Boot Camp Workouts Discovered

March 21st, 2010

 

Boot Camp Defined

I can’t find a definition for ‘boot camp workouts‘ but I did find that the Merriam Webster online dictionary gives 2 definitions for ‘boot camp’. The first is “a navy or marine corps camp for basic training”. For some reason, I’ve always thought of boot camp as an Army institution. The second definition is “a disciplinary facility or program in which young offenders are forced to participate in a rigidly structured routine”. The first use of this term was in 1916, presumably as the USA prepared to enter the First World War.

I always thought of a ‘boot camp’ as a place where people went to acquire the discipline and skills to succeed in their future roles. But, nowadays, when you search the Internet for ‘boot camp’, the answers seem to mostly be about a place where women go to get in shape and lose weight. And there are boot camps for men as well. It seems that the expression ‘Boot Camp’ original coined as a term for basic training, has evolved to mean many different things today.

All ‘boot camps’ are places where people go for a relatively short period of time, are forced into rather rigid workout regimens during that time, and emerge with the skills they need to go forward with their lives.

Boot Camp Discovered

My problem is that I can’t afford the cost of any of these boot camps, and I also don’t have the time to take 2 to 4 weeks to leave off from work and family. But I am definitely committed to improving my workout exercise regimen. You will see later that I also have to protect myself from injury, and I need some means of speeding up recuperation from any injuries that I sustain. But my real goal is to develop an exercise lifestyle that I can live with into my 90’s.

I recently caught a video of Jack Lalanne at 95 looking more like 65. Jack is a pioneer, and he deserves all the fame that he has. At the moment I am an out-of-shape senior who aspires to look and feel a lot better. 

Five years ago I experienced 2 very sore shoulders caused by over-exertion during exercise. For months I fought through the pain, but eventually I came to realize that the pain was likely a symptom of damage. When I went to the doctor, he told me in less than 5 minutes that I had ‘rotator cuff syndrome’. He also gave me hints on how to exercise without damaging my shoulders. I tried, but I couldn’t do even exercises that had been scaled back. Four months later I could not sleep at night from the pain, and I abandoned my workouts entirely. 

It was 2 years before I could even attempt to resume my workout routines. I have made many attempts, but all have been short-lived. Until now. I have finally found a program that I can afford, and I can do it in my basement or a local gym. The other factors of the boot camp definition apply – it’s geared for beginners, it’s detailed and it has testing and fixing routines that minimize injuries. Hence the title of this blog, ‘The Boot Camp Workouts”

My Boot Camp Goal

When I compare the times of my life when I exercised to those times when I was unable for whatever reason to exercise, I have to say positively that when I exercised

  • I slept more soundly
  • I felt more alive
  • I lost weight and inches
  • I was more confident and ambitious
  • I felt younger
  • Overall I had fewer skeletal pains.

In my way of looking at things, the sense of well-being that I’ve experienced is something that I desperately want to get back to.  I remember well the absolute joy of success when I progressed in my workout routines.  I hope you will join me in that experience.

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Introduction to Boot Camp Workouts

March 19th, 2010

 

The summer after I graduated from high-school, I worked as a stevedore in a flour mill on lake Erie.  At the end of the summer I felt in great shape as I entered a new job as a student-in-accounts.  At that time and place, that job and 5 years of experience and study was how one became a Chartered Accountant.  Obviously it was mainly desk work and pencil pushing.  By December I realized with a shock that I had added 20 pounds and now weighed 210 pounds.  At that point I resolved that I would start an exercise program and watch what I ate.

My First Boot Camp Workouts

I’m not sure where I picked up the exercises that I should do, although it turned out that they did a lot of good.  I suppose I drew upon what I had learned about the Charles Atlas program and from gym class in high school.  In any event, I settled upon 3 basic fitness exercises.

