Cardio Boot Camp

I headed down to the Equinox on 74th & 2nd last night to wage war against the glazed donuts I mindlessly inhaled at work. My class was celebrating the successful performance of our interpretation of Chris Van Allsburg's Just a Dream story. The children each had one donut. I had six. Oops.

I went to Ben Damptey's Cardio Boot Camp, followed by his Abs, Back, and Stretch class for the first time. I know where I'll be on Thursdays from now on. The class is divided into "chapters." Each chapter is made up of four or five exercises, and you repeat the series twice. The forty-five minute class went by quickly; I know I'm having a good workout when I'm not looking at the clock.

I liked a lot of things about the class, but I'll focus on the highlights.

Ben had us do ball taps with our medicine balls. I haven't played soccer since 2000, and it wasn't easy tapping that ball without rolling it around the room... or tripping over it.

We used steps for two purposes. In the beginning we kept them flat on the floor for down, down, up, ups (You can run these on the back or the middle. I prefer the middle. We did both.) and for alternating lunges. Later we added two sets of risers to create a bench for chest presses, rows, and balance work.

I really like how Ben incorporated bits of kickboxing and yoga into the class. Bonus points for Sexy Back coming on during lower back extensions.