93 Responses to “Bootcamps - This weeks training”

1. Ed Says:
   September 3rd, 2010 at 10:09 pm

   First the council leaves the flood defences in place and then they go and cut the grass leaving no long grass in which to hide when the going gets really tough!!! Grrrrrr

   I am restless and have a keyboard…. be afraid….very afraid!!! lol

   A small select band of prisoners turned up for a Fit Camp stylee beasting… and we got concept exercises for a moderm marketplace… Olivier ‘Commode George’ P’ton took the session and has got some great ideas showing us a taste of what’s to come!!!

   Lots of dizzying rolling through the grass followed by exercises consist of dizzying rolling through the grass!!! There were 5 ladies there tonight… it’s been a while since I rolled through grass with 5 ladies… don’t you miss the rave days of olde!!! lol

   I have a theory that P’ton nicked Zippy Glover’s training plan… I can almost hear P’ton shouting at his PC ‘yeah right whatever’.

   The Hobbit had a great time, toes permed to perfection.

   Bloody tough session. Lots of dynamic exercises.

   We saw AB and Slugger Fuggley in the car park smiling and fresh faced as we stood there knackered and sweat soaked covered in grassy off cuts…. no fair! lol

   I got home to a Facebook blog by Kendal telling me that he has tried 3 runs in Turkey on holiday!!!!!!!! Huh? There’s no ‘run’ in ‘holiday’ will be the new cry.

   I am knackered, restless and considering doing a session at Sutton tomorrow with Zippy. I’ve had a pretty amazing week, rounded off with tonight’s Fit Camp and I reckon I won’t sleep so we’ll see how I feel in the morning.

   I am busy Monday night in another country called Cornwall! So if not tomorrow then roll on Wednesday!

   Before I go tonight, I have been sitting here thinking back about Fit Camp and I seem to remember a time in the distant past when there was some guy called something like ‘Howes’ or ‘Hughie’ or ‘Hughes’ or something like that. Anyone else remember him? He seemed to have a basic understanding of fitness…. wonder if we’ll ever see him again?

2. Ed Says:
   August 30th, 2010 at 10:38 pm

   Well done Oliver ‘Commode’ P’ton for taking the whole session. And a second congrats for introducing new warm-up techniques… Mr Beans dance moves and also the risque nipple rubbing… must be murder to muscle pull a nipple! And I understand you learnt these techniques during your 11-19 education!? What school was that then? Are they still operating or have they been raided for dubious teaching practices? lol

   We were honoured by the precence of a newbie prisoner… Ruud Van Nistelrooy and he turned up with his Dutch international top on. He had a warm welcome from most of us. There’s always one person though who takes it too far! Fresh from her dancing days at the Humming Bird whilst stalking me …. Slugger Thorne pile drived Ruud into the dirt not once, but twice, during a ‘tag’ game of bulldog. Sorry Ruud, we just can’t take her anywhere sometimes!!! Maz, having learnt her lesson in a prior bulldog session, gave Nikki a wide berth to avoid a stray elbow.

   We had 2 games of bulldog. Well done AB for being last man standing in one game. In another game I felt I had to slow down a tad to enable Si McNeilly to tag me with the merest of fingertips… if I had kept going at a constant speed then I would have embarrassed him! lol

   Loads and loads of running tonight, when not round the small field then up and down the flood defences!!! Kendal has really missed out. I have been watching Facebook closely and no reports of ‘Kendal has run 500km at 08.30am’ …. anybody would think he is resting on holiday.

   A quiet session to start with, just the feint waft of Jagermeister drifitng across the field … dunno why? Any ideas anyone? But the banter flowed again later.

   Di Glover needs to change her number plates to ZG… as in Zippy Glover.

   There was some fast sprints tonight. AB can’t half shift when she wants to. Must be all that running to get the last chocolate fountain for her wedding. Kev Marsh is always up there but Ian impressed with his increase in sprint speeds to finish off circuits.

   Good to see Julia and Debbie too. In fact a good turnout for a bank holiday weekend from all.

   Bring on Wednesday…….

3. Ed Says:
   August 21st, 2010 at 5:20 pm

   I have dusted off my keyboard to do a blog…. mainly ‘cos I can’t move from the sofa due to working out so bloomin’ hard!!! lol

   Oliver… has the sort of twang to his voice where you’d expect him to be decked out in a harris tweed jacket for a workout with jodphurs and matching woollen underwear hand-knitted by the staff….. like they used to make him wear at boarding school no doubt!!! That’s the sort of breeding and nurture that gives the sort of fella that would be referred to as a ‘chap’ amongst friends in the old boy network….

   Now, at the other end of the social scale, what sort of chap resorts to pushing ‘practically blood’ relatives into the way of fellow prisoners during tag bulldog? Welcome Kendal… knows what needs doing in a crisis as he pushed Slugger into the waiting arms of the opposing prisoners in order to save his own skin. I’m alright Jack, pull up the ladder…. lol. Not that I blame him, you need toughness and a ruthless streak to hold your own after you marry into the TSM Mafia and so I suspect it has been more nurture than nature for Kendal.

   What about Nikki though? Well now that’s more nature than nurture… rugby tackling a fellow prisoner to the ground during ‘tag’ bulldog…. 2 ladies rolling in the wet grass… the stuff dreams are made of I am sure but a little ruthless!! lol

   Not that Nikki was the only member of the clan to find herself on the floor during the session… oh no! Jules ‘slipped’ during a run and got lots of caring attention as she got back to her feet. But I am having none of it…. you’ll recall I pointed out that the TSM Mafia get their money by extorting the council on threat of stealing turf (for legal reasons I point out that this is all make believe!!! )… that ‘slip’ by Jules was obviously her just casing the next heist by looking at the grass close up!! I am on to you Jules and there’ll be no sympathy from me.

   6 of the group today did the second Friday Fit Camp session only some 15 or so hours earlier… I say second session but it was actually the first official session but unofficially second session after P’ton turned up on a Friday a few weeks ago!!! Well done Maz, Goff, Kendal, Nikki and P’ton for making it to the session today although Ollie was training us so didn’t go hell for leather!!

   Ensor took the session last night… after photoshop’ing his profile pic on Facebook… no way can you hang horizontally off a vertical pole…. well there was one lady I saw in Orange No5 in Vancouver during the 90’s but no way are there 2 of you!!!

   Tough, tough session last night and tough session again today courtesy of Ollie and Diana. My body is beyond aching and feeling numb… when it starts to heal then I’ll no doubt go through the aching phase!!! lol
   Diana has nicknamed me Bungle a la Rainbow but I think it warrants her new nickname of Zippy!

   Ian Justin was out in front all day today. Maz and Goff invented new exercises to make band work and kicking more difficult… ‘cos it’s sooo easy already!! Smithy, blimey he can shift…. Ollie I reckon you are almost out of the top 3 in running speed terms! If Stevie Harris turns up again then you’ll be down to 5th….. maybe 6th. Claire, can you get your brother down to Fit Camp again please?

   I took a bean bag to the mush…. good shot Kendal!!! If you are reading this and wondering what I am talking about then you weren’t there and you really missed out!

   New idea for Fit Camp: perhaps we can have a calorie counter that works out how many cals you burned and then converts that into 1) pints; or 2) chips; 3) deep fried mars bars; 4) various takeaway meals… that way you know quickly how much junk you can feed yourself with.. Last Wednesday was Chinese Wednesday so today I reckon was Fish and Chips Saturday!!

   Finally Nikki, told me she had removed plasters off each of her knees last night. I could explain this comment but I think I’ll leave it to your imagination as to what she’s been doing……. lol

   A well run session by Olivier P’ton and Di Zippy Glover with Simon McNeilly hiding in the background!

   Roll on Monday, if I can get my limbs to work!!!!!

4. Ed Says:
   August 9th, 2010 at 8:39 pm

   My last blog for a long, long while……

   Ollie and Di ran a great session tonight. I had to miss out on the session due to a pre-exisiting injury. And it was a boxing session!!!!!!

   If I do blog again then I may use a pseudonym. Some name that possibly couldn’t be real, a name that’s obviously made up and deserves some leg puuling…hmmmm… let me see…. yep got it! Ollie Potton.

   Looking forward to being injury-free again and getting stuck in as a prisoner.

   Fingers crossed for Wednesday.

5. kendal Says:
   August 7th, 2010 at 5:50 pm

   well…conspicuous by his absence was Ed..injury we were told by the small…yes small …but perfectly formed Deb
   Shoulder we were told…but it was either RSI from the non sensicle ramblings on this blog. Or Si & Dave went round his gaff to do him over. After several months of barbed comments, it could well be the latter. See you soon big man…sorry, smaller man after losing so much timber.

   Another good hard…session today. More equipment than we had seen for some weeks. Couldnt be anything to do with the Oppo in the other field. Although it was noticeable that their clientel was full of young females….are we going to see a few defections to the oppo? Probably not, but it was nice to see some glamour in the field as Dave aint cutting it for me….a little more rouge Dave, please.

   After the toys, came the hill and after been given a bum steer by dirty diana (ask Olly where his binoculars are btw) it was a tough session up and down that hill, filled in with boxing. Then following that by a even tough set of up hill bunny hops.

   Then back to the toys - noticeably more tired, but giving it our all again.

   Well done to all and well done guys in showing the oppo how to run a proper fit camp session. Them birds looked like they were having too much fun…too many smiles as we walked past, which means IF IT AINT HURTIN’ IT WEREN’T WORKIN’.

   See you all next week.

   ps. Si / Dave, if you fancy nicking some of the totty from the oppo, we won’t grumble

6. Ed Says:
   August 7th, 2010 at 3:26 pm

   She came from the small hamlet of Droyton Barset searching… searching for powerful magick. Young Doobro Baggins, the shortest of all the Hobittses turned up under the lonely castle mountain in ye olde castle grounds and with the benefit of footwear that allows the hairyest of feet to fit perfectly within, she sought the 2 wizards.

   The 2 wizards ( one a force for good and one a force for evil!! ) have a talent for making Hobbitses disappears. Not in the theme of modern tricks of new where one simply vanishes in seconds and a puff of smoke.. oh no…. they makes you disappears slowly and painfully around the waist over a number of hours during torture using hillocks and your own body weight against you!!! One day this will surely be outlawed as too heinous a crime for young humans…. but Hobittses are fair game!

   Across the way the Orcs of another army trained by running with little use of equipment. You may not of noticed the Orcs as they blend into the backgprund of normal Tamuth folks!!

   A fair pace was maintained by all throughout the session as Gollum was scratting around, scarey and pale skinned and searching for a badge… always a badge with an ancient symbol…. a ‘V’ followed by a ‘W’…. and once he finds the VW badge there he starts his chamois style magic with a hint of ye olde stylee karate kid…. wax on…. wax off.

   And still the (very) old wizards exacts their magicks and Doobro Baggins considers getting a feet perm to attract the men folk.

   I feel this saga could run for many hours and make a blockbusting film one day…….

   Roll on Monday.

7. Ed Says:
   August 5th, 2010 at 3:42 pm

   The flood defences need to go!

   I didn’t realise it was a fancy dress themed training event last night. Ollie came as ‘gay disco’ putting the camp into Fit Camp! lol Ollie was egged on by Sarah to remove his baggy shorts to show off his running tights he did however not take up that challenge. Talking of running tights, where is Stevie Harris? Clare, have a word and get him back down for some punishment…. ermmm I mean fitness training.

   It was another tough session. We ran a mile between the actual exercises!!! Then we were reintroduced to those bloomin’ flood defences!!! Running backwards and forwards to pass the time was a real killer. Time to resurrect the Abolish the Flood Defences League me thinks, look out for the online petition soon. It’s time we eradicated lactic acid burn for good! lol

   I remember the days when I used to turn up and see loads of equipment (most of which you never got to use anyhow! lol) but now the most dreaded bit of kit is the humble cone!! A set of cones and the dreaded words from the GI’s of ‘we’re using your own body weight as part of the exercises tonight’!!!!

   I think we sacred James off from last week… come back… all is forgiven lol. Good to see Debbie hanging on in there even through injury. Hayden is disappearing in front of our eyes.

   The real effort came from AB. How you could eat all that fried food and chocolate at our place the other night and still train like that is amazing. Wish I could have seen your food diary this week. It must have been quite bad as Chris never even made it to the session! Si, feel free to use this information as you see fit during AB’s personal training sessions! lol

   Great warm up and cool down from Ollie and Di respectively. The training in the middle was OK!

   We often get asked if we have enjoyed Fit Camp. ‘Enjoy’ isn’t quite the word and Craig hit the nail on the head when he said not ‘enjoyed’ more ‘endured’ but you know we all love it!! So have you all endured Fit Camp?

   Looking forward to my next beasting. I will be with you all on Monday.

8. Ed Says:
   July 31st, 2010 at 11:41 pm

   You all know that I am so down with the kids given my age!

   Do you all know there is a skateboarding move called the Ollie?…. you just can’t make this stuff up. The Ollie is a basic move that gives the illusion of the skatebaord sticking to your feet whilst you go through the air and is a basic technique for lots of other technical moves!

   Ollie took Fit Camp today!

   I turned down the opportunity to go wakeboarding today….. for free…. with a guy who is in the top 10 professional wakeboarders in the UK…. so that I could go to Fit Camp in the rain!!!! There’s a definiton of madness!

   It was a great turn out today. Ollie’s first full-ish session and it was tough. We ended up having done 450 reps!!!! That’s the spirit young Oliver ‘Commode’ P’ton.

   Good to see Debbie back again. And a welcome Saturday return by Kerrin.

   My limbs are aching. The sesions have been tough recently and the recovery rate of a 30 year old male (ahem…..) is struggling with Fit Camp!!! lol

   This saw me in the slightly easier group surrounded by ladies ready for a workout. Call it Lynx effect or plain good fortune…. but long may it reign!

   Short sprint shuttles and blasts of arm exercises, core and legs followed for the hour. No wonder the weight continues to drop off!

   It was a great warm down from Diana once Dave and Ollie had run off to their secret rendezvous point at the hotel in Solihull! Cue a beasting from Dave for this comment! lol

   Anyway, it’s late Saturday and I need Beauty sleep + I have got Si texting me whilst writing.