  • deep knee bends (like squats)
  • push-ups
  • sit-ups (which I did on my bed)

The plan I came up with was to take the last half-hour before bedtime and do these 3 exercises.  The first night was a real eye-opener.  I could do 10 squats easily enough, but I could not do even one push-up in good form.  Like wise I could barely do 1 sit-up.  Very quickly I realized that to progress, I would have to add one repetition to each exercise each night.  For example if I managed 3 push-ups tonight, then tomorrow I would try for 4 push-ups.  If I could manage 4 reps, then on the next night I would try for 5.  But before I would increase the reps, I had to manage a the reps in good form.  Since my main goal was weight loss, I determined to do my exercise routine 7 days a week.

The Diet Regimen

On the diet side I didn’t really diet.  I ate regular meals of meat and vegetables, but I abandoned all desserts and sweets.  I also made sure that I didn’t overeat.  In my mother’s house of course this was a big reduction in calories.  She loved to bake pies, cakes and cookies, and they were always delicious.  Since my father loved his dessert, we usually had dessert at every supper.  Just giving up deserts probably cut a minimum of 500 calories every day.  I did eat quite a bit of fruit, orange juice and milk at every meal.  I didn’t snack outside of meals – except perhaps to have a glass of milk from time to time.

The Boot Camp Workouts Results

  • when I reached about 120 sit-ups, I switched to leg raises which I found more difficult, and this exercise regimen probably burned more calories.
  • when I reached 110 deep knee bends, I stopped at that count and continued to improve my form
  • I didn’t do as well with push ups.  Here I got stuck between 30 and 35 reps every night.  Some nights I could do more than others – so I did as many as I could, but I didn’t get over 35
  • near the summer I decided to add an exercise which would develop my biceps.  I chose chin-ups.  Not the correct exercise because they work the chest and lats more than the biceps, but the biceps did grow.  I eventually could do 18 reps. just hanging on a doorframe by my fingers.

Conclusion

A short anecdote probably sums up the this episode in my life.  In the latter summer my brother and I were helping my uncle do some modifications to one of his buildings.  I was holding a cold chisel horizontally, and my brother had a sledgehammer to drive the chisel into the wall.  One one swing he missed and hit me a little below and to the right of my belly button.  The momentum of a sledgehammer is considerable, and I felt as if I had been tackled in football.  However, I was NOT injured and I felt no pain!  I credit my resistance to injury to and as direct result of the previous 8 months of daily boot camp exercise.

More through good luck than good judgment, I had fallen into the workout routine of regular exercise with progressive increases in weight and repetitions.  This system which is used extensively today promotes enthusiasm through regular success (improvement) and by gradually challenging the body within its capabilities avoids injury from over-exertion.

I really like this type of plan.  I like it most because it produces results.

The summer after I graduated from high-school, I worked as a stevedore in a flour mill on lake Erie.  At the end of the summer I felt in great shape as I entered a new job as a student-in-accounts.  At that time and place, that job and 5 years of experience and study was how one became a Chartered Accountant.  Obviously it was mainly desk work and pencil pushing.  By December I realized with a shock that I had added 20 pounds and now weighed 210 pounds.  At that point I resolved that I would start an exercise program and watch what I ate.

My First Boot Camp Workouts

I’m not sure where I picked up the exercises that I should do, although it turned out that they did a lot of good.  I suppose I drew upon what I had learned about the Charles Atlas program and from gym class in high school.  In any event, I settled upon 3 basic fitness exercises.

  • deep knee bends (like squats)
  • push-ups
  • sit-ups (which I did on my bed)

The plan I came up with was to take the last half-hour before bedtime and do these 3 exercises.  The first night was a real eye-opener.  I could do 10 squats easily enough, but I could not do even one push-up in good form.  Like wise I could barely do 1 sit-up.  Very quickly I realized that to progress, I would have to add one repetition to each exercise each night.  For example if I managed 3 push-ups tonight, then tomorrow I would try for 4 push-ups.  If I could manage 4 reps, then on the next night I would try for 5.  But before I would increase the reps, I had to manage a the reps in good form.  Since my main goal was weight loss, I determined to do my exercise routine 7 days a week.

