Bootcamp in Lockdown

In the second week of March, everything changed. The stories of illness and disease on the other side of the world became stories about illness and disease in Northern Italy. What was isolated and remote was now very immediate. Calming voices grew increasingly concerned. Rumours of a single case in Walthamstow and jokes about hand-sanitiser and toilet roll turned to genuine worry.

By the end of the Thursday, I was feeling pretty peeky and in line with the guidelines at the time, I took to my bed and isolated from the rest of the family. I won't go into too much detail but it was pretty rotten. I was ill for the best part of three weeks and the recovery was slow. On the up-side, I did watch a lot of great films.

Snowpiercer is ace.

As the situation changed it became pretty clear that my work would change immeasurably. After a couple of hopeful emails about 'getting back out there,' it was obvious that that wasn't anything that was going to happen any time soon.

So what to do?

Adapt. Go online.

Now I'm nearly 50, reasonably tech-savvy but I've always found the online fitness world a bit daunting. I'm not a digital colossus like Joe Wicks so I wasn't really sure where to start.

Thankfully, my boot campers are a lovely bunch, and when I suggested taking the sessions online they were happy to try the sessions out even though there is a sea of free content out there.

They were also very forgiving of those early sessions when I was still getting my head around Zoom, lighting, webcam, and sound.

We're are now 10 weeks into Forest Fitness Online and in all honesty, it's been great. I've really enjoyed running the sessions (even though it's pretty hot in my gym under the lights). The live sessions give everyone a chance to check in with everyone else in the group and workout together. It's not exactly like our regular outside forest sessions but there's still some of the camaraderie there when we're all working and sweating together at the same time. And knowing that the other bootcampers are working as hard as you are, maybe pushes you that little bit harder than you would if you were doing it on your own.

Not everyone has been able to join the live sessions, but all sessions were available to access on YouTube afterward and I've had some lovely feedback from bootcampers that I haven't seen on the Zoom stream but who have been working through the sessions on their own.

So if you like the sound of our online training but haven't joined yet, there's some more information below. This isn't how we'll always train and I'm so looking forward to training people outside again and seeing everybody in real life. In the meantime, this is our new Forest Fitness normal.

All the best and keep safe everyone.

Michael

The sessions are simple follow-along workouts without any complicated kit. All you need is a bit of space about the size of an average lounge rug and sometimes a chair or a towel.

On Wednesday, June 3rd we'll be starting the next 6-week block of online training. For £35 you get a 6-week programme including 3 live sessions a week and access to the videos.

Strength Training Wednesday at 9:30 am.

This is steady paced stuff using things you can easily find around the house, such as a chair, rucksack, or towel.

Whole Body Conditioning Friday at 9:30 am

These sessions are about strength but also building your cardiovascular fitness. It'll really get your heart racing and your legs burning.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HiiT) Sunday 10 am

These are short sharp bursts of exercise that really push the intensity. It's challenging but you get a lot of bang for your buck as it's very effective.

These are just a few examples of the sessions we've been working with. There is new work every session and every week. We're always aiming to progress and keep building everyone's fitness.

If you like what you see, we're starting the new block this Wednesday 3rd June at 9:30. So if you want to sign up just drop me a line at forestfitnessuk@gmail.com and I send you all the details.