Bridal Boot Camp – Day 57

Day 57 – August 31

I’m about to be a wife! We are really doing this thing – THIS WEEK. As one of the final details, our videographer asked us to think about reasons why we are choosing to marry one another. They want to interview us the day of, but wanted to give us time to think about it.

My immediate answer was that I’m marrying Chris because he is steadfast. He is patient when I am not. He is calm when I’m spiraling out of control. He brings me back to center. My next thought was that he is the only person I could ever spend the rest of my life with and not get sick of. As I have continued to think about it, I just keep thinking about how he is always trying to make himself better and in turn it makes me want to be better. I know that is a cliché but it’s the truth.

Why wouldn’t you want to be with someone who makes you WANT to be better. It’s not that he pushes me to be better (although sometimes he says I should work on my patience… and my cooking), but it’s that he make me WANT it. A great example of this is that Chris works out everyday and he usually eats very healthy. Before Chris, I was averaging a once a month gym trip and would regularly eat Reeses Puffs for dinner. When we started dating I got into running, but with my foot injury I haven’t kept up with it due to the pain it causes me.

Back when I was running 25 miles a week.

I joined the Arena District Athletic Club as part of this Bridal Boot Camp because I wanted to look killer at our wedding. I wanted to get fit doing something that didn’t pound my foot into painful mush. I wanted all of our friends and family to “ooh” and “aaah” at me. But I also wanted to be stronger and more fit, because Chris is always trying to get stronger and more fit. I want to be like him, because he is awesome. Don’t get me wrong, his haircut would look terrible on me (this is only funny if you know he shaves his head). And I don’t want my arms to be as big as his are, because his are roughly the size of my quads. But I will always want to keep up with him so we can enjoy the rest of our long and active lives together.

Thankfully, ADAC understands this and they have pushed me hard to meet my goals. I had my last meeting with a personal trainer – Jimmy Peters. As it happens Jimmy and I are going to share an anniversary, because he was married a year ago as of September 6th. So while he was making sure he kicked my butt with a super tough workout, he kept asking me about wedding details.

The workout he prepared for me was pretty tough. It was something that I probably couldn’t have done 3 or 4 weeks ago.

In the first set I did three rounds of each of these moves:
– 12 suicide planks leading with each arm (so 24 total)
– 12 inverse rows with a TRX
– 12 kettlebell swings
– 12 hip thrusters
– 12 side lunges with a kettlebell

Always remember to keep your chest up and your core engaged.

I thought that was hard after three rounds but then he made it even harder:
– 12 lat pull downs with an underhand grip. I don’t know what the weight was… I just know that it felt like fire in my arms…
– 10 step ups on each leg onto a box holding 8 lbs
– 12 tricep kickbacks
– 12 shoulder presses (oh but how great are my arms going to look in that dress this Sunday!!!)
– 12 V ups
– 12 Russian Twists
It was somewhere around here that he asked me what neckline my dress had. I was sweaty and concentrating so hard that words weren’t working in my mouth. I must have just stared at him with an awkward confused look because he laughed and said something about hearing that from his wife when she was looking.

The answer is that my dress is a strapless, subtle sweetheart neckline. Stay tuned because when I get back from the wedding, I’m totally posting some pictures!

This was unfortunately not the end of my wicked hard workout. The next set was three rounds of:
– 12 shoulder taps from plank position (Check out this video because it’s impossible to describe.)
– 12 half ball jumpy things on each leg. (I’m sure this had a real name. I CANNOT for the life of me remember what Jimmy called these, but this video shows what I did and how to do it yourself.) *SIDE NOTE: According to the internet, this move is called a Bosu Ball Lateral Agility Drill
– 20 med ball slams

Then we rolled out my IT band. With this workout completed, I only have one more before I leave to Colorado to go marry that super cool guy that I’m in love with! So this might be the last post until I’m back. But worry not. I will fill you in on all the details!

If you are interested, you should come try it for yourself. Just tell them that Charlie sent you! You can also sign up for Bridal Boot Camp and help get your body into the best shape you can for your big day.

The Arena District Athletic Club is more than just a gym, it’s a premier fitness facility located in the heart of the Arena District in downtown Columbus. We provide convenience and quality, featuring top-of-the-line equipment, top-notch personal trainers, spa-like locker rooms and a wide variety of free group fitness classes daily including Cardio, Spinning, Barre Fusion, Yoga, Boot Camp and more. We offer free 2-hour parking and convenient contract-free memberships, to fit your healthy lifestyle needs. Don’t just join, belong.