The Diet Regimen

On the diet side I didn’t really diet.  I ate regular meals of meat and vegetables, but I abandoned all desserts and sweets.  I also made sure that I didn’t overeat.  In my mother’s house of course this was a big reduction in calories.  She loved to bake pies, cakes and cookies, and they were always delicious.  Since my father loved his dessert, we usually had dessert at every supper.  Just giving up deserts probably cut a minimum of 500 calories every day.  I did eat quite a bit of fruit, orange juice and milk at every meal.  I didn’t snack outside of meals – except perhaps to have a glass of milk from time to time.

The Boot Camp Workouts Results

  • when I reached about 120 sit-ups, I switched to leg raises which I found more difficult, and this exercise regimen probably burned more calories.
  • when I reached 110 deep knee bends, I stopped at that count and continued to improve my form
  • I didn’t do as well with push ups.  Here I got stuck between 30 and 35 reps every night.  Some nights I could do more than others – so I did as many as I could, but I didn’t get over 35
  • near the summer I decided to add an exercise which would develop my biceps.  I chose chin-ups.  Not the correct exercise because they work the chest and lats more than the biceps, but the biceps did grow.  I eventually could do 18 reps. just hanging on a doorframe by my fingers.

Conclusion

A short anecdote probably sums up the this episode in my life.  In the latter summer my brother and I were helping my uncle do some modifications to one of his buildings.  I was holding a cold chisel horizontally, and my brother had a sledgehammer to drive the chisel into the wall.  One one swing he missed and hit me a little below and to the right of my belly button.  The momentum of a sledgehammer is considerable, and I felt as if I had been tackled in football.  However, I was NOT injured and I felt no pain!  I credit my resistance to injury to and as direct result of the previous 8 months of daily boot camp exercise.

More through good luck than good judgment, I had fallen into the workout routine of regular exercise with progressive increases in weight and repetitions.  This system which is used extensively today promotes enthusiasm through regular success (improvement) and by gradually challenging the body within its capabilities avoids injury from over-exertion.

I really like this type of plan.  I like it most because it produces results.

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Boot Camp Workouts Success

March 18th, 2010

 

Building Workouts

When my ex-wife and I went our separate ways, I began a workout program in February.  At first I only did squats every morning.  After 2 months I began moderate weight training workouts in my basement.  I kept up the squats and added biceps curls at first.  I slowly added other exercises from the Weider exercise charts that came with a Weider free weight set that I had purchased a long time ago.  Gradually I added exercises to my workout until I had most Weider chart exercises in my daily routine.  As I always had, I exercised after work, and sometimes after supper.

For the first time in my life I was exercising during a period where I was taking supplements, and developing my own boot camp workouts  The supplements I took were mainly those from Cybergenics.  This company had a full line of supplements from meal substitution powders, protein powders based on egg powder, protein pasta, as well as a kit that included, a video, a manual, and 120 days of vitamins.  Naturally the manual included diet recommendation for the Cybergenics supplements.  

Workout Progress

I steadily built up my workouts by adding exercise motions and reps until in May I started to feel a little tired by all the exercising.  So I cut my program back from 5 days a week to just 3 days a week.  I now know that exercising all your body’s muscle groups every day is not recommended, and is in fact counter- productive.  Almost immediately I had a lot more energy and could handle more weight and reps in my workouts.  I continued in the 3-day a week workout program until the end of June.  When I started in February, I weighed 235 pounds, and by the end of June I was down to about 215 pounds.  Not only that, I felt about 30 years younger.  I was 56 years old at this time.

Cybergenic Workouts

The store that sold me my supplements was a sort of grocery store with a large health food section.  They handled Cybergenics in addition to other well-known brands.  One of the products they had was the Cybergenic 120 day package.  Since it was terribly expensive, I could only look longingly at a product I felt I was ready for.  One day when I went in for my protein powder, the 120 day package was on sale.  I only hesitated a few moments before I put it on my Visa.  I already knew that this Cybergenics program was only recommended for 60 days because it was very intense.  My original thought was that I could do the program for 60 days, go back to my present program for 60 days, and do another 60 days on the Cybergenic program.

