Pure Power Boot Camp: Week One in Retrospect

Around mid-August, I made the decision to really kick my fitness routine up a notch - albeit, not the most difficult task, given that my enthusiasm for my 6:45 AM spin class had gone from 2 times a week (once a week at 5:30 after work), to maybe once a month. And, given that my 33rd birthday was looming in the not-too-distant future, coupled with the fact that one of my closest college friends is having this fancy wedding in November at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara (One of Oprah's favorites, from what I read - talk about pressure to look good?!), I knew I had to do something drastic. The option? Pure Power Boot Camp, a 6-week, intensive physical training program, modeled after a confidence course in Fort Knox, run by real military personnel; a combination of calisthenics, cardio, and an obstacle course.

The decision to do Pure Power Boot Camp was influenced by a couple of different people, more specifically, the two Sunils in my life, Sunil B. and Sunil O. At the opposite ends of the spectrum: one, a former rugby player who has no problem partying hard until 2AM on a Wednesday night and then getting up be in the office at 8:30 AM doing what he does in financial services, and the other, a fabulous effervescent individual who works in fundraising for GLAAD. Sunil B. had done PPBC last year, I saw what it did for him, but the thought didn't enter my mind at the time that I would ever do it. And, while brunching in the Village before going to see the Orchid Show earlier this year, Sunil O. told me he had signed up for it, which was quite the surprise, but I was eager to see what he was going to go through. So, when I decided to really do something about getting into shape, this seemed to be the way to go.

With a combination of anticipation, fear and excitement, I called up, and 'enlisted'. I got an inkling of what was to come from the shouting in the background, which the woman on the phone gleefully pointed out to me, and then at the end of it all, informed me that I would now only be referred to by my last name. I signed up for the same schedule Sunil O. was on: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 7:00-8:00 PM, and Saturday morning, from 11:30AM-12:30 PM. The program was to begin on August 21st, and last for 6 weeks (perfect timing, I would be at the tail end of the program for my birthday).

For the few weeks following my signup, people gave me various pieces of advice; climb stairs, do sit-ups, pushups, etc. I considered it a feat that I substituted the stairs for my usual elevator ride when I came home from the office. Fine, it is only 4 floors, but one has to start somewhere. And then, the weekend before boot camp, I made it a point to party it up, given that I didn't anticipate having much energy to do anything else in the initial stages of the program. So, what did I do? Happy hour at the Gansevoort rooftop bar, party at Taj, drinks at Underbar in Union Square (where my world became complete, and the two Sunils finally met), topped off by burgers and fries at Coffee Shop at 2:30 AM. The next day, I tried to mellow it out - saw Talladega Nights, followed by dinner at Dojo, where, in the interest of easing back down off the debauchery from the night before, I ordered the soy burger dinner, with a nice healthy serving of brown rice and carrot ginger sauce. Sunday, I made a concerted effort to clean my apartment, and nourish myself with a lot of water and boiled organic edamame. Tried to get a lot of sleep, but the nervousness didn't help.

And so it began. This is an account of my first week at boot camp, minus a few lunges here and there. And at least, for the first week, I won't moan and complain about the soreness in between workouts.


MONDAY: During the day, I had this increasing sense of panic, probably didn't help that I was reading reviews/articles about people's experiences, describing running flights of stairs with an 18 pound bar which was supposed to simulate a weapon. Coupled with the pictures sent to me of R. Lee Ermey shouting at Matthew Modine in 'Full Metal Jacket" by some of my colleagues, doubt crept in. What was I doing? And the $929.00 that I had shelled out was non-refundable! I called Sunil B. a couple of times, who provided some comfort, while relishing in the pain that was to come. This strange sense of fatigue threatened to throw me off in the last couple hours of my workday, which I attempted to stave off with more water and some Vitamin Water 'Energy' (or something like that).

At 6:15, I met Sunil O. in front of my office, and we walked down to PPBC, 11 blocks and one avenue away from my office; two doors down from Taj, the venue that provided so much fun the Friday night before. We stood in the parking lot across the street for several minutes, looking up at the signs in the window, realizing that once we walked through that door, there was no turning back.