   Roll on Monday………..

9. Ed Says:
   July 28th, 2010 at 9:30 pm

   This might just end up being a Deb-esque speech style blog…. short, disjointed but you’ll all get the drift!!!!

   Debs has asked me to write her a speech for the next session…. so soon it won’t be just the blog where you get to hear my drivel !!!

   I am increasingly getting nicknamed Super Ted, a variation on my nickname to the 2 or 3 closest family members… they call me Ted… my sidekick, Spotty, today was newbie James. Fair play to James, he did the run round the long field on both occasions. James also did every exercise …. that’s the spirit.

   Speaking of newbies, Debbie came back again. Nice to see you again and long may it continue.

   Ollie had his love handles pinched again…. he so loves it. I had my bum pinched…. I so love it! lol

   I had better mention that Kate beat me on a run…. Talking about running order, there was another newbie but I didn’t get his name. he is fast too. So P’ton must be 3rd in the running pecking order these days.

   Great warm downs Ollie. The calf muscles get a better stretch the way you do them.

   Looking forward to more ‘Spar Jumps’ and ‘Stotty Dogs’ on Saturday.

10. Ed Says:
    July 26th, 2010 at 10:00 pm

    I reckon we will have soon developed a new micro-climate bought on by feeding the lowest part of the animal food chain…. the gnats!! Boy do they bite. It makes things swell up!!! P’ton will be off rolling around naked after reading that last bit.

    Boxing tonight. It was a welcomed rest for the legs after Saturday. I have to admit that they are still aching a wee bit after the sideways crabbing up the vertical slope… never again!!!

    Simon Mc took the session assisted by Olivier P’ton aka ‘Commode’ and they did a good job. They had us running short shuttle sprints and then doing various boxing combo’s. It was tough going but no surprises to see 2 of the Thorne Sisterhood Mafia, Slugger and Jules, finishing up in front of the rest of the group…. slugging just comes naturally to that clan! Next week they’ll show us how to punch so it leaves no bruises.

    We finished up with a surf session, with no ocean, waves or boards…. but it was good. Lie down, jump up and sprint, no waves to help you along the way. The lifeguards (Si and Olivier) just watching on as we all struggled on the turf surf! The slight scent of canadian goose on my front was very attractive….. not!

    Good to see Ian and Kate back. No AB or Chris Robey. Kendal’s head was still clearing after the weekend.

    I partnered Ian again tonight. It was nearly Clare but a quick change in pairings to balance out the sexes saw me swap. Ian, those burpees where you voluntarily add an extra tuck jump on the end…. sheer amazing craziness! Keep it up!!!

    Olivier P’ton mentioned that he enjoyed having his love handles pinched throughout the evening and that EVERY Fit Camp attendee should keep doing this!…… or did I make that up, I just can’t recall now?

    Anyway. Good session. See you all on Wednesday!

11. Ed Says:
    July 24th, 2010 at 12:49 pm

    Fit Camp was so disorientating today.

    Firstly I came out in hives as I saw a Southampton FC top…. but we weren’t in Southampton. Kev that top’s just plain dirty and you know it. lol

    Then I thought I was in Wimbledon. We went for a run round the Castle Pleasure Grounds. I could see tennis courts and suddenly I thought I saw a womble collecting litter that the everyday folk leave behind….. then I realised it was Simon Mc.

    Then the sun was glaring….. not Tammie weather in a normal Summer!

    Anyway, confusion over, we found ourselves on manoevres again!!! A quick run on the tarmac round the park. There was a cry for a toilet break again….. If McNeilly can just keep collecting the litter then we cash in at the recycling plant and hopefully raise enough cash to buy the Fit Camp commode and Bath Chair!!! It could be pulled along by the YTS (P’ton) and be made available on call. Where’s the Fit camp suggestion box? I think this idea might have legs! lol

    Welcome newbie Debbie. I hope you enjoyed today and will be back soon. Seeing as you are a garden designer I reckon it’d be great if you can point out interesting plants and design features as we plumb the depths of pain and torture that is Fit Camp and the oxygen is just not getting into the lungs quickly enough - perfect for giving a guided talk!

    And what a tough session to come along to for your first forray into Fit Camp! I reckon that ranks at number 2 in the difficulty stakes for sessions this year. I reckon we ran 2.6 miles today from some rough calculations on Google Earth.

    The other factor is the terrain we ran over. The steepest part of the park formed part of our routine. It was tough tough tough and the heat was intense…. we all did well.

    After a warm down from Di we walked back to the cars. Chatting to Olivier P’ton in the car park Di, Debs and myself never realised that he enjoys having people randomly walk up to him and give his love handles a quick pinch…. how strange is this guy? But there you go… he asked me to blog about it. Next time you see him just stroll on over and give his sides a good old pinch…… he’ll thank-you for it!!!! lol

    Kendal, well done on training especially after a pint or 2 at the Plough and a curry!! The perfect pre-training feast.

    Kev, put that footie top back in the bushes where it belongs.

    Alison…. hi, just thought I’d give you a mention before you ask why I haven’t blogged about you.

    Gary, thank-you for bringing sartorial elegance to Fit Camp with a truly unique hat!

    Ian and Kate………… where were you? Or perhaps I should ask, which pub were you in last night that meant you couldn’t make it today?

    Anyone else want a mention?

    Roll on Monday’s session………..

12. Ed Says:
    July 21st, 2010 at 10:00 pm

    Cones everywhere and no ice cream in sight!!

    The chocolate fountain went AWOL for an hour or 2 today but it’s making a come back…phew!!!!

    Then they make you run round the field 4 times. Wait… let me check with Debs…….. # bland hold music playing……. ‘your call is important to us you are held in a queue…… more music…… # Yep, 4 times, FOUR… well I was OK with that as I think it’s a good move but seeing as I asked for more running it’s me that’ll get it in the neck!!! lol

    No wonder we are all losing weight! No food, loads of running…..!

    Aiden went round the field once and looked like he’d either been attending a paintball event or he’d come by motorbike and a dozen flies had met his T-shirt at speed. But it was just a small cut on his finger that didn’t give him an excuse to miss Fit Camp. In fact I don’t think there is any reason that’d be accepted for missing Fit Camp…….

    Which brings me nicely onto Kendal and Ian - the tardy duo! Kendal, no excuses and instead of the 5 burpee punsihment for being late he did 10. Ian turns up about 50 minutes late and not a word or mention of punishment. If it were down to me I’d have slapped his thighs!!! Oh hang on a minute, I get it now….. and there I was thinking Dave and Si just make this stuff up as they go along on the hoof.

    Yes, the thigh slapping exercise returned after a long absence from our routine. And spookily enough I did partner Ian. So after thinking he deserved a slap on the thigh for being so late, lo and behold it happens. This positive thoughts, create your own reality stuff, really works!!!! lol

    Anyway, Ian responded well to the slapped thighs. Kate obviously rules the roost at their home!!!! A fact admitted by Ian.

    Talking of another Kate…. good to see Blues Alice didn’t scare Villa Kate off as Kate made her return. Obviously Kate covered for her mucker with tales of being under the weather last week and we all nod politely but we know……. lol. OK I made all this last bit up!

    Now not being one to stir things up….. I now whistle nonchantly looking away as I go about my business…….. Craig’s sister came along tonight, it was good to see them train together too… but we are all wondering… who is the fittest of the siblings? lol

    Anyway, before I sign off on this blog I must say that I have been impressed with AB’s progress the last couple of months. You’ve come along leaps and bounds AB. So much so I was even thinking of sending a celebratory healthy protein shake round to your flat by way of recognition of all your efforts! lol

    I’m looking forward to some more decent warm ups from Di and Ollie and also the make it up as you go bit from Dave and Si!! (I am so going to cop a beasting).

    See you all Saturday.

13. Ed Says:
    July 17th, 2010 at 7:12 pm

    Still aching from Wednesday I turned up to a coned off Beefeater car park. It was coned off for the West Midlands Music Festival. I was expecting a ‘your name’s not down, you’re not coming in’ response but they actually recognised Fit camp and let us in to park!!!

    Looking over at our normal workout field we all realised it was now a car park for the event. I did ponder going over and telling them that we were here first and that they should all clear off….. but thought better of it.

    So, it was a quick warm up which incoporated a 5 press-up punishment for me blogging about Disco Dave’s previously…. Ok I’ll think up a new name! The warm up was followed by Ian Justin and the 3 musketeers loading my rucksack with about 4 kg’s of gear and a run over to the ‘embankment’. There I was like a Sherpa running with the supplies to the training area. lol

    Now aching more than ever I was so pleased to see that we were boxing interspersed with short shuttle runs up the steepest incline I think we will train on in a Fit Camp session!!! I partnered Gary and it wasn;t long until we had been moved down to the longets steepest bit of the embankment….. akes you proud to be a prisoner! lol.

    Alison took a comfort break midway through the session taking a leaf out of Debs’ and Bevs’ book ……. actually she didn’t seem to have any tissue so perhaps she literally did have a leaf!!! I look forward to a definite growth spurt from a bush or 2 in the copse.

    It was a tough session today. Not as bad as Wednesday but tough nonetheless. It was so great to finish off with a jog back again but not before Ian and the 3 musketeers had managed to load up my rucksack for the jog back…… imagine my joy!!!!! lol

    Good to see Ian Justin back. No sign of Maz and Goff today which is unusual for a Saturday. Newbie Jamie, welcome. Smithy was back again and is fast becoming a regular. It’s tempting to make a few juvenile comments about P’ton but I think I’ll have a day off…. so…. good to see again Oliver.

    I’m praying my aches disappear for Monday!!!! And so is my dog after having the slowest walk of his life as I struggle to get my legs moving again!

    See you all on Monday.

14. Ed Says:
    July 16th, 2010 at 11:26 am

    I never thought that Fit Camp would get me into politics. Try to stay with me on this blog without glazing over! There is a mound of earth on the edge of the field we train in that acts as a flood defence. Dave and Si decided to use this as the area for instruction on one of the tasks…. runnning up and over the flood defence. OMG it was tough (did you like my taxt / CHAV speak there?). So, the campaign to remove the Tamworth flood defences starts here!

    Sure the flood defences hold back the floods during times of continued wet weather thereby protecting the hundreds of homes and their contents but do these people not realise how much a serious lactic build in my legs can ache… and not just for a few minutes, I mean this can last for a couple of days!!!! lol I know now that those homeowners + the Fit Campers will sign a petition to remove the flood defences and make it much more easier to train on a flat surface!!

    I’ll dig out the Tamworth Council offices address and we can march up there and offer to remove this instrument of workout torture!

    Anyway, back to the use of text speak earlier…. the dreadful duo turned up…. the dreadful duo being the 2 young teenager girls, text speaking away, who have started to watch us train whilst singing Justin Bieber tracks… badly…. out of tune… and then oggle Si. One of them told Si he was ‘fit’. I can only imagine that she’s referring to oxygen uptake rates, aerobic and anerobic capacity for exercise etc…. if she means looks then I’ll need to dig out the number for Specsavers. Actually, come to think of it, if she was referring to looks then there may even be hope for Ollie that he may get a girlfriend one day…!!! lol

    Anyway, it was nice to move away from the flood defences, or so we thought. 2 sets of cones, a short shuttle sprint or 10, and then a smorgasbord of exercises later and I was almost wishing for a long run!!!! It was the toughest session of this year by a country mile.

    So nice then to finish with a 2 lap perimeter run of the field. It’s Friday now and I am still aching!!!!!!

    Smithy turned up again for a session and though it was moderated for newer members, I can’t help wondering how he got on the next day at work!

    Alice had frightened off her Villa fan friend! lol

    After the session, Chris, AB, Nikki H and myself chatted with Ollie and worked out a new monthly name for P’ton. My body was seizing up a little by the time I was driving home!!!!

    See you all Saturday.

15. Ed Says:
    July 13th, 2010 at 4:39 pm

    It’s nice to know that in this time of economic downturn Fit Camp have signed up to the YTS scheme and giving youngsters their first chance of real work…. step forward Oliver, honorary instructor for the evening. Personally I was thinking that the castle was looking like it had moved further away as a potential run to the castle beckoned following my leg pulling of the last few months with P’ton!!!

    So YTS P’ton was asked to change his top. We all looked on as he tried to suck his tum in. I reckon his muscles will fill out a little as he matures and maybe one day they might see some sun! lol

    I always try to be accurate in my blogs (ahem ) so I have to note a slight inaccuracy in a recent report. The drink of choice in Cyprus wasn’t Ouzo…. it was Mojito!!! I am obviously happy to put the record straight. Did you put all 80 Mojito’s in your food diary for Simon?

    A good turn out last night for a warm albeit overcast evening. And it was boxing last night. With some lethal combos. I partnered Messr. Robey and we landed every punch…. it was a killer session but very worth it.

    We all had a suspicion last night that Simon is a bum man. Make your own jokes at this point!!!

    There was noticeably more running. Not sure if this was following one of my previous blogs or if it’s been on the cards for a while but it’s both welcomed for its results and unwelcomed as it hurts like hell. lol Keep up the running. I think it’s a good body conditioner. Last night we did just over a mile of pure running and that’s before we calculate the distance for the shuttles etc during exercise. Personally I can see the difference it makes to my physique and feel it in the lactic ache of the legs! Please try and keep the mile a session running going.

    Anyway, enough blogging for one day!

    See you Saturday as I cannot make Wednesday barring a re-jigging of the diary (but don’t be surprised if I manage to pull this idea together).

16. Ed Says:
    July 10th, 2010 at 4:25 pm

    Normality resumed over Fit Camp as Gary ran across the field about 5 minutes after the session had started…..

    Simon Ensor took the session today. he’s easy to spot if you are a fan of Facebook….. just check out the tagged photos at Bullitt!!! I think he was tagged on the Val Doonican and Kajagoogoo old skool reunion night but Simon may beg to differ!

    A smaller trunout this morning but nice to see Ian and Kate back even after getting home at about 2am this morning.

    The temperature was a major factor again. It must have been pushing into the 20’s and lots of water was called for. Ollie probably needed more water than most as he was sweating so much. If we can get him to workout in a vat and collect all that water then Tamworth will escape a hosepipe ban this Summer!

