Bridal Boot Camp – Day 9

Day 9 – July 14

I just got back from an amazing four day bachelorette weekend trip in the mecca of Ohioan-beach lovers – Hilton Head Island. One of the reason’s we went there was that back in college I worked on the island in Harbor Town as a pirate.

Here I am as a pirate way back when! If you have kids then Pirates of Hilton Head is a must-do when you are in HHI.

I still have amazing pirate friends there that offered to put me and the three girls that I was traveling with up for the weekend. Not only that, but as they are locals, they have a bit more pull with the various restaurant and business owners on the island and totally hooked a girl up.

My friends are so well loved in HHI because of their amazing pirate business.

Here are the highlights of the trip: Pool Bar Jim’s, the beach in our homemade pirate-themed bachelorette party tanks, wakeboarding, food, more food, the friendliest dolphin in the world, and Savannah’s newest mead tasting.

The girls’ shirts say, “Shiver me timbers, Charlie’s off Tinder.” Mine says, “Grooms Booty.” We thought we were clever.

The bad news is that I gained about 4 pounds.

So in order to help eliminate all of that extra body weight before my dress fitting this Thursday, I went to the Arena District Athletic Club’s Boot Camp class taught by Lara K. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:30pm.

Let me just say that after a long weekend on the beach and drinking and eating without hesitation, going to the gym was about the last thing I wanted to do. But on a mission; Operation Be-Hotter-Than-Chris is in full swing and I want people to use the word “YOWZA” to describe me at the wedding.

So I decided to hit up Boot Camp and I was surprised to see a number of people that I know in the class.

I suppose I shouldn’t be that surprised seeing as how ADAC is so close to my office right in the heart of downtown Columbus. It really is the most convenient location for people working in the District to get in a workout. And they offer so many different classes at various lunch hours, it would be hard to find an excuse to get out of going to one of their classes. Even if the excuse was that I had drank a lot of tropical fruit, alcoholic beverages in the last several days.

This place is a local favorite in HHI. Jim has been whipping up hundreds of different smoothie concoctions since before I was born. True story.

So this was my very first group fitness class in about… 4 years. I think I went to Zumba class a few times in grad school. That counts right?

This 40 minute class is action packed and picks up fast. Lara had everyone grab a heavy weight, (I got 10 lbs) and two light weights (I was sort of a pansy and took the 3 lbs. weights, but there was a pregnant woman there who got way heavier weights than me). We started by getting our heart rate up and going by doing some squats and easy body weight moves. Then we started using our weights as we did lunges, arm-moves and a variety of other squats. Lara is awesome in that she has us do moves that use several different muscle groups at once. You basically work out your arms and your legs with one strength move, but you are doing these moves in tight succession, so you get in some cardio too! Which is great, because did I mention all the food I ate this weekend?

From left to right we have hush puppies, I think ahi tuna, the entire ocean on a platter, and the most excellent scallops ever.

I will say that this class is SO much better than a lonesome run with just me and an audio book, or even a run pretending I’m being chased by zombies. Plus you sort of secretly try to out do the people next to you. The pregnant woman and I sort of competed against one another when we did burpees for 30 seconds. We counted and she got to 18 and I did 12. She is also about 4 weeks away from her due date. And while I was the newby in class there were some other new faces as well that were also taking things a bit slower. Lara showed some modifications to excercises that made them a bit easier for beginners.

Lara was also not afraid to challenge you. She came up to me when we were doing wall sits and lifting medicine balls over our heads. She made me trade out my nice lovely light ball for a much heavier one. My arms might despise her right now, but I know that I needed to be pushed a bit. She was also great about working with me when my form was off (it happened a lot).

One of the moves she had us do was a push up release.  So it’s basically a push up, but on your way down you lay flat on your stomach and pick your hands and feet up off the round for just a second. She came over and had me straighten my core more and keep my back flatter. My new ab muscles will thank her one day.

The whole class flew by because we were always moving and none of the moves ever got bored. Some of them hurt, but it was a great hurt. We finished class with some ab moves and stretching.

You can actually watch the whole fitness class via timelapse here or you can follow us on Instagram @arenaathletic and see a ton of our fun videos and pictures!

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.