Workout Hell

Having spent a lot of money on this program, I was committed to do everything the program recommended.  Their first recommendation was to exercise first thing every day on an empty stomach.  That was tough for me.  Even tougher was the fact that in order to get to work at 9:00 I would have to get up at around 6:00 a.m.  It had been a long time since I had seen the six o’clock sun. It was also a 6-day a week regimen.  But I reasoned, in for a penny – in for a pound.  The program was also based on going to total muscle failure on every exercise.  Not only positive failure, where I couldn’t raise the weight, but also negative failure, where I couldn’t stop the bar from falling.  For this, I would have to have a training partner.  I started the program in my home gym in the basement, and did the best I could without such a partner.  By the end of the first week, I realized that a partner and a real gym were going to be essential.

My daughter had earned a hockey scholarship to RIT in Rochester, and was scheduled to start in September.  She was an athletic girl of good height.  It would be advantageous for her to be in her best physical condition, so I offered to split the vitamins and training with her, so she could play well and avoid injury.  She was already a gym member, so all I had to do was join the same gym.  She loved the idea.

One does not realize the pressure on oneself to perform until they join in a group activity with one of their children.  The first day, the squat routines hit her so hard that she was literally unable to move.  In her youth she recovered quickly.  I however was struggling to keep up the whole first week, with frequent pauses to catch my breath.  But the vitamin regimen and the Cybergenic supplements did their work, and the following week was just a good hard workout. Every cycle after that, I was able to progress in the amount of weight and number of sets and reps.  By the 4th week I was in the swing of the program.

The Results

By the fourth week I knew I was doing the right boot camp workouts.  I used to set my alarm for 5:30 so that I could be at the gym when it opened at 6:00.  What I soon discovered was that my body would wake me up at 4:30, even if I went to bed a little later. I got used to trying to rest until the alarm went off.  I carried on with the program even after my daughter went off to school.  When my gym membership expired, I carried on in my basement.

By mid October I was down to 190 pounds.  I had lost a total of 45 pounds since February, and had dropped 7 inches off my waist size. Not only that, but I had more strength and energy than I had had since being a teenager, and I was happy to spend the hour and a half exercising at the break of dawn.  

A Footnote

A few years later Cybergenics disappeared from the local stores.  I heard that they had been sued by a competitor claiming that Cybergenic’s claims for its supplements were greatly exaggerated.  The supplements were put to a scientific comparison, and Cybergenics lost the suit.  They went bankrupt.  I don’t have any of the test results, but my experience with their product was nothing short of marvelous.  When and out-of-shape 56 year old can progress with the speed and success that I did, there had to be something right in the proram AND the supplements!

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Boot Camp Workouts Injuries

March 17th, 2010

 

Shortly after I turned 66, I found I had put on some pounds, as well as feeling very sluggish.  I went down to the basement and dusted off my weights which had just been taking up space for some time.  Diet was not a problem as I have developed a number of low calorie, high protein energy building meal plans.  I went back to the Cybergenics plan of exercise without their food supplements, starting off with low weights and a single set of moderate reps for each exercise.  I knew that the Cybergenics was not a boot camp workout, but I felt comfortable starting it, as I had succeeded with it in the past.

This time I was better equipped as I had purchased a used York universal gym a few years before.  As usual I started slow, and increased sets, reps, and weights only once a week.  I was very careful to record all this information so that I would not make the mistake of overloading a bar by accident.  I could do all the Cybergenic workout exercises except for one.  I could not do dips with my bodyweight, and I didn’t have the machine which lets a beginner remove some of his bodyweight with counterweights.  I started the first week of August.

After leaving this exercise out of my routine for a few weeks I resolved to add Schwartzeneger dips for my lats/shoulders/triceps.  I used my oldest bench for this exercise, and worked this substitution into my daily workout regimen.  I was taking lots of vitamins and supplements, as well as eating wisely.  I felt my strength and energy returning.  Things were going quite well with the workouts, and I was losing a little weight on a steady basis.