    I partnered Debs aka ‘Doobra Do’ for the 1st time ever which is starnge as she is my better half for those who don’t know already. I asked her if she’d partnered with me ever again and she said yes so long as the instructors hold the pads whilst I am kicking or punching!!!!

    Nice to see a newbie… Smithy. Welcome on board. I don’t relish the aches and pain that you’ll feel tomorrow. I know what it’s like as I can still remember my body having to adjust when I first started.

    I went to a school fair this afternoon and found a practical application of the skillset learned from Fit Camp…. carrying a leaking bucket round an a slalom run course and emptying it into another bucket. Most water emptied into the bucket wins a set of iPod speakers. I got 22cms which was winning as I left the fair. Second palce after quite a few runners was 19 cms. So 6 months of snow, rain, sun, wind, blood, sweat and tears for a £20 set of speakers…… never let ti be said that Fit camp ain’t worth it!! lol

    It was a tough session today. Heat a factor again today but I have enjoyed it and Simon Ensor kept us going well for the hour.

    Roll on Monday.

17. Ed Says:
    July 8th, 2010 at 12:05 pm

    Disco Dave warmed us up with a little dance routine that I suspect hasn’t been seen in Trinty since the 80’s. Next session it’ll be hip-hop and breakdance with a special Crazy Legs routine to famous electro beat combo’s using the 808’s…… ask your parents kids!!! lol

    On a humid evening, there Chris Robey and me stood like a delicious meaty filling (more than a mouthful some might say) in a fitness sandwich between Tony / P’ton and AB / Deb (aka Doob).

    Tony well done mate for 110% effort. As for P’ton, AB and Doob…… well I am still undecided if Chris and myself are streets ahead of the rest of the group or their efforts made us look good? lol

    The comment above might have something to do with P’ton just being P’ton and AB and Doob managing to land me with burpee and star jump punishments….. ‘booooo, boooooo’, would have been the cry you’d have heard if any of us had any breath left. lol. A most heinous and unequitable manner for handing out punishments especially after AB was kicking equipment (think stepper) behind Si’s back and walked away blameless!!!

    On the subject of punishments, Oliver hasn’t had one for ages now. I will have to make something up…. oops I mean be more vigilant and factually report back in the blog as to what happened and see what occurs.

    We had a few more runs to the hedge and back tonight which are so energy sapping but very effective me thinks.

    It was funny to egg Alice on during the kicks by telling her to imagine her friend holding the pad was a Villa fan…… which I then found out she is!! Followed by the inevitable reciprocal egging on to imagine the reverse when they swapped round.

    Aiden tells me he is working at Drayton Manor and will struggle to get to Fit Camp! C’mon dude, organise your days off to get to at least one session a week. You have got to be one of our most improved members and in such a short space of time…. don’t let the good work go now. Let me know if you need a lift from work to get there on time and I’ll sort it out.

    No Bev, no Ian and Kate, no Di, no Jules, no Slugger, no Ian Justin….. so a quiet night with that lot missing even with a good turnout! lol

    Roll on Saturday….

18. Ed Says:
    July 6th, 2010 at 9:47 pm

    Here goes nothing!

    Small field perimeter is 0.25 miles. Larger field with concrete plinths is 0.34 miles. Perimeter for both fields is 0.48 miles.

    Plinth to plinth is about 130 metres or 0.08 miles.

    One both field perimeter run + 2 x large field run = just over 1 mile.

    4 x small field runs = 1 mile

    With much trepidation……. can we run a mile a session? Do Fit campers want to do this? The benefits will surely outweigh the pain!!!!

19. Ed Says:
    July 6th, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    Monday is the new Friday Ollie!

    After the moons of last Fit Camp session, last night was the sunshine as Simon Mc adapted the ‘Kendal Stacey position’ during one of my crunch exercises and I was forced to close my eyes and try not to bring my dinner up…… it was horrible!!!! And still the sun didn’t shine out of Si’s backside!!!

    Anyway, there was the faint waft of urine and the growth spurt of the Bev and Deb trees after their fertilisation efforts during last session, along with a faint smell of Ouzo detox…. you know who you are and don’t deny it!!! lol

    As for the session, it went by in a blur….. a blur of pain and tortuous exercise in one of the quietest sessions I have ever been to - which spooked Simon a little. But a heady combo of Monday evening feeling and tough exercise is always gonna be a little quiet.

    I hate running- as regular readers will already know. So it was very very freaky to come 1st in the final run round both fields……. Robey, P’ton….. where were you? Gassing like old fisherwives at the rear of the pack? What were you oggling on the way round to be so slow? eh?

    There was a 2 horse race during training with running commentary…. not sure which one won the 2 leg shuttle run…… Chris and me counted only 2 legs of running and not 3!!! Self preservation prevents me from mentioning Slugger and AB specifically but justice dictates they owe us 15 press-ups each for ducking out of the session… lol.

    A lack of time means I have to end my blog here just as I was about to write what the abbreviated bit of P’ton is ie: what does his real full surname look like? Anyone else got suggestions? Example: P ‘I alwaysendupcoming2ndinruns’ ton……. well it’s a work-in-progress…. tune in next blog for the best answers!!!! lol

    See you all Wednesday when I get my just punishments and try to avoid a few digs for raucous blogging…!

20. Ed Says:
    July 3rd, 2010 at 10:47 pm

    The world has gone mad I tells ya!!!!

    Was it the moon hanging in the sky during the daylight? Well maybe!

    But when Gary turns up early…. well you know something is afoot. But then that alone doesn’t explain the craziness! So what else? Well I saw 2 full moons in the bushes today!!! Bright white moons breaking through the foliage followed by a growth spurt for the flora on the edge of the fields! Well when I think about it, when was the last time you saw the moon with a tatoo of a butterfly being swallowed by a dolphin?……. oh my I reckon it must have been Bev or Debs going for a wee in the bushes…. as for the tatoo….. well let’s say that I have read the grafiti and the rumours do appear to be true.

    Anyhow! I don’t mind the ladies going for a ‘comfort break’ during training. What I was a little more concerned about was Bev then drinking from a water bottle with a liquid resembling the look of urine. I am sure it looked clear and water-like before her trip to the bushes. And don’t even get me started on ladies going to the toilet in pairs!!!! Fit Camp has changed since it’s inception! Watch out for the counselling sessions to discuss how we feel about being bossed around for an hour of our time!!!

    It was all boxing today…… on the very day I had taken my gloves out of my bag thinking ‘we’ll never box on a Saturday’. lol. You can’t second guess Fit Camp!!!!

    I partnered Craig and we both struggled along with the pace and the heat. Craig partnered Ian Justin on Wednesday and was still recovering. Now this doesn’t come as a surprise to me as I have partnered Ian a few times and he really is a dark horse. You want a tough session then partner Ian? He runs at a pace within the top percentile of the group. He recovers quickly from exercise even as he goes at things 110% and then forces you on to bigger and better things yourself. So he pushes you to exceed yourself by about 10%….. that’s massive!!! We are on to you Ian Justin!!!!! lol

    Anyway, well done Craig. Some tough times cropped up during a tough boxing session today and you kept on going. Great attitude.

    Kendal……. flashing yourself to your female training partner as she had to do the abdominal exercises with hands on your ankles looking up your shorts!!!! I guess it could have been worse if you’d had a male partnering you, like the rest of the guys….. and, oh dear, my argument starts to break down!!!! lol

    Anyway, new ides for Fit Camp….. I have got my kettle bells for training. I think they are 8kg and 16kg.

    The tractor tyre and sledge hammer routine is also meant to be tough. It involves simply hitting a tyre with a sledge hammer but it is sooooo energy sapping and very very toning!!!!

    Running. I hate running. Did I say it I hate running? But running is a great conditioner. Weight loss, muscle tone, endurance…. I know I pull Ollie’s leg often but the lad is fit. Is it because he runs so much in the week? I reckon so. Maybe some reasonably paced runs are a good idea.

    Oliver P’ton, that’s enough bigging up by me. How was the Friday Fit Camp? I hear it was inly a very select bunch of Fit Campers invited….. ummm…. actually just 1 person!!!!! Ah, that’s better… leg pulling resumed!

    AB, Chris…….. where were you both?

    Anyway, I am now really rambling and there’s some Facebook leg-pulling to catch up on revolving around McNeilly, Potton, Robey, Belcher and moi (maybe kendal soon too?).

    Looking forward to Monday and half-thinking about going for a run……… what on earth has Fit Camp done to me!!!!!

21. Ed Says:
    July 1st, 2010 at 7:31 pm

    I’m back off me hols!!!!

    I am sporting a David Dickinson-esque tan and oh boy did I spot a few antiques tonight and a few Bobbly Dazzlers!!! It was obvious a few of the antiques had been retouched over the years too! lol Speaking of Bobby Dazzlers: Chris Robey flashed his boxers via a split in his shorts. No wonder AB is marrying him!!!

    It’s my second session back after the holiday and I understand that it was very, very boisterous without my calming and quietening influence amongst the Fit Campers during my break.

    It took Dave all of a few minutes to punish me last night with a run round the field. The crime you may ask? I verbalised a prediction of a run to the hedge….. ‘Ed once round the field’ was the response, huh? eh? What’s all that about?! lol But then I come along to get fitter and it did make me laugh so why not have a jog.

    Oliver P’ton mentioned he didn’t get a single punishment last week…….. despite very poor behaviour (Ok I added the bit after the ‘………’ but it makes for funnier reading).

    I ingratiated myself with my fellow prisoners when I pointed out that no one was counting during the warm up. It was noticeable that all the regulars with the word ‘extreme’ across their T-shirts were the ones threatening action against me, bordering on violence if I didn’t shut up quickly and avoid any ensuing punishments for the group! lol Where was ‘eye of the tiger’ and ‘no I in team’….

    I partnered up with Booverly J. The task master!!! Thanks Bev, it was fun grunting at each other during the station work.

    I am planning to cycle down on Saturday. Ian Justin if you are reading this, I forgot to give you my number if you want to park up at ours and cycle in so e-mail me at eddie_home@hotmail .com and we can sort it out or you could just cycle over from Coleshill, that’d be a nice little warm up before the sesssion!

    The session was tough last night. But what a great turnout…. 25 or so on a Wednesday? I guess word is getting round. And it’d take a while to write out the list of core regulars - the numbers are growing. And membership is cheap as chips…… ahhhhh, there I go again falling into David Dickinson mode.

    I wonder if I can describe some Fit Campers using antique terminology and then let prisoners guess who the description is of? Hmmmmmm……. here goes: Designed in the 60’s, possibly 70’s…. gold leaf on top, thinning out, obvious signs of aging with very little restoration work, a very honest piece, looks like 20’s Art Deco styling, Queen Anne legs bowing slightly covered in veneer….. now before you read down….. who do you think that is?

    Don’t look yet…. get an answer…..

    OK, are you ready for the answer?

    Hand on heart…….. no-one. But shame on you for thinking I was actually describing a Fit Camper with a description like that! lol

    Looking forward to Saturday.

22. Ed Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 9:01 am

    It’s amazing what a little sun does - last week in the rain and we had about 14 people, 1 week later, bit of sun, 30-ish!! lol

    So welcome back all fair-weather Fit Camp Prisoners.

    I don’t mind the abundance of kids at the session. What I do mind is them beating me in the running! Grrrrrrrrrr. lol

    I partnered up wth Chris Robey again and he pushed me hard throughout the workout making Dave and Si look like pussy cats!!!:-) I was almost forgiven the comments I made in the last blog!

    The funniest point of the evening for me was right at the end of the session. Oliver P’ton was laid out on the floor after the session when Bev squirted water on his face. Then enter Di during the furore and she asked what was happening. I told her that Oliver was upset that some people hadn’t squirted water on his face, Di took me literally, squirted some more water in Oliver’s face thinking she was helping him!!!! AB then fell about laughing once she’d realised what had gone on. Comedy gold!!!

    All station work tonight. I was coerced into doing all the shuttle sprints and most of the stations twice and boy am I aching today. Think I’ll have to take a week off!!!! I will be bobbing about in the surf for a while to recuperate my aging limbs. If Debs is good then I might let her come with me! lol

    As I ran round the stations during the shuttle sprints there was definitely some shirt pulling on me by Diana worthy of any South African goalmouth. Trouble is that there was no ref to penalise Diana. Still, she never managed to overtake me on the sprints (guantlet well and truly thrown down!!).

    I am now almost in holiday mode. I can hear the Plough beckoning on Friday for the England game. Don’t tell the GI’s but there may be a few of us going to the pub. Obviously we will be checking out the range of lo-cal soft drinks during our visit!

    See you all a week on Monday. Don’t work too hard without me.

23. Ed Says:
    June 14th, 2010 at 10:04 pm

    It only seems like a week since the last Monday!

    Today I broke one of my golden rules for a fantastic life: Never box an ugly person, they have got nothing to lose!! I partnered Chris tonight! lol H has just told me off already for writing this last line and I would normally change it but alas the blogging cannot be changed once it is written - fact!!!

    I tell you, that boy Robey can pack a mean punch. Plus he gave me a few counterpunches when the guard came down. He had a stray punch graze to his midriff at which point AB ‘Stats’ reminded me that he has got to walk the green mile, I mean the wedding isle (well it rhymes and sounds similar) and it’s best done injury and bruise free. Plus AB’s been training with Slugger - well what a pairing - that sort of firepower is just dangerous and not to be messed with by mere mortals such as I so I will make sure I don’t injure Chris!!!!

    Joking aside - thanks Chris. We seem to have hit on a great training partnership. I just need to get running longer and faster!!! And talking about running, AB, what did you do to Debs? Motivated her to smashing her PB round the field. Debs has told me to mention her gratitiude. I reckon you helped her shave about 12-15 seconds off her field lap time!!

    Nice to see Aiden again. Oliver P’ton was AWOL again. Newbie Helen, fantsatic effort. Kendal - AWOL but Jules did her bit to keep the Stacey presence. I reckon you owe Isobel 4 x 11 burpees now Kendal…. Simon says!!!