When the elevator opened up on the second floor, we were greeted with blaring music, and a life-size mannequin dressed in full army camouflage, toting a machine gun, frozen in a ready-aim-fire pose. As I filled out my information form, I couldn't help but notice that as everyone came out of the elevator, they all dropped to the floor and did 5 pushups, both regular and modified (yes, that was what I was going to be doing!). We were issued our 'uniforms' - camouflage pants, green t-shirts and dog tags. The woman at the desk apologized to me; they had run out of medium sized t-shirts, and they would have to give me a large (?!). We were directed to the changing areas, which consisted of separate pup tents for the men and the women. I stepped in, started getting changed, and was horrified to learn that there was a good 15 inches of extra length on the camo pants; I did my best to roll up the pants enough to not have them drag. Forget about the t-shirt; a large was waaaaay too large. I looked like I had stepped into the camos of one of the guys I knew at West Point; who was 5'11 and 190 pounds! This extra material was NOT going to help me get comfortable; especially since the women who were changing around me seemed like they had been wearing their well-weathered uniforms forever. Grabbing my water bottle, I stepped out of the pup tent.

To start off the session, we did 6 laps around the perimeter of the place, which made my heart cry and threaten to explode out of my body. Once back to the 'PT space', the drill instructor took us through the warm up - stretches which we had to count out for anywhere from 12-15 counts, and if we didn't do it loudly enough, were sharply 'cajoled'. We partnered up to do the second set of stretches, which had you sitting on the floor, legs spread out, hands on the ground in front of you, while you partner pushed you close to the ground; next, right leg in, lean towards your left leg, partner pushing down, and then switch up legs. For the first day, I happened to find myself partnered up with a fit older gentleman, with an accent that was hard to place. His first comment - "Wow, you're flexible". Thanks, but actually, given how short I am, how could I not be?
Then we were led through a series of standard exercises - 50 jumping jacks, led by our very vocal drill instructor; then down on the ground to count how many pushups we could do in 40 seconds; which we had to announce in public as they recorded it for posterity. Then, sit-ups. Not the namby-pamby crunches we think will sculpt our abs, but old school, hands across your chest, partner holding your feet type sit-ups. Shamefully I called out the number to the DI. When I thought it was over, they called out "squat thrusts!", something I hadn't done since 5th grade; another horrid reminder of how weak my core abdominal muscles had become through years of inactivity. What were they going to do next???

After two laps, they called the 'fresh meat' (me and a few other 'privates') to the obstacle course, where we were directed through 3 foot high hurdles, which we could do one of 3 ways - at this point, all I could manage was throwing my leg over the hurdle and hoisting myself up and over. We jogged over to a series of 3 walls, one taller than the next, which you had to get yourself over. First one was manageable; I could get over the 4-foot wall using my upper arms and a jump. The second one was a bit tougher, which required the assistance of my DI. Third one was virtually impossible, but I managed - I needed to focus more on not gripping with my toes, that's what I was told. Next, the rope net, which required one to jump up, and crawl along a 15 foot matrix of rope, ultimately climbing up to the point where the rope line was at your waist, keeping your legs tight, and then flipping over onto the ground. Then, you grabbed a rope, took a flying leap over a log, and then crawled on your hands and legs under the 'barbed wire' - fine, they weren't real barbed wire, but it was easier to get through it imagining that it was the real deal.

And then, the monkey bars - why were these so much easier when we were young? Oh yeah, I know why, because you were 8 and were about 60 pounds!!!! We were to go through three sets of bars, with the DI holding my legs, and if I said I couldn't, the DI said, "F*CK yeah! You are NOT going to tell me you can't!" that was a motivator. After that, the climbing wall was a wash; I was secretly hating the girl in front of me who was moving from peg to peg with ease - the DI tried to explain to me that the obstacles were going to be tougher for someone of my height (not putting me down in any way, but just simply stated). Nearing the end of the course was the abs/log roller, a setup which is about 4.5 feet off the ground, and consists of 3 large logs interspersed with heavy metal rings. You had to jump up, pull the next log towards you, and continue until you hit the end, at which point you threw your leg over the log and jump to the ground. The session was coming to an end, but there was one obstacle remaining, and given that Sunil B. had told me about it and how to tackle it, I was determined. This was the final wall, which was about 13 feet high, with a rope down the center. I didn't need to do it. I wanted it. My desire was writing checks that my body couldn't cash. But with the help of two DIs pushing me up by my butt once I had made the initial climb up the wall, I got over.