Partway through September, I examined the plan I was following and noticed that I was doing only one set of the Schwartzeneger dips.  The Cybergenics manual called for 2 sets.  By now, in all other workout items, I was doing a full number of sets for all exercises.  As much to fit in with workout discipline, I added the extra set to my routines.  I was not flush with spare benches, but I did have another bench that I could use.  Confident that I would do better with the full Cybergenics program I soldiered on.

In early October I noticed that my shoulders were getting stiff, after the shoulder workouts.  I attributed it to the York universal gym which seemed to be sticking during military presses.  A week later they were so sore that I made an appointment to see my doctor.  Being too stubborn to slack off I pushed through the pain.  By the second week of November when I got in to see the doctor, they were both very sore.  In five minutes he diagnosed my problem as ‘rotator cuff syndrome’.  By now I had lost 14 pounds while gaining a lot of strength.

He gave me ways I could cut back and still exercise. But after a couple of months of genuinely struggling to do the restricted workout routines, I was in so much pain that I could not sleep at night nor concentrate during the day.  I abandoned the workouts completely.  The shoulders took 2 years to heal, and are still a little tender.  To find out what had gone wrong I spent some time closely examining everything that I had done. 

To be honest, I found the Schwartzeneger dips to be a strain from the beginning.  But as long as I was using the oldest workout bench, my range of motion was limited and I would bottom out before I could do damage to my shoulders.  When I changed from 1 to 2 reps, I changed to the newer bench from the universal gym which was a little higher.  It wasn’t so much higher than the older bench that I would notice it, but only about an inch or so.  However, and extra inch of motion in my shoulders was enough to do the damage.  A contributing factor was that when I first felt the pain I did not modify the number of sets or reps.

It turned out that it took over 2 years for the rotator cuff injury to heal   Except for the rotator cuff problem, I was succeeding with the Cybergenics program, and would have reached my goals except for that.  Now I am wiser, but older.  Never again will I ignore the signal of unintended pain during workouts.  I hope that others can learn from this example.  The tragedy of an injury lies in the fact that it is so difficult to get back into the boot camp workouts routine on a daily basis.  It is so much better to continue on with the fitness workouts without long periods of inactivity.

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Boot Camp Workouts Details

March 16th, 2010

Now that I’m 71, I’m turning to an exercise program again.  To be brief, I must.  For years I have been overweight, but I have not suffered from ill effects.  Recently however, I have been bothered by shortness of breath in going upstairs.  At my last physical, my blood pressure was quite elevated.  This was a wake-up call to me.  For most of my adult life, my blood pressure has been in the range of 115/70.  I think it stayed so moderate despite the extra weight because I follow a low-fat diet and I usually have been exercising in some way.  This time my blood pressure was 160!  The doctor thought that exercise would be a good way to bring it back down, and that I should monitor my blood pressure every day.

My steps have been very simple.  I began to cycle 2 miles every morning on a recumbent bicycle.  The recumbent bike is wonderful because it keeps your legs closer to the level of your heart.  After a brief warm-up period, my cycling pulse is usually lower than my resting pulse.  This morning at one point it dropped into the 40’s.  My resting blood pressure is now about 130/70.  I still have a long way to go.  I hope to eventually return to a Cybergenics type exercise routine, but right now I am looking for an effective boot camp workouts program so that I don’t get hurt.

I have found a winner.  Not only is it intensely detailed, but it is progressive in nature.  Let me set out its salient features for you.  

  1. It is written by Keith Scott who holds certifications in both the Sports Medicine field and the Sports Performance field, as well as an advanced degree in Exercise Science and Sports Medicine,
  2. The book combines correcting physical dysfunctions and managing injuries, while at the same time helping people reach their physical potential.  His expertise is unmatched.
  3. Keith is a Certified Athletic Trainer and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.
  4. The course begins with 65 pages of Self-Assessment which probes and identifies areas that could be potential future problems.
  5. The next step of the course is a series of boot camp workouts that he calls plug-ins divided into 2 sections – descriptions and workout, and detailed descriptions with pictures.
  6. The next step gets into progressive workout charts that cover 4 phases over 16 weeks,
  7. Step 6 is pictures of the exercises with detailed explanations of the correct technique to apply while performing them.
  8. A whole chapter is devoted to soft tissue exercises designed to keep your body in optimum condition.
  9. Frequently asked questions regarding recovery and regeneration.
  10. Nutritional guidelines and recommendations.
  11. Fat burning with high intensity interval training.