    And then there was newbie Becky (aka ‘the Roo’). That’s the whole household at the same Fit camp and worryingly she made it look easy, but I will report back once I hear her groaning tomorrow morning from across the landing as the aches and lactic build up takes its toll whilst she struggles to get out of her bedroom!!! lol

    Good turnout - about 22 of us. Possibly the youngest Fit Camp’er ever at about 7 years old!? (I am guessing).

    Enough blogging for now - welcome back Kate.

    See you all Wednesday.

24. Ed Says:
    June 12th, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    Well I did a Gary today and arrived fashionably late about halfway through the warm-up. What made it even worse was that Gary was actually there already!! Still I just about got away with it as no extra punishments for being tardy.

    In my defence I was waiting for the dove carrying an olive twig to notify me that there was actually land visible following Wednesday’s biblical-esque downpour before I set off cycling down to Fit Camp!

    I had the marker pen poised but to my surprise Aly had achieved the hitherto impossible by getting a matching pair of trainers on her feet today…. and even on the right feet! That’s why you are one of the prsioners and not one of the instructors - you’re obviously over qualified!!! lol

    Another tough Saturday. Simon E put us through our paces. It’s a different feel to the sessions compared to Dave and Simon Mc, more punchy short burst shuttles type work. The second batch of shuttles were a killer, building up in blocks of 3 exercises with minimal rest periods and then to cap it off, a shittle run combining all 3 previous exercises in go. Tough, tough, tough.

    Good banter from Trent. Nice also to see a newbie, Keeley, coming down to train. We all found it tough today but for a newbie’s first session that must have been some mountain to climb today but she gave it her all and completed everything.

    Notable absences - Oliver P’ton, Di, Bev, Kate (although Ian made it), Aiden. Mind you, I reckon their kit must have still been drying out from Wednesday’s deluge!!

    The TSM Massif still weren’t out in full force with Lyndsey missing but then the real brains of the outfit, Kendal, was there. Well at least he tells me he is the brains amongst that group (I bet you wished you hadn’t let Nikki read the blog at your house now eh?)

    We finished the session off with some core work. Simon asked us to pick our legs up 6″ off the ground. Simon found that height very quickly. Not sure what he used to measure that with but it seemed a very familiar length to him!!! lol I am so going to get beasted next time he sees me!

    Looking forward to Monday. If anyone wants to cycle to Hopwas and back after, that’s about 4 miles of flat cycling for a warm down, bring your bikes. Doesn’t sound like much but 3 times a week - 12 miles / 50 miles a month.

    See you all Monday.

25. Ed Says:
    June 11th, 2010 at 12:34 pm

    Well said Kendal.

    When I got home on Wednesday I stepped into the shower to dry off a little!!!! It was so wet at the session that I started to look around for wood and the instructions on ark building. Maybe we should have membership cards which include simple survival techniques: shelters, hunting, fire making, flood traversing techniques…..

    2 days on and my trainers are still damp! It’s days like this I am so glad I took the decision to cycle to training!

    I partnered with Chris Robey again (Upper Cutter Extraoridnaire) and we trained hard. Ollie beware! lol

    Kendal turned up looking slimmer than before he went on holiday…. eh? How does that work? Get drinking more. I think there are real merits in getting his daughter Isobel to train us in the art of 11 burpees technique. It obviously works.

    Good to see Aiden back again. We had a good turnout, 1 newbie I think but didn’t get the name just yet. Just thinking back to my previous blog…. where were you Aly?

    Now you’ll all know I shy away from winding people up…. just ask Ollie…. ahem…… but AB reckoned it was Nikki that got her in trouble last Monday. Initially I was scpetical but all the facts now seem to check out so what’s a guy to believe?

    Enough rambling from me…. see you Saturday!

26. kendal Says:
    June 10th, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    since Ed is late with his usual insightful blog…here is is my two penneth

    IT WAS FOOKING WET

    the end

27. Ed Says:
    June 8th, 2010 at 9:37 am

    Monday is still the new Wednesday!!!

    That has to be the quickest session ever, it rushed by so fast that it felt like 30 minutes…. Debs said the same thing but we both really enjoyed the session.

    As Bev said, I arrived on my new toy. A second hand bike that cropped up on the market and there I was trying to recreate my youth, 3rd fastest 400m sprint chamion for England and member of the National Schools cyclo-cross Team Champions. Ahh, those were the days, mind you it was tough getting the penny farthing round the track in them days!!!

    That all just pales into insignificance to find out we have an England team footballer amongst our midst! And therefore someone who can no doubt explain the offside rule with some up and coming tournament that is happening is South Africa!!!

    I don’t know what Lyndsey’s role in the TSM Massif is but she was absent tonight. If we knew what part she plays in the turf heists then we could predict what their next plan of action is going to be!!!!! Watch this space.

    Only Simon tonight. Simon ran the Midland Fun Run with AB’s number so he was Anna for a day. I thought he took things too far by wearing her clothes whilst he ran round but it was Sunday and that’s the day he normally cross dresses so who are we to break his tradition?

    Well it was all boxing tonight and boy were there some mean punches going into the focus mitts. High levels of concentration from most of the group. Sent to the naughty corner tonight: AB ‘Stats’ and Nikki Slugger Thorne (most readers would have guessed this pairing would be in trouble anyway I suspect). Simon you really were taking your life in your hands reprimanding that pair - Slugger because that’s what sluggers do and AB as she is getting aggression out before some event in about 15 weeks time!!! And then especially as Bev had weakened you already with a rain of knockout punches. It must be a tough life being a PT forcing people to train to extremes whilst you look on! lol.

    I trained with Chris Robey. Upper cutter extraordinaire. Although I think he needs more work on defensive moves if he dares upset AB after their marriage! lol

    I will try and make sessions on my bike from now on. If anyone wants a cool down ride to Hopwas and back after the session, which I think will be about 20 minutes max, then come on down.

    Thanks for Bev’s comments on my slimmer physique. It’s all just an optical illusion using new fabrics and extra lining in my new sports tops!

    As for training going forward, I love boxing. The circuits / station work is good too but once or twice a month I think we should still go on manoeuvres, remain true to Fit Camp roots.

    The search for Stevie Harris man tights goes on. Maybe when the weather cools again. Ian I hope you had words when you trained with him!!

    Next week, guest trainer appearance should be Isobel Stacey and her revolutionary 11 burpee technique!

    Right that enough rambling on.

    See you all on Wednesday.

28. beverley j Says:
    June 7th, 2010 at 10:35 pm

    Haven,t blogged for a long time due to injury to my knee the last 4-6 weeks have not trained to good. But boy was i back tonite. First time on a monday and i really enjoyed it. The weather looked threatening ( a bit like simon really) thinking we were in for a soaking, but it stayed away.
    We only had simon, who bless him was really suffering with blisters on his feet after doing the fun run, well done ab! Walm up was a very gentle walk doing punched into the sky and beyond, and then we quickened the pace up to a run. Nicely warmed up we were asked to be partned up to do boxing. Nobody wanted me,arhhhhhhhhhhh! so i had the great pleasure of having simon.And boy did i have him. I boxed like I have never boxed before, not stopping for one minute. Simon get asking was i alright? Did i want to have a rest? Thinking about it now, why didn,t he say that he wanted a rest was I too much for you si? My arms are fine, how are yours? LOL x I have to say my ears got a bashing though as he drilled everybody through the session.
    Towards the end he moved onto hattie who was partnered with her mom, and si is going to split them in the future, unfortunately for debs she had then got me. I was a little scared of doing the same pace in case she landed somewhere in the castle grounds. But well done on your return you did really well. Ed you were brill again with your humour, and look at you , you really are looking good. And today he arrived on your bike your new toy, i,ve heard about boys and their toys sitting on the bed with your helmet on, what a vision! But honestly since we first met you look really good now.
    Well done to everyone else in what was a brilliant session. Now I have bought my own gloves, like some others as well can we make perhaps the wednesday session a complete boxing session and learn a few more techniques and get fit and fabulous at the same time.

    Looking forward to wednesday see you all there, if anybody has some sold raffle tickets can you bring the stubs and money please for the gate gallop.

29. kendal Says:
    June 6th, 2010 at 6:24 pm

    the staceys and the TSM were on their holibobs. but have now returned after competing in our own holiday fitcamps…which included 6k sprints around a field. half of which was uphill..infact near vertical i’ll have you know. the sheep and cows were impressed so i am sure Simon and Dave would have been…great practise for the Gate Gallop anyway.

    in fact isobel…the 2nd youngest of the stacey’s enjoyed her version of Simon says…which was basically her shouting…’simon says 11 burpees’. we will happily rent her out as a shorter and more viscious version of the instructors.

    We are back this week you’ll be glad to know

30. Ed Says:
    June 5th, 2010 at 5:11 pm

    Time to climb back into my blogging bunker and make due comment on the training session this morning….. and I did feel like climbing into a darkened bunker after today’s session. The heat is a major factor, plus the anti-social hour of 8.45am starts and also the fact that we get a proper trainer… Simon Ensor on Saturday … Dave and Si Mc, I know you’ll love that last comment! lol

    Where to start with the blog today? Gary….. didn’t show up at any point within the 1 hour session. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that he wasn’t on his way and I am now left wondering if he turned up at a more sociably acceptable hour albeit that it’d be way past the actually session times!!!!

    The biggest surprise is that people are actually reading my blog!! Just stop it! Go and doing something more productive with your lives instead and leave me to witter on in random banter of a near mad man….. lol. There’s Dave and Si for a start but then you’d expect that, and I know how much they have enjoyed my accusatory remarks over the last few blogs….. not! If the prisoners want to have some tough workout sessions then I think I have nearly mastered just the right wordings, printed at just the right timings to really get Dave and Si wound so tight that we get beasted!!! lol

    Then I had someone slide up next to me and ask ‘are you Ed?’ …. a question naturally begging to start me off denying everything as there was no sight of huge chunks of cash or large cheques on offer….. but I was brave and admitted my identity. ‘I’ve got a problem with your blog’, things weren’t going well. Here we go I thought! ‘You’ve not mentioned my name yet’. Right OK I will remedy that shortly. It does set me off thinking about becoming a ghost-writer for the prisoners. We could sensationalise incidents during the session ready for blog consumption.

    Anyway, I digress, special mention then goes to Aly, or is it Allie, or Ali, Alyson, well that’s 4 mentions so far!!! I will not go into much detail about Aly (5 times) but you know it’s one of those days when you turn up to Fit Camp in differing left and right foot trainers! Perhaps I will bring a marker pen down next week and we can label them for you using numbers, letters or simple pictures to identify different trainers ….. Ok I might develop this as a blogging theme over the next few weeks.

    The first bit of the session I partnered with Julia, thanks for taking time to push me through the hour. I bet you wished you had skipped a bit of the paella and sangria on hols now….

    Dave and Si left early for Solihull (sorry to break this news to you publicly Ollie)!

    The second bit of the session saw me partner with Rizzo (aka Kerrin) from the pink ladies and Goff. Poor kerrin, (unfairly) nicknamed after one of the T-Birds with a dubious nature!!! And it’s a pity how nicknames can stick. Especially when blogged too!! lol

    The end of the session saw Simon Ensor and me reminiscing about late 80’s / early 90’s rave DJ’s and venues….. ahhh the good old days althought the youth of today still haven’t managed to come up with anything new to replce it for 20 years!! The older we get the better we were!!!!

    Notable abscences today: Ollie (missing sessions will slow you down… further), Bev, Debs, The Stacey’s, the remainder of the TSM Massif although I did see Lyndsey running away from Fit Camp! lol

    Looking forward to Monday! And a certain prisoners birthday if she’s coming out to play.

31. Ed Says:
    June 3rd, 2010 at 4:03 pm

    What excellent value for money Fit Camp is. Not only do you get to be trained within an inch of your life, you also get to eat a full meal via as much pollen and flies as you want. Did I eat much pollen last night? Well I think I had 2 of my 5-a-day and then about 5g of protein in the form of flies…. mmmmmmm all the full flavour of outdoorsy eating!!!

    The heat was a major factor last night, it took me longer to acclimatise to the session post-warm up and then the energy seemed to sap away quickly once I had got up to speed. But then session was always going to be tough once the circuits were laid out. Then Dave decreed that instead of taking it in turns to do each exercise we’d all do them togther. This resulted in prolonged stations of about 50 - 65 seconds.

    We were well and truly beasted last night. Partly as that’s what we go for, partly because the weather played its part, mostly, I reckon, ‘cos of my previous blogs regarding the trainers!!! It’s nice to know that Dave and Si read my blogging and I guess they get a great sense of enjoyment out of it! lol

    Nice to see Bev back, looking very fit after a week of raving at Pacha in Ibiza….. ‘let me hear you scream tamworth’…. ‘make some noise’….. and in a way the rave continues during Fit Camp as we definitely screamed and made some noise, mostly pain related.

    Ollie, the running time is increasing impressively and credit where it’s due after a couple of weeks of leg pulling, it’s finally time to stop the wind-up…. plus you’ve almost closed that gap on Chris so really well done.

    I was thinking about making some more trainer-related comic comments but I don’t think us prisoners can take it any more, so maybe after Saturday!!

    A big welcome to newbie Pete. Nice to see you supporting Donna.

    I trained with Liz last night - a big thanks to Liz for pushing me through the session.

    Hattie, where did you learn to run that fast? Hidden talents or what? Anything else you been hiding like the ability to do 1,000 press-ups in a minute…. 200 sit-ups over broken glass or any other super human feats?

    I had separate comments on how much weight I have lost from Ollie, Si and Dave when I arrived - thank-you guys. What a love-fest!!! (I am now really having to resist hard to stop wriitng some comedy gold and get the whole group battered).

    Good turnout especially as it’s half-term. Looking forward to Saturday’s session. I’ve bought some boxing gloves that I think Si will approve of, just in case it is a boxing session as mentioned.

    See you all there.

32. Ed Says:
    May 29th, 2010 at 11:56 am

    Well, it’s on days like this morning’s training that you catch yourself thinking ’some Stevie Harris man tights might be a good idea’….. obviously you dismiss these types of thoughts quickly but for a split second the rain caused me to think if I had wrapped up enough.

