Heather has all she needs for dips. And then some.

 Vicki and Liz. Working hard. Well, how about hardly working. But it looks liek they ARE enjoying themselves!

 Jeanne, however, does NOT look like she is enjoying herself.

My daughter-in-law, Kristi, finally brought in my grandson, Ezra, so everyone could meet him. This was costume #1. He then had to get dressed up as a lion. Neither of which he liked very much.

Weekly Shout-Outs: Sara: 14 double unders, Alisha: 8:11 plank hold, Shannon for continuing to stick the landing on a 16" box.

 Welcome Lauren to boot camp!

Welcome Emily to boot camp!

 Addison and her Mom Diane. Addison got MVP in her roller derby game last weekend and credits her boot camp workouts for getting her strong enough to kick some booty.

 Debbie Rock - plank hold - 7:09. CRAZY!

Caren, JeriBeth and Cindy - sun is setting and the light is beautiful. No better place to be than on a rower outside the gym.

No, Mary Jo, that is not what is meant by me telling you to "kiss the ball with your butt to achieve the proper depth for your air squat. Good try. But no.

Sonia - your pushup form is perfect.

Welcome Sherrin to boot camp!!!

I got alot of questions regarding how to breathe properly while running, especially now that it is colder.

1.  The most important thing to practice is to breathe from your diaphragm.
     By using your diaphragm you guarantee the most air in and the most air out, increasing the amount of oxygen getting to your muscles.  To target your diaphragm while breathing, use what Optimal Breathing® Development Specialists (www.breathing.com) call the "squeeze and breathe technique."

     Place your hands at waist level, thumbs in the hollow of your back just above the hips, fingers extending around to the front. Squeeze your hands like you’re trying to pinch your fingers and thumb together and inhale into the area, trying to force them apart. That’s right, your stomach and back should go out on the inhale. Your lungs extend down farther in the back than they do in the front: we want 360-degree breathing. If you’re having trouble with the back thing, then lie down on your stomach, resting your forehead comfortably on your crossed arms. As you inhale slowly and deeply, try to expand your lower back. Visualizing helps. 

2.  Try slowing down before attempting to change your breathing.

3.  Focus on longer, deeper breaths.

4.  Focus on exhaling more fully. This will remove more CO₂ (Carbon Dioxide) and allow for deeper inhalations of O₂ (Oxygen).

5.  Allow air to enter through both the nose and mouth. This will allow for maximum O₂ intake.

6.  Aim to take three footsteps for every inhale, and two footsteps for every exhale (3:2 ratio).

Weekly Shout-Outs: plank hold increases: Trina: +:30, Lisa Folks +1:20!, Cindy Lacy +:30, Vanessa Gonzalez, 1:22! and 16" box jump! Trina, 1st double under and she ran 440 meters without stopping. Nice job everyone on your power cleans today!
Are you at peace today? If not, check out this video - it will help you get there!

 Welcome Kim to the 5:30 pm boot camp class!

 5:30 class playing "double dutch" with the jump rope. They are good at finding fun things to do when they come to class early.

 Parallette bar dips

 Debbie, Kristen, Lisa and Deborah: partner stretch, or try to pull each others arms off, whichever way you want to look at it.

 Charlotte keeps a watchful eye on Jerri and Ann's decline pushups.

 Emily came in to try a boot camp workout for free this morning. Welcome Emily !!!

Daily Shout-Outs: Kim: held plank for 5:40, Sue for 7:00, Vicki got rid of her purple assistance band for pullups, Janet: 2 double unders in a row 

Since it is "Plank Hold" month, Sue found this link about a 71 year old woman who holds the world record for plank hold. Does anyone want to try and beat her time?http://m.examiner.com/exHuntsville/pm_69020/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=n1Hewweo

 Congratulations go out to Lynne (on left) and Jenn (2nd from left) on completing the Denver Rock and Roll marathon last Sunday. Both ran the race faster than their original goal time. Thanks go out to their biggest supporters (Jerri, Ann, Jen).

 Liz keeps moving onward and upward toward her goal of being in the best shape of her life before she reaches 50. Monday she got rid of the purple band assistance she used for pullups, and she moved up to an 18# kettlebell!

This Liz needs to remember to use a mat when she is doing pushups.