Class was about over, and I ran over to join my squad in an end of class ritual - group sit-ups. Feet under the climbing wall, arms linked, 20 sit-ups, which I couldn't manage; thankfully I was sandwiched in between two beefy men who had no problem assisting me.

Yay! I got through it! As Sunil and I sat at a small Chinese restaurant in Chelsea eating our 'diet menu' selections, which consisted of steamed vegetables, chicken, brown rice, sauce on the side, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction - I got through it, and I didn't yuke!

WEDNESDAY: Tuesday was a sore day; in the morning towards the afternoon, I had an overall inability to do even the most basic of tasks, like getting dressed, and fastening my bra (which was particularly difficult!). I was determined to minimize the pain, so on Tuesday evening, as suggested by Lisa at the front desk, settled into a hot bath with Epsom salts - which aroused the curiosity of my cat Stewie, given that he had never seen a full tub before; he kept on trying to dip his paw in to see what it was about.

I stepped onto the floor of PPBC, did my 5 pushups, and headed to the ladies' pup tent to change. Thankfully, the adjustments to the uniform made me a lot more comfortable - I cut the extra 15 inches off my camo pants, mindful of the advice to keep my knees covered; and in place of the large t-shirt, I purchased an olive green tank top with 'Property of Pure Power'

Wednesday was NOTHING like Monday. Whereas I left Monday night's session with a sense of accomplishment, like I could kick ass and take names, I came out of this session with a very different feeling. Warm-up began the same, 6 laps around the course, stretches, jumping jacks, pushups, squat thrusts. We didn't get the liberty of doing the obstacle course. This session was pure calisthenics. The first exercise was a partner effort; a sort of modified sit-up. You sat facing each other, one person would lie back in the beginning sit-up position, and then as you came up, you needed to stand all the way up. Sound easy? It was IMPOSSIBLE. Forget about the two strong women next to us who made it look effortless. The key to it was having your partner pull you up as you came off the floor, which didn't happen as I was trying to haul my ass up off the floor and to a standing position; Titus, one of the DIs, quickly realized how sad a state I was in, and made me do 15 sit-ups in order to be able to even keep up.

After this painfully embarrassing exercise, we were made to do half-lunges around the perimeter, and then coming to a full stop in front of the hurdles, were instructed to 'build a house' Around 10 of us lined up, and made an arch with our bodies, on hands and the front of our feet. We would have to hold ourselves up in this formation while one person crawled on their belly through the human bridge, and form the next part of the 'house'. This lasted for around 20 feet, while Titus the DI shouted something to the extent of, "This house is a mess! I don't like when my house is torn up - if this keeps up, I will come to your house and tear it up the same way!". After we made our way around to the climbing wall, we ran back to the 'PT" area, and were instructed to grab a jump rope and a mat. The next set of exercises entailed 40 seconds of jump rope, 40 seconds of sit-ups and then 40 seconds of 'planks' which meant that you had to stretch out, rest on your elbows, and keep yourself straight, and I distinctly recall hearing "Vincent, get your butt down!" (difficult for me, wouldn't you say?).

We kept this up through 3 sets, and then were instructed to hustle over to the other wall; where we rested with our backs against the wall, and our thighs parallel to the floor. DI pointed to me and the other newbie, and said, "You two freaks are partners". Our next tasks was as follows: One partner would grab a tire and hold it over their head, while the other person ran over to the other side of the room, do 5 squat thrusts-push ups-jumps (what they called burpies), and then do a low crawl back to the other side, and do 5 push ups before taking the tire from their partner. I got through it quickly, propelled by guilt at keeping my diminutive partner holding a tire too long. Squat thrusts kill me, they really do. I don't know how two women got through 100 of them, a penalty imposed for exposing an inch of midriff. Then, thankfully, they called us for the group sit-ups.