    It has been a week since my last blog….. days of proposal writing has meant I couldn’t face writing any more info - it felt too much like work!

    Dave was impressed with my last few blogs…. not! And he threatened to get his own back during the session. Guess I’ll have to be careful what I say! On that point, he did leave early for Solihull, Ollie nowhere to be seen today - perhaps they don’t like to be seen leaving together…. oh damn, I’ve crossed that line again!! lol

    Even in the rain today, the hour spent at Fit Camp is worth about 10 hours down the gym…. give me Fit Camp any day.

    I trained with Ian/Stuart today. Now known as Ian Just Ian, or Ian Justin!
    He pushed me today and good job too. Saturday is my worst day for motivation, I don’t normally wake up properly until about 10am so the sessions are a bit of a blur.

    Gary, I love the fact you are fashionably late every session. Dave I love the fact you were punished today and surprisingly I escaped any extra reps for misbehaviour.

    Notable abscences… Ollie, Kendal, Jules, Nikki, in fact the TSM Massif were all missing- look out for a turf heist near you soon. Ollie, if you keep missing sessions then you’ll end up coming second…… !!!! I must stop this line of blogging soon as it’ll just get embarrassing.

    Loads of boxing today. Great session from Mr Ensor. That’s 3 sessions of boxing back-to-back for me and I am loving it.

    Eurovision tonight….. for effort 12 points to Aiden, for pain factor for us all 10 points….. as for dodgy euro-pop null point type songs well that goes to the rain….. for not even making it to the final…. name any gym you fancy!!!

    Funniest comment of the day from Simon Ensor to Lorna…. ‘you’ve come first for once’… not said how it was intended I am sure but did make me laugh. Lorna…. come on girl, pull your socks up!!!! lol

    The weight has fallen off me, surf holiday only 3 or 4 weeks away and I am in danger of looking like a real beach dude instead of a beached whale. I hope sharks don’t go for lean meat!!!

    Thanks for all your help, GI’s and prisoners, it was fun!!!!!!!!!

33. Ed Says:
    May 22nd, 2010 at 12:07 pm

    Well, you miss one session and you can feel that you have missed soooo much.

    What am I talking about? Bev getting punished….. welcome to a very exclusive club, we don’t let just anyone in you know! And then I also missed Ollie getting beaten in a running task ….. well done Chris, I hear it was a clear and definitive margin?

    As for today…. hot, hot, hot, but enough of my new training top….. the weather was seriously starting to scorch by about 9.40am.

    We did alot of sprint drills today. It’s a good job you are never quite sure what we’re going to do before the sessions…. I just wouldn’t turn up voluntarily for running. Still 30 metre sprints were fun once we were acclimatised.

    I got a semi-punishment when told to do 2 drills back-to-back whilst the rest of the group enjoyed doing boats. I am not sure if it was because Dave clocked me trying to grab hold of Ollie’s foot whilst we were doing sit-ups and he was about to start a sprint. Either way, it was deserved!!! lol

    It was good to see Julia returning to the group and also nice to see a newbie, welcome on board John. Julia showed me the way in the last run (3 times round the small field). I think John enjoyed the session…. it’s not always the same workout John and the sun was a major factor today. I am guessing a warm bath with epsom salts will be part of your the regime for a while but I promise it does get easier…. slightly!!!

    Ollie and Dave disappeared early to some hotel in Solihull…… get a room you two! And Ollie, if you didn’t slack off so often then Chris wouldn’t have beaten you with quite the same ease - he’d have still beat you though…… obviously!

    The Thorne Sisterhood Mafia (’TSM Massif’ - look out for the graffiti coming to a park near you soon) were there. Their enforcer ‘Slugger’ was just keeping the peace the way only a serious left jabber can. I have been told I’ll be their bitch at Sutton on Monday. C’mon guys and gals, come to Sutton and stop this heinous community punishment by coming along - safety in numbers and all that! lol. Kendal, are you the driver for this gang?

    I think the TSM Massif exists to extort money from local councils by stealing all the grass in the local parks and then selling it back at a tidy profit. One gang member - Lyndsey - just seemed to be covered in the stuff, I swear I started to notice bald patches of mud appearing in the field in the areas where she was working out and yet her back was only barely visible under a tonne of turf!!! Put it back!

    It was a great session. I need a white top to reflect the heat of the sun and also I need about a litre of water in these temperatures as opposed to the half litre that gets me by during our normal Summer weather!!!

    Before I go, I can also report that Di has got legs!!! We saw them today! But on this rarest of occasions Di quickly ran off to administer punishment…. I mean training at Sutton.

    Looking forward to training on Monday if not the being picked on by the TSM Massif bit….

    As for next Saturday, Kate and Ian need a tonne of sand moving in their garden….. Dave, Si - I can feel a special sand-shifting session coming on.

34. beverley j Says:
    May 19th, 2010 at 8:57 pm

    Well really enjoyed tonites fitcamp even though it was time for punishment for bev night. Pleassssssssse ED come back,all is forgiven.

    we started the night by running for the able, and power walking for the those walking wounded up to the roundabout and back while DJ and Si (hey thats sounds like a rap group)set up the session for the night.Started the session with powerwalking round the field doing punches,back kicks, punches and arm rotations like we were directing an aircraft to land. I have to say thank you because i felt part of the group tonite so thanks DJ and Si.

    We then did work stations, but because i was talking i got punished so a powerwalk to the concrete pillar and back, Thanks Dave! The usual lunges, squats elastic bands, steps, so the person who was running determined how long we were on each station, It was great with ollie 25 seconds, Sorry guys i took the longer walk, you all had to suffer me getting punished, pay back time lol!!!!

    I would like to say well done to the 2 newbies donna and aiden, you both did fantastic, keep it up and welcome. Well done to Di (mcneilly) Di and Debs you all ran brilliantly, and to everyone else you worked well, Oh and simon at the end nice to see you workout the body and not the mouth (love you too bits!!)

    Then we came to the stretch at the end, or should i say a lesson in all the muscles and testing ollie on how to stretch them. Ollie please note Bi (is not your sexual preference) but it means 2, Tri (is not a miss-spelling of try) but it means 3, Quad ( is not for driving off road on) but it means 4. So now we have our numbers sorted out lets get down to the muscles shall we. Upper body include biceps brachi, latissimus dorsi,trapezius. Lower body is biceps femoris and gastroc nemius. Well waht a load of Gluteus Maximus!!!!!!!! Please ollie learn them quick so we don,t have to listen to DJ trying to sound he knows what he,s talking about (me thinks i am going to be punished again tomorrow) Ollie it,s time for you to become a man, just watch out for your stalker!!!!
    Well done kendal on your 10k this week, brilliant.
    I won,t be seeing you guys for the next 3 sessions, off to ibiza saturday for a week of sun ,sea , sand and s** (now now sleep!) So all of you have a great week and thanks to Dj and Si for a great workout and to everyone for making a great session.

35. Ed Says:
    May 18th, 2010 at 9:20 pm

    Ahhh, Monday is the new Wednesday! I went to Sutton for a Monday session. It was nice to see Sargeant Pye (more on his name in a moment) and then the sudden realisation that he had read the blog and I was now in his sights!!! ‘Oh joy’ I thought to myself as we started the warm-up.

    Jules had struggled down to Sutton with a cold! Luckily she cannot catch the much more serious illness known as Man Flu - now that would have stopped her training for sure! I think we should start raising funds to cure Man Flu as this acute illness is very serious and real - scientific fact! I am now just resisting the urge to talk about sneezing whilst being unable to read a map or reverse a car ….. and something about Bird Flu…. but as I say, I’ll resist!!! lol

    It was a warm evening and I was knackered after the warm-up to be perfectly honest in my appraisal of sporting performance. We then settled down to some short-burst sprints, which I was awful at in my appraisal of sporting performance… and then we did some mat work which…. well you can fill in the rest in judgement of my sporting performance!!! lol

    Anyway, sprints and CV were the name of the game. Sargeant Pye trains in a slightly different approach than Dave and Si and when you get a 4Kg weight and start doing reps wondering if you have escaped the beasting of your life only to be getting some serious lactic burn 10 minutes later then you start to realise that this subtler technique is tough going and structured.

    After some more sprints, sit-ups, upperbody work, planks, etc. We then warmed down ready to go home….. well almost. Pye said I owed him 100 press-ups and that I should do 10 immediately. Punished at the last breath of Fit Camp. Ollie would have been laughing his head off. Still, it’s nice to know Pye reads my blogs!!!

    Now, about Sargeant Pye’s name……Sargeant Pye’s real name is actually Pyburn. I blame the dyslexic duo for the introduction of Sean but I can’t be sure my memory isn’t playing tricks now that I am advancing in years.! Shall I start using his real name Pyburn or risk a few burpees and press-ups and call him Pye? I wish we could set up an online vote.. lol We could then also ask stuff like ‘what exercise shall we use as punishments for Ollie this week’…. etc. There’s obviously more comedy value in blogging about someone with the name Pye and you all know how a nickname can stick!! I did have a theory about having to protect Sean’s real identity under the Official Secrets Act and his army career but Sean did deny this!

    All jokes aside, I enjoyed it. If I’d been told in advance how much sprinting we were going to do then I’d have swerved this session but looking back it was great.

    I can’t make Wednesday (I can hear the cheering now). So see you all Saturday back at Tamworth.

36. Ed Says:
    May 15th, 2010 at 4:06 pm

    It must have been warm today…. Steve didn’t have his man tights on, competitive advantage or no competitive advantage!! He did smell nice as noticed by many….. must have been Lynx!

    Si and Di just knew they weren’t gonna hack the pace and decided to run off to Sutton!

    What a tough session. I dunno if it was the heat or that I had enjoyed a couple of pints and some wine the night before but there was 2 times I thought I’d just keel over. That said it was enjoyable though.

    Simon Ensor did a great job.

    I did my best time for round the field… 2mins 32secs. That’s the longest distance I wanna run for a long time (thus negating any possibility of doing the Gate Gallop - see a theme appearing?). I speeded up at just the right time as Slugger Thorne mentioned she was about to give me a whack only to see me move off in front as she wound up for the dig!

    I’ve found out I can really do squat thrusts and mountain climbers!! Even if I do say so myself.

    We laughed today. Mad relay races. Kendal…. burpees as your suggested exercise!!!!….. would have bet on fall downs! Can you take a leaf out of Mrs Stacey’s book or Maz’s book and go for plank or boats? Jules, make Kendal’s evening hell for the burpees! lol

    We learnt that Nikki loves T press-ups (almost as much as scrapping). Debs, impressive running. That’s 2 runs without any walking so big congrats. Nice to see Laura and Julia back. Boy did you pick a tough session to come back on. The most memorable exercise of the day? Kendal’s burpees during the relay race….. pure Fit Camp gold!

    Ian/Stuart, I have to admit you pushed me during the relay race.

    Ensor, you came second in the relay. I reckon you owe the group some press-ups for not winning.

    See you all Wednesday and maybe Monday at Sutton!

37. Ed Says:
    May 12th, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    After a week of coalition deals and parliament in turmoil it’s nice to know that Fit Camp can bring you back to the norm by punishing Ollie ‘I rub my nipples to get by’ Potton. You watch him doing his burpees and life seems to be alright!!! Sad to see Chris getting dragged in by Potton to a punishment….. we feel for you mate! lol

    I laughed when Ollie got us loads of extra press-ups for describing Fit Camp as ‘OK’….. hilarious. I also enjoyed hearing the groan when I chose spiderman press-ups as my exercise.

    I think Di was there tonight. I heard her voice but that Fit Camp trainer gear is so well camouflaged that it was like trying to find the Gurkhas in a jungle warfare exercise!!!

    Di did great. Si just kept interrupting!!

    We did some battering (is that what it’s called). We, the prisoners, were the cod that got battered. There was an obvious flaw in the battering sesssion as I tried to marshall the prisoners into a slow jog between stations. Simon wised up on this and then started setting target times….. there’s no ‘I’ in team!!! It must have broiught a tear to your eye Si to see us working together under our own initiative before you scuppered our strategy for an easy session!

    3 laps of the field tonight!!!! Yes 3 laps!!!! That’s the most running that we need to do! Which brings me nicely onto the Gate Gallop. I’m not doing the Gate Gallop. All that peer pressure stuff ain’t gonna work on me.

    The stats: I don’t have any this week.

    Well done prisoners: Debs, Hattie, Bev, Liz, Di, Katie, Ian, Ian/Stuart, Lorna, AB, Chris, Ollie, Kendal…. now I am worrying if I miss anyone off but it’s unintentinal I promise. And well done Di for training the group. Si……. must try harder please report to Mr Potton after the session! lol

    See you all Saturday.

38. Ed Says:
    May 8th, 2010 at 3:27 pm

    Well I turned up to the welcoming summer breeze running through Tamworth ie: 6 degrees of mizzling rain and a stiff cooling breeze running across the pleasure grounds….. I can’t think why only 11 of us turned up!!!

    A couple of people, Dave and Di, couldn’t hack the real pace of the session so they went off to (soft) Sutton! I think that must have been the reason.

    We had Simon x 2 training us. It’s a great idea guys….. when we are out of breath and ready to drop we now only have to shout ‘Simon’ once and not just one trainer but two come along. Sits vacant - needed another trainer answering to the names of Dave, Di or Sean so that the prisoners only have to shout one name to get 2 people coming to them….. that’d be great customer service! Actually having just read the last line again, I reckon that the clue for a Fit camp trainer is hidden in the job advert ie: ’sits vacant’ - that way they’d fit right in!!!!

    Cals burned - 1050. Poked through the 180 beats per minute barrier a couple of times too.

    What did we do today? Well it depends who you are talking to. Most of us did a warm up, 500 metre run, split into 2 teams and did a relay involving 4 stations before tagging our team mates…… I say most of us as Gary was the height of fashion by turning up late. Cheap watch? I think Gary must have bought it from the same shop as Simon Mc got his stopwatch from ie: the 30 second countdown watch that takes about 45 seconds!

    Having all put our car keys into the bag at the start of the session, we then got into foursomes! The Stacey’s joined Debs and myself, never done this sort of stuff in a park before!!! Oh yeah, or anywhere else naturally! lol. But we quickly split down to pairs again for a range of stations.

