A bonafide cavewoman with abs to prove it

My eight-week Palaeolithic-inspired boot camp has come to an end and I can honestly say I feel like a new woman — or should I say, cavewoman…

The weekly Saturday morning workouts on Elbow Beach have seen me running up and down sand banks, powering through waves, hauling sand bags over my shoulders and swinging large weights between my legs to name but a few — all following the primal patterns of early man in his fight for survival.

Barefoot run

But the real challenge came last Saturday when we were tasked with a 3k barefoot run across the sand interspersed with elements of circuit training and obstacles (just in case the 3k barefoot run in the sand wasn’t enough!)

At the start of the challenge we had to do 50 burpees (squat thrusts with a jump at the end), then after the first kilometre we had 100 push ups and after the second K we had 150 squats.

Throughout the running course there were various obstacles we had to crawl, jump and hop through. Needless to say at the end of the challenge I lay face down in the sand and quietly waited for the pain to go away.

While I have surprised myself over the last eight weeks with how well I have kept up with the rigorous circuit training and short distance running that built up to this day, I felt my stamina as a runner wasn’t as good as it could have been factoring in all the other elements we had to do. I completed the challenge in good time — under 30 minutes — but I had to walk a short part of the way during each leg of the run to catch my breath.

I have to admit I was slightly disappointed I couldn’t run the whole way. In retrospect I realize I should have done more to prepare during the week days as it was no easy feat.

Having said that I do feel extremely proud for sticking this course out for the full eight weeks. I not only feel healthier I can now see my abs, my arms and legs are toned and my butt is firm.

This course has got me back into good, shape and thriving to become even better.

Last time I wrote about the camp — a month ago — I admitted that the real challenge for me would be to keep up the exercise throughout the week.

I rose to that challenge and I now do rigorous exercise three times a week. I want to up my game and take it to four or more days and the first thing I will do is run that three K without any walking.

Further more, I am going to work on eating healthier foods — but I wont be going as far as the Palaeo diet.

I will miss beach boot camp, even though I lost out on the Friday night parties and Saturday morning lie-ins and I am seriously considering taking it up again when it starts later in the spring.

I’ve met some great people who have also come on leaps and bounds and many in the group have said that they too will be coming back for more.

For more information about primal pattern training contact Colin at [email protected].
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