The biggest surprise to me was how building strength in my feet doing barefoot bootcamp made the pain and weakness from the torn tendons go away, completely! I had been limping for a year and within a month or two it was gone!
Since my late twenties my level of physical fitness has been a huge disappointment to me. I grew up active in competitive sports and have continued in many recreational activities throughout my adulthood. However, my weight fluctuated from season to season based on my activity level along with poor food and drink habits. The one constant was how much harder it got to achieve any level of improvement as I aged, and so the steady decline in fitness ensued. I felt a constant degradation in my energy level, ability to compete in activities, recovery from injury, and self-esteem. My wakeup call came three years ago when I lost my father unexpectedly to a heart attack at the age of 66. I knew at that point I needed to get serious about improving my own health. I got back into the gym regularly and got into better eating habits, but I still didn’t get the results I needed. I was still not pushing myself in my workouts and dinner and weekend meals were frequently overly indulgent. I then saw an advertisement for a new gym opening near my house so I checked out this FitMania thing. I made a decision; I am all in, a decision to join FitMania, a decision to follow the FitMania recipe, a decision to achieve exceptional physical health.
It hasn’t been easy so far, but one thing is for sure, FitManiacs can do hard things! I wasn’t sure I could stick it out at first, it HIRT, the workouts were tough, and I was nursing torn tendons in my foot from a racquetball injury from the prior year. But as I stuck with it, the sore muscles weren’t so sore after my body got used to it. I got better at the workouts, proven by my tabata sheets. The biggest surprise to me was how building strength in my feet doing barefoot bootcamp made the pain and weakness from the torn tendons go away, completely! I had been limping for a year and within a month or two it was gone! Movement promotes healing; I have experienced it with several old lingering injuries since joining FitMania. Doing my first challenge over the summer with vacations and all of the fun in the sun tested my will power and commitment. But I did it, when in town I answered the alarm every time (5am’ers kick some serious ass!), when not in town I was active, I made substantial improvements in my eating and drinking habits, and I made and met goals! Now, I am even more excited about the next challenge! While I have made huge strides, I know my results will be compounded as I improve on meal planning and prep and set new BHAGs!
Every day at FitMania I am surrounded by never ending support and inspiration. Each trainer that I have had the privilege to work out with has brought their own style and motivation. Special thanks to neighbor Meghan who has a way of pushing you beyond what you think you can do and to Dan S for setting the ultimate example of the kind of beast this program can turn you into. My first BHAG is to serve as that type of inspiration for others!
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