    Now, as per usual, we get shown about 12 stations and only get to use about 7 of them…… Ensor, that’s twice in 2 weeks…. at this rate you’ll fit right in with the training team. Is this a Fit Camp phenomenon or do they teach you guys this stuff at college?

    Nice to see 2 newbies today, especially given the weather conditions. I only got to speak to one of you but welcome Julia + friend.

    Best moment of today. Debs knocking 9 seconds off her 500 metre run time!!!! Amazing result!!!

    It was a great session, tough enough, good spirit in the camp and looking forward to Wednesday albeit I may just get burpees for the comments here!!!!

39. Ed Says:
    May 6th, 2010 at 9:54 am

    Well some good news last night……. Ollie got a press-up punishment! lol. We do seem to share punishments in alternation. Nice to see it wasn’t a run too… press-ups.

    It was also my birthday yesterday. I’ll admit to being 28 due to the fact I was born at an early age How old am I? Well my life should have begun yesterday is all I’ll say. If my life begins with a Fit Camp session then I guess I have got a tough life ahead of me!!!!

    Debs and Bev trained next to Kendal and myself during a wlecomed boxing session. Well they said that Kendal and me were grunting and groaning in an animalistic manner…. personally I reckon it was Debs and Bev! It does leave me one question…. was it good for you ladies?

    Cals burned was ticking over on the car park to about 800 but I missed off the first 2 minutes of the session so it was really about 830 to 850. Don’t be misled that it was an easy session though. I am aching today!

    I introduced some spiderman press-ups to the warm up much to the delights of the group…… they are great, what was wrong with that?

    It was good to see the team out again…. Kendal Vito Stacey, Hatless Jackie, Slugger Thorne, Punishment Potton, Ian/Stuart, BB BJ Bev, Debs (Doobra Do), desparately trying to think of a nickname for Stevie Harris, AB ‘Stats’ Anna, Chris, Kate, West Brom fan, ……….. the list goes on.

    And finally Dave and Si. Thanks for the boxing. I think you should let Bev design your new company branded clothing…. that be interesting!!!

40. beverley j Says:
    May 5th, 2010 at 9:41 pm

    Was really glad i was back tonite, the knee still not good but adapted my workout to suit.

    A special night tonite it was ed’s birthday , happy birthday, was it 40 or 04?? sorry 28! Well i think everyone had been on the birthday spirit as it was full of fun and laughter, and that was just dave and simon. I don,t know whether they are going deaf or what? but they kept on saying they couldn,t hear us count. so we counted, but somehow we all counted different, so i,m sure some of the prisoners did 10 sit ups and others did 20!Simon seemed a bit slow in starting the stop watch, think it was a ploy for us to do more.

    We then did boxing which was a real treat for ed, he loves his boxing. i was partnered with debs which was great, trouble is we start to laugh then we lose count and then we lose control. we were standing next to ed and kendal and we asked them to make some grunts and growning noises to inspire us.Well they certainly did that but didn,t know whether the groans were in pain or ecstasy!!!!! but it made us smile.

    The sound of sirens broke the noise of the groans as all of a sudden black smoke was coming from ankerside, and the fire engines came. someone thought it might have been the volcanic ash from iceland but my theory is someone had started a fire!!

    It was a really good, fun evening with some exercise thank you to dave and simon, great t-shirts boys as i said before pleasing on the eye to us girls when you do the stretches, keep it up!!!!! Thank you debs for been a great partner and thank you ed and kendal for the entertainment.

    For all those that took raffle tickets sell what you can all for st. giles hospice, bring back the stubs, money or unsold tickets, over the next couple of weeks, thanks.

    look forward to saturdays,s fitcamp.

41. beverley j Says:
    May 1st, 2010 at 5:02 pm

    Great that the blog is back up and running, i have so missed ed,s personal account of the training sessions, you make me and hopefully everyone else laugh with your humour.
    I have missed sessions due to a knee injury but i have to listen to the instructor (dave, the main man)and his advice that i need to rest no running, jumping etc, hopefully i can get back and maybe do the boxing and upper body work very soon, missed my sparring partners as well debs, katie, laura and julia.
    when i come back i will be asking you all to support the gate gallop and St Giles Hospice in asking if you all could sell at least one book of raffle tickets, see me after the sessions please.
    Heard rumours of an new kid on the block and new uniform both got the thumbs up, looking forward to seeing both.
    everyone have a lovely bank holiday weekend.
    thought of the day
    “most people talk themselves out of their goals before they even start”

42. Ed Says:
    May 1st, 2010 at 4:37 pm

    I am back from the Saturday morning session at Tamworth and it was a good one.

    Since Dave did his course recently (introduction to basic understanding of fitness I think it was! ), we’ve had a couple of newbie trainers… nice to have some people who know what they are doing! lol

    Today was Simon Ensor taking the session. And a great session today it was.

    Normally I’d be banging on about cals burned but I just couldn’t get the heart monitor working today. So let’s talk about the session.

    After we warmed up it was time for the prisoners to pick some exercises. Deb…. rolling on the grass press-ups! You just know some sessions are going to be dirty! 10 minutes of showering after the session and I was still finding blades of grass washing into the shower tray…. I had been florally violated!! lol.

    Then it was shuttle runs in relay teams, let’s just immodestly say that Steve, Kate and I won that challenge! lol But then anyone with Steve in their team wearing his man tights for reduced airflow resistance is going to have a competitive advantage!!!

    Then it was off to some stations for various exercises where I paired up with Vito aka Kendal. In true traditional Fit Camp stylee there was about 20 stations of which we got to do about 8! That’s it guys, show us all the possible exercises then only let us do a snippet of them. Looks like Simon Ensor will fit right in if he takes on a permanent role.

    When the session finished I went over to Sutton to walk my dog and catch up with Dave. I was impressed to see Ian and Kate doing a second workout. Ollie and Di were also there but then this pair didn’t really push themselves during that 1st hour at Tamworth anywhere like Ian and Kate… lol

    So, that’s Dave, Simon, Ollie, Steve and Di dissed publicly…. think I’ll quit now whilst I am only 250 burpees in punishment type debt to the group!!!

    See you all Wednesday. McNeilly, where were you?

43. Ed Says:
    April 20th, 2010 at 10:58 am

    Di…. it’s a fair cop!

    I reckon that if anyone is caught talking during instruction then they should get punished. And the person they are talking to as they are involved.

    Now who was I talking to when I received the burpees punishment?

    Hmmmmm, any ideas Di?

44. diana Says:
    April 18th, 2010 at 10:33 am

    hello everyone!!!

    The sun had definitly got his hat on sat hip, hip hip, hooray!! more sun on sat, well all week really please, not that im been greedy or anything, ha.
    Sat fit camp was great, hard work but great. In fact i think we all worked very,very hard, so well done everyone. some people worked hard on their talking not mention any names but Ed are you trying to compete with Ollie, you know you have a long way to go, i mean Ollie can talk for well England, Wales, Scotland etc…..Ha! So what im really trying to say is you deserved the burpees.
    Another thing im sure we did miss a cone, dont know weather that was Simon or Dave taking us round at that point, probably Dave as he always changes things ha, love you really Dave.

    Ok i think ive said enough. Keep up the good work everyone, eye of the tigar and all that.
    Thanks to Simon and Dave for all the support and encourgement you give us week after week, we do try to listen to you both really we do, ha.
    Well hope you all enjoy your week and see you, may be wed or sat xx

45. beverley j Says:
    April 17th, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    Hi everyone,
    sorry i missed the training this morning. I have a knee injury and after going to the rather good looking physio(recommended by dave) who has asked me to wear shorts next week, have you seen me in shorts ARGHHHHH,he probably wont ask me again, no seriously he,s doing some physio on my knee, so been told to take it easy for a couple of weeks, but can do yoga, so dave get your tree pose sorted out for next week.
    missed my sparing partner debs, but like ed said we are meeting up at 11am and taking our 4 legged friend for a walk, all dogs welcome, while the men do the hard work, yes i did say men!well ed, not sure about ollie yet( ref mrs robinson converation ed).
    Anyway please fill in your gate gallop forms in those that are running, should be a briiliant day , if nothing else a day out and a laugh.

    see you soon.

    quote for the week “commitment leads to action, Action brings your dream closer”

46. Ed Says:
    April 17th, 2010 at 12:24 pm

    I turned up early… for once!

    Si looked like he’d been flying through the stratosphere in an open cockpit plane, getting coated in Icelandic volcanic ash along the way….. very pastey faced. Obviously under the weather but still made the effort.

    Talking of the weather, the bit of ground frost quickly disappeared under the glare of a warming sun and the temperature rose quickly across the hour long session.

    Di forced me to run before the official the warm up. She was taking no prisoners today!

    Kendal, the old romantic, on the occasion of the 7th wedding aniversary to Jules, bought her out to Fit Camp….. still getting hot and sweaty after all these years!! Whoever dared to say that romance is dead?

    Before I tell you about the tough session we had today let me tell you of a most heinous crime against equitable approaches to dishing out punishments. The whiff of injustice settled on us prisoners as I was singled out for burpees….. I know that ALL of you reading this will be in some sort of shock and disbelief that I could even be accused of talking during instruction. But I took the punishment like a man! Now, as I have said before…. Ollie loves running, I enjoy the press-ups / burpess / squat thrusts. If you punish us, then me, (Ed), should go for a run. The other usual suspect (Ollie) should do burpees. Or put another way, the suave sophisticated man goes for a run and the lad who looks like he’s come through a hedge backwards does burpees!

    The stats for today: cals burned 1180 (the input data is fine). Why so many? The session was tough, tough, tough. Di and another lady (sorry I don’t know your name yet) led the way and they set a blistering pace. Credit where it’s due, a superb effort from both of them.

    The most ironic part of the session was when Di mentioned to Simon that she thought we’d missed out a station on the previous circuit and therefore we had cut a corner…….. this from Di!!….. well migh how things have turned around!

    Good to see Lorna again after a couple of missed sessions…. welcome back. Sad not to see Bev today… hope the knee gets better soon, I know Deb missed you. Laura, you can’t go out ’til 2am and still be fresh faced and ready to train… please take your drinking more seriously! lol

    Stuart, you look very young and I was surprised to find out your age! Sorry for the comments. (Apology accepted?) You do know it won’t stop me saying anything again in future don’t you?

    Finally, for absolutley no apparent reason that I could see, Ollie just didn’t seem able to stand still during the group hug…. I was one side, Steve the other and we both didn’t see any problems. Good god man, try to stand still!!!!

    See you all Wednesday unless anyone fancies a run from the Tame Otter at 11am tomorrow with Ollie and me. Or a walk with Debs, Bev and Oscar the black lab dog!

47. deb Says:
    April 15th, 2010 at 8:24 pm

    Hi, really enjoyed last night, Dave was on his own but gave us a great workout. A lovely sunny evening makes for more fun along with great people. felt like i had really worked out at the end of the session, Bev and i completely exhausted ourselves, the running is starting to get abit easier. I think we will keep a closer eye on Ed! looking forward to saturday.

48. Ed Says:
    April 14th, 2010 at 9:38 pm

    Well tonight I went for a bit of slap and tickle….. erm hang on that means something else, what I meant to say was I went to Fit Camp and got some slap and tickle….. no I mean I got slapped and not tickled - yes that’s it!

    One of the exercises that we had tonight saw us trying to slap our training partners thighs. Now there’s a definite line between spanking for pleasure and spanking for discipline. The last time I was spanked…… oh hang on this is a public blog….. the last time I was spanked for discipline was back at school but I wasn’t allowed to try and dodge the strike!

    Tonight I partnered Jules. Last session I partnered with her hubby Kendal. Now being sensitive about any untoward comparisons I’ll not say too much about who is the better training partner. Plus, unlike ladies, us guys have delicate egos and any comment would possibly cause really upset….

    After the slapping and pushing each other exercises, well I can see where Slugger Thorne (Nikki) gets her brawling prowess!!!!

    The stats: cals burned ended at around 1100. Heart rate punched through to 186 at one point which is on the high side for a guy of even my young(ish) (OK very ‘ish’ years) but it all felt OK. I am considering recalibrating my heart rate monitor. A couple of other prisoners monitors were registering very differing figures so I’ll maybe go over the data again.

    Dave was on his own tonight, a bit like Sergeant Pye on Saturday!!!

    Simon was on a training course. So with the arrival of Sergeant Pye the two guys have started to do some training courses, one eye over their shoulders at the new kid on the block….. I’ll say no more, remember my comments about mens egos earlier!!!!

    Great session again. Nice sunny weather saw 22 people turn up. There’s a buzz about the sessions and it was nice to see Ollie get an extra run for chatting…. it was my turn last time!!! I still have to say that sending the runner Ollie off running is like telling a group of kids off by asking them to eat sweets as a punishment.

    Kendal suggested the killer exercise of the evening - pull / fall downs. Best effort of the night for my thinking was Julia. Just got stuck in and kept going even when the pain was kicking in but she pushed Di too!! Di kept the group warming up when Dave was putting some cones out which showed some great attitude.

    Roll on Saturday!

49. beverley j Says:
    April 10th, 2010 at 12:45 pm

    Hi everyone,
    Well i don,t know about GI Dave and Simon, today we had THE REAL THING Sergent Sean (shaun) who put us through our paces.
    Now whether or not we were scared and shaking in our boots for fear of the workout, but we all stood to attention taking our instructions, even the water bottles lined up quivering, lol.

    What i liked about today (apart from the sun shining) was that each station was a card with what we had to do, now for a woman of senior years (thanks gary will get back to you in a mo) it was a blessing because i could remember what i had to do with out standing there like a dippy woman (no comments)and wondering what the peice of equipment was there for. A good range of exercises, ed you got your sandbags! I think the group benefited when it was mine and debs turn to run or not , debs you did excellent today and going from strength to strength and your boxing at the end, nice one.

    For anyone just looking at this web site i can recomend that you give fitcamp a try it,s fantastic.

