I spent the first half of my life sedentary. Neither of my parents was active – my mom even bragged about hiding in the bushes as a schoolgirl to avoid gym class. They were both smokers. I spent high school playing in the band and goofing around with computers. I figured that I hadn’t gotten “athletic genes”.
When I was nineteen, my dad died following open heart surgery to treat his arteriosclerosis. My siblings and I were warned that we were at risk, so I spent some time reading about the disease. I decided to try to get some regular exercise.
I started running with my college roommate every few days. When the weather was bad, I’d run on the track in the gym, where I got acquainted with the cardio machines.
In graduate school ran and lifting weights with some of my classmates and I joined the University of Michigan Tae Kwon Do club. After a couple years I was running in races and participating in TKD competitions. I even won a silver medal (in forms) at collegiate national championships. I discovered that I really enjoyed being active and started thinking about myself as an athlete.
I joined Doug’s boot camp class in December 2004 just after he moved to one-on-one. At the time, I was a cardio-junkie: I would get 6 to 8 hours a week of intense cardio exercise mountain biking, road biking, running and spinning. Lifting weights was very boring for me and often resulted in injuries, so I didn’t do it much. I wanted to find a regular strength-building activity that would keep me engaged, and boot camp looked like just the right thing.
The aftermath of my first day in class was pretty horrific, but like all of us that stay, I recognized that it could greatly improve my fitness. It took me two or three months before I felt like I was “keeping up”. I even passed out twice!
I started shifting the bulk of my training from cardio to boot camp. I was surprised that my performance in races actually improved. Last year I had four personal records (in two half-marathons, a six mile trail run and the “Iceman Cometh” mountain bike race) with significantly less dedicated training than in previous years.
My standards of fitness now go well beyond just endurance: I can do bodyweight dead-lifts and squats, climb a rope, vertical jump onto a 28” box, knock out 15+ consecutive pull-ups and double-under jump rope. The Hyperfit classes have changed the way I think about athleticism.
On the weekends, I sometimes take my daughters to class with me. I hope that they will learn earlier than I did that becoming an athlete depends on what’s in your head and heart, not what’s in your genes.
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