The Shed

Orientation Day & Day 1

Howdy! My name is Justin Neal, and I will be blogging my experiences at a fitness bootcamp over the next 6 weeks at my favorite gym – called The Shed. The bootcamp is called BodySHED, and is like no other.    

 My mother happens to be a successful blogger; hopefully it runs in the family! I hope you find this blog interesting and motivational – feel free to leave encouragement/questions/comments/quips over the next six weeks. 

Sunday was orientation day.  Gotta admit I am a little nervous about embarking on this again.  I have done boot camps before, and even did BodySHED last summer – but this time I am “in it to win it”! 

Orientation always takes place on the Sunday before bootcamp begins.  Measurements are taken, introductions are made, paperwork is completed, and heart monitors settings are adjusted.  Bootcampers report for duty the next morning at 6:00. 

Once a year my father, brother, wife and I hike down (and back up) the Grand Canyon.  The night before the hike, we spend a good amount of time preparing.  We pack and repack our backpacks, split up rations and supplies, and pack everything in the car so we can leave early the next morning. Everything we need for three day hike needs to be carried down the Canyon, and then back up again.  Preparing for bootcamp feels just about the same.  Need the right songs on the iPod, heart rate monitor settings set, water bottles ready,  etc. 

Last time I did the BodySHED program, I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t make it a priority in my life, and the results showed.  The current  group seems very nice – 7 women and 2 men. All different ages, shapes and sizes.  Everyone here for the same reason; to shed weight and inches.  Not a lot of camaraderie yet, but in my experience it doesn’t take long for rapport to build.

 Katie (AKA The Food Stalker) and Spencer are the owners of The Shed. My schedule will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at BodySHED.  Tuesdays and Thursdays at Alumni BodySHED.  More explanation later as to why we have lovingly nicknamed Katie “The Food Stalker”.  She passes out custom books with our guidelines for daily caloric recommendations. It includes custom heart rate zones used for the HIIT (High Impact Interval Training) portion.  

Day 1 – 5:00 AM

First alarm clock going off, backup alarm clock for 5:10.  I have been known to shut off my alarm clock in my sleep somehow sometimes! Coffee brewed, quick meal, and out the door. 25 minute drive from my house to the Shed. Long commute, but totally worth it.  Arrive at The Shed a little early to get my bike and weights all set up. 

As I mentioned before, I have done many bootcamps over the past five years.  BodySHED is by far the best I have ever been a part of. On the fitness side, we spend ½ doing HIIT training, and the second half lifting weights.  The age old debate between weight lifting versus cardio?  BodySHED gets you the best of both worlds, all done before 7 AM. 

6:00 AM

 Our first session of HIIT training.  Everyone on a stationary bike, you control the settings, and the goal is to get our respective heart rates up to certain markers, let it drop, boost it up again, let it drop… on and on for 30 minutes.  More on this to follow in future blog posts. I have been pushed before to what I thought were my limits. However, I have learned that limits are all what the mind determines the “max” is. Katie calculated each of our heart rate zones, and everyone has a specific heart rate number.  My 85% zone is 166, and my 90% zone is 172.  During my last experience with HIIT training at The SHED – 85% felt like I couldn’t possible keep going, and 90% felt like I was about to pass out. After my first few HIIT training sessions last summer, I learned that at 85% I actually COULD keep on going, and I actually did NOT pass out at 90%. Just need to shut the mind off as best as I can, and keep my legs pumping.  

HIIT portion finished, and my heart rate monitor says I burned 512 calories.  Not too shabby for a ½ hour of work!! 

6:30 AM

Shirt now soaked in sweat, socks might be too. Floor all around my bike looks like there was a leak in the ceiling above me – sweat puddles everywhere.  Didn’t someone say somewhere that sweat was sexy?? Pretty sure they didn’t mean sweat puddles.  On to the second half of the workout – weight lifting. Katie leads the class, we all follow along.  Low weights, high reps… not much break in between.  Still the same problem – my brain trying to tell my body when I have reached my max.  Gotta remember to shut the brain off.  I usually try to think of something else to distract myself. 

I wonder what my dog is doing right now? I wonder if she likes the new collar I got her?? She is such a good dog, I should take her to Petco sometime on a leash and let her shop for a new bone or something. I wonder if  I could bring her along to The Shed and have her wait in the car each morning.  She might like the change in scenery and it would almost count as if I actually took her for a walk?

 Crap – we have already moved on to the next exercise.  Better not let the mind wander too much. Katie gives us a slight break between exercises, just enough to get ready for the next set.  We are working on biceps, triceps, and some lower body at the same time.  

DONE. Heart rate monitor now reads 970 calories burned for the entire hour. 

 7:00 AM

Day one finished.  I feel exhausted and exhilarated all at the same time.  Mostly exhausted.  Back in my car and heading north on Lyndale – noticing everyone starting to head to work.  It feels great that I have already got my workout for the day finished. I am not a morning person, but if I don’t get my butt to the gym before work, it never seems to happen.

My goal is give 100% at BodySHED each morning, and then watch my calories throughout the day.  No point in working this hard at 6 AM, and then blowing it on my diet, right??  Katie has calculated that I should be eating around 2300 calories each day to shed lbs. We enter all of our meals online, and Katie can observe and comment.  

More posts later on this week.  I will be blogging each week on my experiences, I hope you follow along! If you have any questions about BodySHED feel free to post and I will shoot you back an answer. Gotta start researching for my NCAA March Madness picks!  ~Justin