Right now I have deviated from Keith’s program because I want to increase my wind before attempting the exercises.  I also want my blood pressure to be more reasonable before I subject my body to the rigors of heavy exercise.  This delay is also giving me a chance to thoroughly perform the assessment section of Keith’s system.  This latter item is very important in my case because of 2 congenital deformities, injured knees, and of course 2 injured shoulders.

Some would say that in my physical condition I should avoid exercise, but my life experience has been that despite the difficulties that exercise imposes, the benefits of fitness workouts lead to improvement in the condition of previous injuries.  I sincerely hope that my experiences with Keith’s boot camp workouts will prove to be the same.

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Boot Camp Workouts Overview

March 16th, 2010


Boot Camp Workouts Overview

I’m very excited about the boot camp workout program that I’ve found.  I consider myself very lucky to have been exposed to exactly the program that I need.  It fits in with my current state of fitness, and my age.  With the souring economy, I still have to work.  I cannot afford to lose time because of poor health or injury.  I also cannot afford health insurance, or even worse a serious operation.  Take it from someone who’s been there, exercise lowers blood pressure, promotes a stronger immune system and a very positive mental attitude.

An Extensive Workout System

This boot camp workout system is called “Your Unbreakable Body”, written and developed by Keith Scott.  Keith holds a Masters Degree in Sports Medicine and many years of practical experience.  It is made up of the follow modules.

  1. Introduction and Overview – 40 pages describing Keith’s experiences and qualifications, as well as the core philosophy and steps of this training package.  He describes many conditions, their causes, and a general path on how to correct them.  There is a Q & A section as well.
  2. Self-Assessment Book – 65 pages of pictures of a body part, accompanied by a clear description of the problem or condition.  With each set of pictures there are instructions about what to look for and how to describe it in the chart forms which are included with each session.  For this section you should have the help of a partner who is knowledgeable about workout routines.
  3. Plug-In Corrective Exercises Book – 82 pages of real boot camp workout advice called plug-ins.  These are corrective / preliminary type exercises with specified sets and reps.  There are separate exercises for each phase of the training, and each day of the week.  Each phase is intended to last 3 weeks.  I think that some of these might take me a week or two longer.  There are separate exercises for each body part as well.
  4. Plug-In Corrective Descriptions – 76 pages of detailed pictures and descriptions to assist you in mastering the workouts in Book 3.
  5. Strength and Fitness Workouts – only 14 pages, of workout routines.  The workout charts are broken into 4 phases of 4 weeks each.  Each chart specifies sets, reps and recovery times.  Overall this is the 16 week section which is the heart of the weight training workouts.
  6. Strength and Fitness Workout Descriptions – 19 pages of photographs and detailed descriptions that accompany the 16 week program in section 5.
  7. Soft Tissue Book – 27 pages detailing several methods and easy exercises to care for and correct problems in your soft tissues.  Keith defines soft tissue as muscle, muscle tendons, ligaments and connective tissue found throughout the body.
  8. Recovery and Regeneration – a Question and Answer section devoted to the subject of recovery and regeneration to ensure continuing health.
  9. Nutrition Guidelines – 15 pages of guidelines regarding whole foods, supplements, and when you should consume them.
  10. Fat Burning with High Intensity Interval Training – details on how to perform this training on 3 different pieces of equipment.  HIIT is designed to supercharge your metabolism for your whole day.

Scott’s system combines extensive fundamental injury prevention principles with rehabilitation techniques as well as strength and conditioning exercises. If you want to earn back your youthful body, try Keith Scott’s “The Unbreakable System” now. Regain your strength, be pain free, stay fit and get rid of the problems that plague you and impinge upon the functioning of your physical body.

The thing that tipped my decision to try this system was the 100%, risk free, money back guarantee.  There is just no way you can loose.  Click here for your Boot Camp Workouts NOW!

Dave Shields

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