At the end of October 2014, I was on a phone call with a friend of mine that owns a couple of gyms, and he mentioned to me that they always do some kind of physical / mental challenge workout or event, once a quarter, to keep his people fired up and motivated to train.
I thought this was a GREAT idea … and I thought, we do these Challenge Workouts once per month at our studio already … what if we did an “Ultimate” Challenge Workout, one that was not the usual 45 minutes, but maybe three or four hours in length … and one that addressed all aspects of fitness, such as:
— strength
— endurance
— power
— flexibility
— coordination
And so on …
And the FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout was born!
So over the last eight weeks or so -THROUGH the busy holiday season – we had about twenty FVT members training and preparing for the epic workout we held last Saturday at the new FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training gym.
The workout was AWESOME!!!
I have NEVER seen so much positive feedback and excitement on social media after the event was over from folks who participated … everyone KICKED BUTT, and 100% of the 17 people who started the workout, FINISHED … and it was overall an amazing, fun, meaningful experience we’ll NEVER forget!!
FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout – Recap
Here’s exactly how the workout went:
— We kicked off with an approx 35 minute warm – up … we started with things like bird dogs, hip bridges, planks, squats, easy lunges, stick ups, leg swings, etc … and worked up to higher-intensity stuff like jogging, shuffling, bear crawls, and partner carries.
— Next came the boot camp workout portion.
This is exactly what we did:
140 kb swings (24k for men, 16k for women)
35 pull ups
35 kb presses / side (8k for women, 16k for men)
105 box jumps to a 18 in tire
96 walking lunges / side
49 burpees
105 push ups for men, 49 push ups for women
49 hanging knee raises
210 jumping jacks
Broken up into seven “rounds”, and with a 45 minute time limit to finish.
That was the toughest boot camp we’ve EVER put together, without a doubt!
— Then we moved on to a 5k run. We started at Tower Theatre and ran down Land Park Drive, around the park, turned at 13th ave, came back up Riverside and circled back to Tower.
— Finally we ended with a “mini-challenge” competition. It was:
7 recline rows
15 kb swings (24k for men, 16k for women)
12 push ups (knees for women, toes for men)
7 burpees
As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes.
Victoria C was our women’s winner, with a Jenny M VERY close behind.
And our men’s winner was Caleb F, with Ruben M a very close second.
Then we finished with food, drinks, and some good times!
To sum up, I want to leave you with a point – and lesson, really – that this experience drove home for me.
Doing something like this has very little to do with your natural physical abilities, or what you *think* are your limitations.
We trained for the event for eight weeks ahead of time, so literally anyone who participates in our boot camp program, could have completed this challenge if they had trained for it.
What it comes down to is MENTAL toughness. Grit. Getting it done, pushing on, and knowing you are GOING to finish, no matter what.
And an AWESOME, positive, motivating group it was we had working out on Saturday. Everyone there KNEW they were going to finish, hell or high water. And they got it done. Had fun in the process. And did something they can be proud of FOREVER, and will NEVER forget.
THANK YOU FVT peeps for being awesome! Keep rocking it! And we’ll put together another one of these Ultimate Challenge Workouts soon!
’till next time –
– Forest Vance, MS, RKC II
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training