Her knees are a little worse for the wear.

Here are some action photos of the women of boot camp increasing the amount of time, day by day, that they can hold in a plank position. This month is "Plank Hold" month. Oh, well, maybe these are not really "action" photos.....

 Sue - 7:00 minutes. She is 65 years old. 7 MINUTES. That is just wrong. But we all want to be her when we are 65.

 Vic

 Janet

 Jennifer

 Jerri and Ann

 Trina

 Debbie

Alisha

Congratulations to the 15 women who completed the 30 day "Fall Off Fast" nutrition challenge !!!! I know what it took for all of you to look beyond the all the road blocks that you faced (probably on a daily basis)  to keep your goal in mind: a stronger, more energetic, more focused, more toned, and smaller woman. 
IN 30 DAYS.

First Place: Suzanne Dumford - 95 points - lost 10#   3% bodyfat, 9".
Second Place:  Erin England - 92 points - lost 8#, 3.4% bodyfat, 7".
Third Place: JeriBeth Stevens - 91 points - lost 8#, 1.4% bodyfat, 10.5"
Congratualtions also go out to our other Rock Star finalists:

Gabby Draper - lost 5#, 3.4% bodyfat, 7"
Dawnna Telles - lost 6#, 2.4% bodyfat, 4.5"
Vicki Nichols - lost 5#, 4.3% bodyfat, 5"
Jenny Giller - lost 5#, 1.9% bodyfat, 4.5"
Bridgette Socey - lost 7", 1% bodyfat, 3.5"
Caren Hunt - lost 5#, 1.2% bodyfat,
Janet Wood - lost 5#, 1.9% bodyfat, 4.25"
Susan Powers - lost 6#, 2.8% bodyfat, 3.25"
Lana Wilcox - lost 2.8#, 3% bodyfat, 2.75"
Michelle Coffey - lost 7#, 2.9% bodyfat, 4.5"
Julie Spencer - lost 8#, .6% bodyfat, 7"
Diane Kulesa - lost 3.4#, 1.1% bodyfat, 4.5"
What I learned as the coach and bean counter of this Challenge:
The women who kept concise, detailed journals achieved the most results. This included journaling not only their food intake but also their moods, sleep, workouts, energy levels. They learned the most about themselves because they were paying attention and writing it down.

These women had the same reasons/excuses/temptations that we all had (travel, illness, injury, family gatherings, restaurants etc.) but did not allow them to get in the way of their final goal.

THE NEXT CHALLENGE BEGINS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21st AND ENDS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19th.  JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS !!!

Just think, in 30 days you too could be 10+ pounds lighter, have 5%+ bodyfat and 10"+ inches gone. Maybe FOREVER!!!!!  What are you waiting for? It's only 30 days.

Weekly Shout-Outs:

First Double Unders: Addison, Mary Jo, Janet (linked), Gabby (linked), Randi, Amy, Jennifer.

Top Contenders in the first week of "Plank Hold" month: Alisha 6:05, Lana 5:35,

Suzanne 5:15, Debbie Rock 5:09, Liz Barringer 4:05.

Athletes in Action

Front Range Boot Camp creates an athlete out of every single woman who participates.

   I have found the best description of what an athlete is and does in the book "Born To Run" by Christopher McDougall. "Athletes are Tarzans. Tarzan swims and wrestles and jumps and swings on vines. He's strong and explosive.You never know what Tarzan will do next, which is why he rarely gets hurt.  Your body needs to be shocked to become resilient.  Follow the same daily routine, and your musculoskeletal system quickly figures out how to adapt and go on autopilot. But surprise it with new challenges --leap over a creek, commando-crawl under a log,"- sprint until your lungs are bursting - and scores of nerves and ancillary muscles are suddenly electrified into action". 

Boot camp - different movements in different ways every day creates strong, quick, powerful, agile women who can swing on the constantly changing vines in her life with ease and grace.

Two minute overhead bar hold. Dani, Jerri, Deborah, Kari, Leah and Jenn. Then 90 second overhead bar hold, then 60 second overhead bar hold.......

 Vanessa is celebrating her ability to work past the voices in her head that told her she couldn't run up the "hill from hell". She did it! In 11:40. YAY Vanessa!