    Now a few thanks you,s and well dones. Well done ollie doing those press-ups, laura and katie you did well debs you are a true friend i needed you today (will speak later)Di thanks for asking , yes i,m ok thank you for your support. Nicky thanks for the hug, will talk to you soon.And the oscar goes to simon, thank you.

    Thank you to all of you that took the gate gallop forms, it,s a good cause and Dave and simon are putting a lot of work into the day so lets support them and raise money while getting fit and healthy. Talking of which Gary i am so pleased you are entering after mm bullying you last week, now you make me laugh saying as we are of a certain age we could enter the veterans. Now the plus side to that is we would probably win, the negative side to that is my age is just a number inside i feel like a 20 year old ( did i hear comments about 20 year old men liking older women, if so bring it on, no only joking thats a bit too young) sorry i digress, gary,s fault.

    Anyway back to young men (sorry) tomorrow sunday ollie, myself and ed are meeting up at 11am at the tame otter to do a bit of training running up the hill at hopwas woods, everyone welcome including dogs (ed) and than if we have worked hard maybe a drink afterwards. what better way to spend a sunday morning than lying in bed after a saturday night blow out.No picnics please we are working it off not putting it on.

    anyway must go now, Dave we missed you, hope the course is going well. Thank you to everyone.

    Quote of the day ” To have a friend is to be a friend”

50. Ed Says:
    April 10th, 2010 at 12:28 pm

    Well, I arrived to the first truly warm morning for a Fit Camp this year!

    The grass is long and the midges are flying…… I now feel totally pollinated!!!

    Welcome Staff Sergeant Pye, it was nice to finally have a qualified instructor taking the class Is that why Dave was on a course? Intro to Fitness 101. I wonder if he’ll pass?

    I’ve got an update to the ‘Slugger’ Thorne’s bar-room brawling… Jules reckons there are photo’s of the black eye. Now I am no pyschic expert but I am guessing that the photo will show no sign of snow, or snow board, or on piste action…. I am betting it’ll show booze, bars, doormen…. well let’s see and then we can deduce where the balck eye incident occurred! No comment from Nikki as yet. We will try and get the pic on the blog although Nikki did ask for a very specific reciprocal pic of me…. I am obviously just checking for copyright issues with Calvin Klein underwear before I post my pic!!! lol

    Well on this Grand National day I reckon the analogy would be that if we were horses then we’d have all made it round…. some of of only just! lol

    You’ve got your dead cert horses for the running… Di, Ollie, Steve, Gary, then you’ve got your 50-1 outsiders, come ‘oh sugar I’ve just drawn Ed in the sweepstake at work type horse’ who might win on his day providing all the good horses fall momentarily along the way (or cut corners mentioning no names Di).

    The hot off the press news today is that Di did not cut any corners today. Like Haley’s Comet appearing once every 70+ years, I can now say ‘I was there’ during this rare visual spectacular.

    I partnered with Kendal today and we have similar fitness levels but then the running… oh the running, it’s not my favourite exercise and Kendal was certainly showing me the way. I did break out into some near sprint action today but it’s not a trend I intend to make a habit of!! That said there is a very high chance that I will be at The Tame Otter to meet Bev and Ollie for a (I’ll adopt the role of chaperone) run at 11am. Of course I may only get as far as the bar at the Tame Otter but the thought is there!!

    Cals burned today….. * please make a drum roll sound as you read this bit * was 950 cals….. ouch! A bit down on the usual 1000 - 1200 cals. Staff Sargreant Pye, no competition or anything, but Dave and Si just seem to get that bit more from us! lol. Can’t wait for the beasting from this blog!!! I do reckon that Dave and Si’s disoragnised approach to legalised torture, aka Fit camp, does have it’s benefits. That touch of chaos as they send you off on yet another pointless drill does bump the burn rate. That said the organised manner of Sean’s approach is dangerously close to some form of measurement and therefore a more scientific method to exacting more pain!! Thank-you Sean, I thought it was a great session and glad to see you are part of the staff. Dave and Si are great but, as Bev will tell ya, they do need some organising! (I’m going to get battered for this blog aren’t are?).

    Debs, great to see you asking for an extra bit of boxing on top of the workout. Bev and Debs = formidable duo!

    Thanks for the introduction of sand bags to training.

    With the arrival of Sean I reckon the coming weeks will see us digging in with make shift bivvies, recon work, bobby-trapping bridges, smearing animal excrement on our face for camo before we move to secure Tamworth Castle and then launch a strike at the tower blocks…. it’s like being back at school…. who wants to play army? Where did I put my action man with the moving eyes and parachutes that never opened!! Takes me back!

    Roll on Wednesday or the Tame Otter tomorrow for those who want to come along!

51. deb Says:
    April 8th, 2010 at 9:58 pm

    great workout again last night. it was a beautiful sunny evening, partnered with Bev which was brill, we were next to Ed & Tony, very impressive punching going on! my running is starting to get better, the warm up is painful but once i get past that it gets easier, i think its all in the breathing! looking forward to more fun on saturday, no Dave tho!

52. hellie Says:
    April 8th, 2010 at 4:44 pm

    Hi guys had a great 1st session last night my arms and legs and really hurting today. looking forward to next week.

53. Ed Says:
    April 7th, 2010 at 9:33 pm

    It was a beautiful evening tonight and this was reflected in the great turn out.

    In the car park I noticed Ollie had a new pair of trainers on, all shiny new and pristine, until Di christened them with a muddy stamp of the foot! Welcome!

    The guys had hidden on the footie pitches today and we were nearly punished for being late - how does that work eh? Some weird logic at play there.

    So we settled in to some warm-up jogging round the fields before settling into work on the stations. I partnered up with Tony aka 13″. Me and 13″ sandwiched in between Debs and Bev and Jules and Nicky. Obviously a very meaty filled sandwich! Ahem!!

    We got punished repeatedly for not counting out loud on the stomach crunches and also for not retorting to one question from Dave and Simon. I think that they need some olive oil down the lug holes ‘cos I heard the counting! The numbers? My heart rate was steady again but I didn’t see it go through the 180 mark (although it peaked there a few times). The cals rolled over to 1006 from warm up to car.

    Nicky - good to see you back. You missed a few sessions due to holiday…. well I’ve heard some lame excuses…. oops I better be careful what I write after you drank and fought your way round Glasgow and France… black eye from a snow board, as if, more like a glancing blow as your guard dropped in the bar room brawl. Jules must be dipping her hands in iced water tonight after taking a battering from your punches!

    Diana, Diana, Diana ……. now I’d have put you down for having completed ALL the running tonight. I then find out from Dave and Si that you cut the last corner round the field. Tsk tsk my dear lady!!! lol

    Tony aka 13″, thanks for partnering up. I thought we made a good working team. The one-liners were flowing and it’s only a matter of time before we get punished. It was also good to see you getting Dave and Si to do 10 press-ups for their slip in the training regime.

    Dave and Si, thank-you. You’ve ignited a passion for training again in me. You’re always looking for ideas for training… well I reckon a few sandbags are the way to go. Loads of core work as the weight is not static. Sandbag burpees!!!! Ouch.

    Looking forward to Saturday.

54. beverley j Says:
    April 7th, 2010 at 9:00 pm

    It,s amazing what a bit of sunshine does and brings everyone out to enjoy a good workout in Tamworth, and a good workout it was. It was all about counting out loud tonite,every sit up, press up we had to shout out loud up to 10 otherwise we were punished. I have to question though can our instructors count higher?
    It,s funny how a bit of sunshine makes all the difference, with dave and simon giving out there cheeky and riskay remarks, thank you Tony for making an older woman happy tonite!!! Hope to see you again (not quite!)
    Well done julia, katie,ian, ollie, di ,ed and debs.Thank you debs for been a very inspirational partner tonite you are a gem and i value our friendship, thanks.
    Thank you simon and dave for a good workout and looking forward to saturday.
    BB x

55. laura Says:
    April 5th, 2010 at 11:29 am

    Hi Guys

    Just to say I really enjoyed coming back to Fit - Camp on Saturday. Thanks for all the positive support from everyone. I’m still aching today, but the easter eggs seem to be easing the pain!

    See you next week.

56. deb Says:
    April 3rd, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    Great workout again, Im really pleased with my boxing & most important to me my running without stopping for a powerwalk, all thanks to the support from Simon. Thankyou & nice to have Dave back. Had a sports massage again this aft, felt completely wrecked after, doing the house work seemed to ease my pain tho! Impressed with your weightloss Bev, major achievement. Dont be beating yourself up about eating easter egg, we are all allowed a treat & your worth it! Ed & I brought ours today, ive got a white choc & lemon egg, cant wait! Maybe Ed will show you more of his dance moves wed eve, apparently he did a bit of breakdancing during a pretend skipping session last year!

57. beverley j Says:
    April 3rd, 2010 at 11:34 am

    hi everyone
    what a great session, it was a hard one, thanks ed for asking for the boxing, the boxing was great it was the bits inbetween that were the killers. I was partnered with Laura, she came last year and decided to come again and i,m glad, she was brilliant and so encouraging, even if we both did forget how to count.

    Debs you are coming on leaps and bounds and your boxing is getting good, i,m really proud of you and your running you did really well and you now have this glow about you. As for ed,s dancing , well what can i say cannot wait for a night out to see the full sequence of the moves, must remember to take a camera!

    Lovely to see Di missed you wednesday night, julia , i think the four of us laura as well just enjoyed the boxing it was “who don,t we like kinda of punches” and it worked. Then Corporal Dave made Di and i do 5 press ups/burpeez, ( i get confused what they are all called) don,t know whether or not it was for talking or my easter egg punishment, sorry di.

    I saw dave chatting to a very mature lady at the start giving her a few lessons on boxing, she went and did her shopping but then decided that it was simon she wanted. Now look here simon there,s mature and there,s ancient, i actually think she was a tad too old! Si said she offered to cook him a broth ( i think that is what she meant)but i think her beard put him off, never mind there,s always next week to find you someone to cook, clean and look after you with less facial hair, lol x

    On another note, thank you to those that took the Gate Gallop forms off me, Yes Gary you can do it, give yourself those little goals and they are achievable, will see the wednesday niters to get some more and lets support Dave and simon with their sponsership and hard work that they are putting into this event SUNDAY 27TH JUNE 10KM all in a good cause, and while we are training for that we are getting fitter, so more people please see me at FIT-Camp.

    Thanks Ed for the praise, my weight loss and body change is all through my determination and No it,s not easy, and Yes i did have that easter egg, but i know that i am going through a life changing experience at the moment , i sttod on that field on Feb 13th and just cried, why? because all i saw was hope and that you all are a great bunch of people and i knew i was at the right place at the right time so THANK YOU ALL .

    A BIG BIG thank you to Dave and simon, you are training me hard in return i am organising you ( only joking!!)but honestly thank you from the bottom of my heart.

    Everyone have a lovely easter whatever you are doing, me , treating myself to a spa day at bannatynes tomorrow BECAUSE I AM WORTH IT.

    see you all wednesday
    bev xx

58. Ed Says:
    April 3rd, 2010 at 11:10 am

    Credit where credit’s due….. Di, you didn’t cut any corners today……. well none I saw anyway!

    The figures - 1070 cals burned from warm-up to car which is good going but how does that translate? Well, I bought some new swimming shorts yesterday which were 2″ smaller than my jeans thinking that I have to plan ahead and they’ll fit by Summer. I didn’t try them on in the shop. When I got home and tried them on - they fit already! 2″ lost around my waist. At this rate my new shorts will be too big for Summer.

    Today was all about boxing!! I have missed it so it was a welcomed return.

    I partnered with Steve who despite some absence certainly held his own with today’s proceedings.

    It was a tough session again today. I really wasn’t up for it before I got there but there was nowhere to hide as the session moved at a brisk pace today.

    Debs’ boxing is coming along and I am considering my security implications as a swift Ali style one two to the chin will certainly see me chip in with cleaning the bathroom etc….

    I think it was the first time I have been asked to dance during a Fit Camp session as Simon played a bit of music from his car and Debs alluded to my ability to cut a rug!!! Bev, Julia and Laura looked on as I gave just the smallest of tasters. They don’t call me snake hips for nothing! lol

    Ollie, missed you again today and boy can Steve run. It’d be a close race between the pair of you!

    A couple of thousand punches later, I am sitting here at home and aware that I’ve completed a very tough session. Details of Bev’s achievements in weight loss and changing body shape ended a great session.

    Roll on Wednesday.

59. Ed Says:
    March 31st, 2010 at 9:07 pm

    March is disappearing faster than my waistline… but it’s a close call.

    Where do I start tonight?

    Dave…….. where were you? Man flu? Well I know what a serious condition this very real illness can be so maybe I’ll let you off. Nikki…. where were you? You don’t have the luxury of such an excuse! I feel a press-ups penalty looming.

    Now, Di, it was noticeable that, in your absence, there was no cutting of corners this evening!!!

    Simon was too kind tonight. Normally when you run a mile round the park you just have to knuckle down to it but not with Si, oh no! He let us slack off a little by doing press-ups at every bench, slowing us right down and letting us take in the sights of the local park floor!!!!!

    Right, the numbers - heart beat was mainly between 123 and 175 per minute. From warm up to car was a calorie burn of 1016 cals.

    After the initial run we caught up with the rest of the group (as we had separated into 2 groups at outset) at the bandstand and then a few seconds rest before the climb to the castle and a bout of star jumps. Bev then acquainted herself with the flora surrounding Tamworth Castle, star jumping her way in the foliage…. a type of extreme star jumping I reckon when you feel a level concrete platform just won’t cut it!!

    A short run down to the riverside later with the sun gently setting through the trees, a chill deepening in the air as we settled at the grassy banks of the river followed by the animalistic groans of the prisoners wondering where their lungs had gone as the pain intensity kicked in!!!

    Again Si let us off big time with sprint shuttles to the bridge and back!! lol. Actually they were the easy bit of this part of the evening as the circuits and exercises were tough, tough, tough!

    Ollie, good to see you back. Debs, your boats exercises were amazing - real core strength. Bev, you are slimming in front of our eyes every week.

    The whole team did well tonight. It’s great to see we all have our strengths and weaknesses and we all get our moments to shine.

    See you all Saturday for more punishing exercising!

