Recently, I have been thinking a lot about workouts and intensity levels. For years as a young athlete coaches would often say to me, you only get out of it what you put in. It wasn’t until years later I would come to understand what that meant. My focus this week has been on creating circuit workouts that are short duration and high intensity. Mostly I have been designing these for another person but it has gotten my brain spinning.

This morning I attended the Killington Boot Camp taught by CPT Beth Roberts. It was a mixed group of ages, genders, and ability levels. It also was my first boot camp of any type. As I arrived at the site of the boot camp I spoke with Beth, who had invited me, and she said it was probably going to be really easy for me and hoped I would have fun. That’s when I said it’s as hard as you want to make it.

I can say this morning was not easy. We did a variety of exercises for different periods of time taxing all the muscles in my body. Most of the time I workout in my own world however in a group fitness situation you notice those around you a bit more. One of the times I looked around everyone was pushing themselves, however speeds greatly varied. It was then looking around that the idea of intensity really hit me.

There is no one level of intensity, we truly are all different. Myself standing next to the sixty year old woman might have two different speeds but both be working to the same intensity level. Or conversely, I might be faster but not working as hard as the person next to me is. It all comes down to in the end you get out of a workout what you put in and that intensity can truly only come from within you.

Off for round two with Steve this afternoon at Green Mountain Rock Climbing.