The feelings had sort of reversed themselves; whereas on Monday I had felt empowered, and Sunil was questioning what he had signed up for; on Wednesday, Sunil was feeling quite jubilant, and I, admittedly was thankful to have gotten through it.

FRIDAY: Was a bit different for me, because I get off work at 5, and had to bide time in between work and PPBC. It was hard to hear my programming team talk about going out for happy hour after work to celebrate the junior guy placing his first consultant. Warm-up began as usual, well, the difference being 8 laps around the perimeter, which was harder (I guess that's the point, right?). There was a new DI present, who was leading the early part of the program; 60 jumping jacks (are you kidding?), and then as many squat thrusts in 30 seconds as you could manage. And, while the details are more fuzzy than before, somewhere in there, we had to do 20 'clapping push-ups' which had you facing your partner, and as you came up, slapped the opposite hand of your partner; followed by 2 sets of 25 reps where you were lying on a mat with your partner standing behind you; grabbing their ankles, with your legs out straight, you raised your legs up over your head, and then the person would push your feet back down and count off. We grabbed a jump rope, a mat, and an 18-pound bar, went through sets of jumping rope, planks, squats with the bar.

And then, back to the obstacle course, where we did everything we learned on Monday; only a bit easier than the first time. Scraped my knee big time on the first climbing wall, I distinctly remember Alex, the new DI, as I was gearing up to jump the second wall, asking me "What's your name, wild child?", to which I responded, "Vincent" Got through it, and then we were brought over to a corner with a rack of dumbbells; I was handed a 10 pound weight, and we went through a series of 25, 20, and 15 over the head tricep curls, intermixed with two laps around the course. Lastly, we were instructed to grab a bar, and do lunges around the perimeter with the bar shoulder length in front of us. I wimped out, got the 12 pound bar and still couldn't hack it, so DI Alex hollered for me to hold it diagonally in front of me, and run a lap.

Another day done, another group sit-up set of 15. I got through it easier this time. Sunil and I capped the evening off with vegetarian takeout, Absolut Peach and Seltzer, and "She's The Man"

SATURDAY: Last day of the first week; there is very little I can tell you about this day that has not been included in past days, except that the band-aid covering my previous day's injury fell off and the camo pants did not do much to help it out. I put on as much of a brave face as I could, from the warm-up to the early abs workout, at which point I desperately needed a new band-aid. My partner waited patiently until Titus made her do a lap to keep her occupied while I taped up my knee. Got us out of 50 sit-ups! But it wasn't over. They set up 5 different stations: 1. The 'canteen' sit-up station, where you would sit, facing your partner, with your feet anchored into a tire; you would pass a full canteen of water as you came up from the sit-up. 2. Clapping pushups. 3. A 'box jump' - two wooden crates side by side, and you had to jump up on them and back down as many times as you could in 40 seconds. 4. One person would hold a boxing pad, and the other would hit it with their knee for 15 counts, and then switch off to the other knee. 5. One person would do a wall squat, while the other sprinted from one end of the room to the other. The exercises continued for a few rotations, and at the end, they threw a new one at us; lying on our backs, with one leg bent and one leg straight, we raised our butts all the way up, and then brought them back down to halfway off the ground. I thought, hey, this isn't so bad, until one of the drill instructors said, "Vincent, get that leg down", which made it all the more difficult, and I thought I would die, muscles burning that hadn't been worked before. It was definitely tough, having only been at boot camp a little over 12 hours before. I was thankful for the group sit-ups and the water that I chugged at the end.

Having made it through our first week, Sunil and I celebrated with brunch at La Belle Vie (two mimosas as part of the meal for me); and 'Little Miss Sunshine' at Chelsea Clearview Cinemas.
There you have it. Next week I promise to write more frequently, as more memorable moments come up.

http://www.purepowerboot camp.com