us that we need to hold this position while slowly edging forward. Now I don’t know what kind of bear walks like this, because I have certainly never heard of one that does, but none the less off we go.
Crossing that small patch of grass feels like an eternity. But I keep my head down (not that I had the strength to lift it up) and I keep going. I peer sneakily to my left and I see no one beside me. I thought for the first time, I may be good at something. I could be coming first.
As I reach the white picket fence, which marked the end of our bear journey, the trainer yells, “And bear walk back.” I look up and realise everyone is there already, waiting for me. They are all ready to do another lap of bear walking.
At first I was frustrated with myself, but then I remembered what the trainers at the beginning of boot camp said: “We are all on our own adventure.” I need to push myself as far as I can go. Completing a field’s length of bear walking is my personal best. And even if it took longer, I did it, and I did it well. It is not a competition with everyone else. It’s a competition against my own body. And it’s one I plan to win.
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