60. deb Says:
    March 31st, 2010 at 9:01 pm

    Hi all, i enjoyed tonight, lost my confidence abit after saturday but all ok tonight, its great working out in a team, much more motivating than going to the gym. thanks to simon tonight for running the show on his own. looking forward to saturday. going on website now Bev, will be in touch.

61. beverley j Says:
    March 31st, 2010 at 8:34 pm

    Hi everyone,
    well what a night. First it was so cold, i thought spring had come but look like it,s gone again. After a warm up of running we took a slow jog over to the castle grounds, where simon informed us the fair was in town. Not to bothered about a fair as i go giddy anyway, mind you didn,t need the fair as my brain wasn,t connecting tonite and acting giddy anyway.
    No equipment tonite, except the pidgeon s**t covered park benches. in partners we were to run to the benches then do 3 press-ups. i was partnered with debs, great person, and we were last and we had the local yobs trying to join in. Simon became our personal body guard as we went from bench to bench, with various comments from these boys. At one point i thought of landing a right hook, but katie sorted them out as further on she sort of squirted her water bottle too hard and covered them in water. changing locations all the time we then went a power walk up to the castle. Then it was repeats of star jumps, i lost the plot a bit as ed was making me laugh as my star jumps got me landing in the bushes all the time and couldn,t carry on ,but i try to ignore him, not! Again the yobs came up so it was change location, at this point simon got a bit worried about payback to katie and the water, so from the top of the castle down to by the river it was like madonna(katie) been surrounded by bodyguards to protect her, quite funny really. Then as we ran over the bridge another 4 hooded lads were riding there bikes towards us which actually reminded me of the film ET and i was hoping they would take off, but they didn,t.
    Simon then found us a nice spot by the river, a lovely patch of ground covered in duck poo, thanks si! where we did boats ( i did stomach crunches) after a few repeats i think a few of the boats started to sink! but well done everyone. after that a run to the bridge a rest then the jumps (dont know what they were called) back to the stars i thought i was seeing them, and i think ed was too.We all made our mark with all the skid marks on the grass, last one i thought the earth is calling me as the worms started to appear out of the ground and my time had come.

    I want to say that everyone worked really hard and it was a good night, thank you to katie, your a star, debs i feel a friendship starting to form here and you are a great person. Ed, will you pleeeeeeeese stop making me laugh ( no it,s quite funny actually carry on)Did you get your 1000 calorie burn? Ollie nice to see you again and thanks. And to everyone else thank you for been a great team, see you saturday, hopefully it will be a bit warmer.
    Debs, fingers crossed you can join me in october x

62. deb Says:
    March 28th, 2010 at 5:49 pm

    I found yesterday very hard, i was physically too tired and my calf muscles were in bits. thankfully a sports massage and alot of pain later im starting to feel human again. dont think trying to fit a gym session in between fit camp sessions is a good idea at the moment. im looking forward to wed session when hopefully i will be able to enjoy it alot more. thanks to Bev again for the motivation and i think Julia did brill for her first session. ps. Ed says im already losing weight.

63. Dirty Diana Says:
    March 28th, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    Hi everyone,

    Enjoyed the bank work on sat, like it when we do the boxing with the bank rather then the exercises but having said that my butt and legs or should i say my gluts, quads, hamstings, gastrocnemius and soleus hurt today which feels good if you know what i mean!!

    Dont know why everyone is going on about cutting courners, HA!! but i may aswell say what i think. I didnt see anyone cutting any corners and think someone needs to go to specsave, yeah you know who you are. Could it be because this someone didnt like been taken over while running around the harder course, yeah im right arnt i? I really think that is the reason.

    The one thing i did see was everyone giving there all and working hard so well done!! im sure everyone enjoyed the session otherwise you wouldnt be there week after week, and thank you to Simon and Dave for the constant encouragement and support. keep up the good work everyone and see you all on sat x

64. kendal Says:
    March 27th, 2010 at 7:00 pm

    well i decided to do the longer route, despite feeling like crap and not being able to breathe properly (being bunged up)
    and on the last route decided to short cut the final corner by 4 paces of so….i was nabbed and apologise for those who no curse my name for the extra workload.

    however, as ed says..there were a number i saw …i would like to pick out Lorna. who no only went on the ‘easy’ group when we started and walked instead of running…but i saw her take at least 1 massive short cut

    anyone else owning up?

65. beverley j Says:
    March 27th, 2010 at 6:48 pm

    Really enjoyed today. Got there and started to run to warm up straight away, didn,t want another b*****king like wednesday night for standing round chatting, and it paid off as dave and simon drove past, yeah!
    We had the choice of the easy start or the harder, i opted for the easier but me thinks in a couple of weeks i am going to have to progress to the harder start before i get sussed that i could join that group. I cut one corner but thats my confession and 3 hail mary,s!

    I,m getting to grips with listening, what i mean is when dave and simon give us instructions for the circuits equipement i usually forget the last 5 but getting better and remembed most of them today.

    Well done debs today you are doing really well after 3 sessions, hope you enjoyed your sports massage this afternoon, lucky you. I was partnered with katie today, thank you for your encouragement and support and well done and your effort it was brill.
    Thanks ed for your laughter, but pleeeeeeeeeeeese shut up when dave and si are talking really dont like been punished, only joking it does make me smile.

    Thanks you to everyone for making a saturday morning enjoyable, missed ollie but i hope he is having a rest.Keep smiling Di.
    Thank you dave and simon once again a great workout.
    see you all wednesday

66. Ed Says:
    March 27th, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    We missed you today Ollie!!!!!

    What a tough session today. I have been alcohol free all week so I don’t know what made today seem so tough. Sometimes you put it down to ‘one of those days’ when your body doesn’t seem to respond quite the same way but the stats seemed to be telling a different story.

    I started the heart rate monitor about 40 seconds into the first jog and not registering the first stage of warm-up, stopped it at the end of the last stretch approx 60 minutes later, and it was telling me 1212 calories burned!!! That’s a massive figure for 60 minutes. And the burn rate on the drive home was still registering at a brisk pace.

    I don’t know why the results were so high but it’s a great feeling.

    We started with a run in 2 groups. The group I was with was tough, tough, tough with contstant work on the thighs for extended periods. Followed by a run to rejoin the other group who also mentioned a tough start. Down in the Castle Pleasure Grounds we then delighted in press-ups and mountain climbers, and squat thrusts with only brief sprints up and down a steep slope to give us a nice rest!!!

    A move of location later with Dave and Simon ‘finding some gym equipment’ located under the trees that they had stashed before the start and we were then down by the river. Based on stations doing various exercises whilst our buddies went running before we swapped places.

    Poor (not so) old Kendal, pulled up for cutting corners, costing us a few press-ups. But if it wasn’t him then it’d be someone else. On that point, was he the only one who cut corners? Anyone else feel like owning up? You know who you are….

    I’ve enjoyed it today. I’ll cut the blog short now and let the guilty party admit their cutting corner crime and beg for the mercy of the Kangaroo Fit Camp Court! In fact, what a great idea…. Kangaroo Fit camp Court for dealing out punishments!

    More boxing please!!!!!!!!!

67. Eurostar Tickets Says:
    March 27th, 2010 at 5:42 am

    I think I’ve read something simillar a few days ago. I don’t remember where, might have been on digg or wikipedia, not sure.

68. deb Says:
    March 24th, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    Hi all, second time today, and i know im going to be suffering again for next 2 days, thankfully no stairs at work tomorrow! thanks to Bev again, shes a brill partner. My boxing is a joke, i need to work on that otherwise all ok. really enjoyed workout and company, thanks to Dave and Simon for support.

69. Ed Says:
    March 24th, 2010 at 9:54 pm

    What a load of bollards tonight! What I mean is ‘run to the bollards’…… then a few minutes later, ‘run to the bollards’.

    What can I say about tonight? We were blessed with our very own groupie early on…. some random guy watching us for about 10 minutes. I hope to see him next week as he did seem keen to get involved.

    It was only gonna be a matter of time before I got singled out for some punishment following my banter at instruction time every week. Now I don’t mind a bit of discipline but when Ollie gets to go running,his strongest exercise, I think I should be allowed to box for a minute.

    I still don’t enjoy running but oh boy is my running coming along! I almost held my own tonight.

    Anyway, Debs was learning to box tonight - whose idea is this? That’ll be punishment enough for me once she learns to throw a decent one, two!

    I partnered with John tonight. Now here is a guy that really has a good work ethic when it comes to working out. We did an extra 2 or 3 sets of working out as we didn’t bother to rest. John spurred me on to do this. Over the course of a year that’s a massive impact of maybe one and half extra Fit Camps.

    I used a heart rate monitor tonight which worked intermittently but was interesting. Max heart rate punched through to 185 per minute on 3 occasions which is not great but given it was brief and still inside my maximum, well let’s say that Fit Camp is pushing me to my limits but not over them! I burnt 640 calories but then the monitor wasn’t on for about 12 minutes so I reckon it was nearer 730 calories.

    I really enjoyed tonight. A dry start to a warm evening followed by a natural shower as the heavens began to open with 5 minutes to go but it was great, sincerely it’s great.

    My fitness is coming along, my running is coming along, my weight loss is coming along…. but above that it’s the fellow prisoners at Fit Camp…. Debs, Ollie, John, Di, Bev, Nicky,… I know I’ll miss a few but you know who you are. It’s more like a team game than an individual pursuit….. *as I wipe a tear from my eye! lol*

    See you all Saturday for boxing… (now I’ve asked for it, does that mean I get some boxing now? ).

70. beverley j Says:
    March 24th, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    What an enjoyable fit camp tonite, and a great turn out. Didnt get off to a good start as we were standing there and not warming up, so we were then put through our paces,so point taken, we don,t stand there on a social gathering we warm up , then we dont get punished.
    We all went over to the circuits on the bridge, after been told what to do, and some of us not listening,we were then made to run,then we got down to do the exercises and that, s when the fun started.

    “Tamworth welcomes the A Team auditions” for the forth coming film in the summer. What am i talking about? well we had Mr ‘T’ at the rear keeping an eye on the boys, thats the trainers known as Murdock and Face (i,ll leave you all to decide which is which)putting us through our paces, he didn,t say much but kept a careful eye that all was going well. I wonder whether or not he was trying to pick out who Hannibal smith was going to be, or whether he was scared that he was going to made to do the exercises and was waiting for the helicopter to come and rescue him. Bless him he certainly gave us all a laugh.

    I think what we all have to learn is to keep quite when dave and si are giving instructions, they are doing it for health and safety reasons, but also we get punished which is not good.

    It was nice to work with debs, you did really well and each week you will get better, i think you perhaps need to watch a boxing match then you will get to grips with the way the punches are thrown, LOL you but a smile on simon,s face if nothing else.

    Thanks nicky for your kind words, Di your encouragement, Ed for the hug and ollie, I have offered to be his mom but have said no to doing his washing.
    Ed and I were summoned out just to make a point that the blog is for all of you to have your say, whether good or bad or just to make a comment on the training session lets see a few more comments .
    What more do we want from the training sessions? As a newbie I really dont know, maybe simon and dave could pair us up to a partner that would make us work and challenge our ability, instead of just feeling comfortable with the same level of fitness.
    Thank you dave and simon for another great session, looking forward to next week with the lighter nights and maybe not so wet. Thank you for your continued support.

71. kendal Says:
    March 24th, 2010 at 7:03 am

    i have been working like a dog - then the kids got ill - now i am ill. No fair. I miss you all

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74. beverley j Says:
    March 20th, 2010 at 8:29 pm

    Well it,s now saturday evening and what an enjoyable fitcamp today. As for been worked out on the roundabout, what was that all about? Did we want half of tamworth seeing us sweat doing star jumps (or a deformed star jump, sorry my co-ordination is shot)? Mind you I think all the beeping of the hooters was for our 2 boys, had heard about the new article and pics in the journal, but now seeing you perform with those sweatshirts on (or not on simon, nice boxers)perhaps the rumours are true?
    Welcome debs, i think ed might have mis-led you with the truth, but you did really well and look forward to seeing you on wednesday, sometimes it,s brill sometimes it,s damned hard work. I have to say i do like the boxing,but then it,s my way of getting the anger out on a certain person at the moment (nobody in the group, just my husband who is soon to be ex).
    Thank you Di for your continuing support, Ed for the laughter and everyone else that brightens up a saturday morning.

    Ollie, rest ,rest rest, and massages aren,t just for girls!!!
    looking forward to my first wednesday next week.
    Thank you simon and dave, your the best.

75. Ed Says:
    March 20th, 2010 at 4:47 pm

    Well it’s Saturday afternoon and my body is just starting to ache gently after this morning…. what a tough session.

    I bought a Fit Camp virgin along with me…. welcome Debs!

    We had a jog for about 1 mile (I reckon) to start, finishing at the castle which, due to more turbulent times, ends with a steep character building climb to the castle itself. It was a killer start to the session! Running! Sitting here now, I think the last time I ran a mile was probably 10 years ago (when I was a teenager obviously). I think it’s great to recognise small achievements during the course of a year and this must be one of mine.

    We then settled in for the genteel pursuits of press-ups, triceps dips, skipping, squats, general pain. Thanks to Gary for the extra set of squat thrusts as you stalled the session dis-robing. I did ask Gary to pop his trackie bottoms back on at a later stage and disrupt the session again, purely for the sake of joviality, but ’twas not to be.

    We did have a laugh with comments from Di, Gary, Debs, Bev, Amy… it’s a good group.

    Ollie was quiet today! Looking forward to the shin injury clearing again but I do reckon ‘the shin injury’ is just a cover story ‘cos you were beaten on a run! Don’t worry, we don’t think any less of you. Naturally, if I ever finish even within 50 yards of you on a run then I’ll be writing war and peace on here with full bragging rights. No, I am not holding my breath either.

    Just as an aside to training and to answer your question Ollie…….. I don’t think they are, they just happen to work together, even with that pic in the Journal. lol

    Debs did well today and was encouraged by Bev - thanks Bev. She swore there were no aches / strains or pains, but then once we moved off the flat ground and met a set of stairs…. well let’s say that the ever evident grace and ease of movement was somewhat more stalted and less fluid. Welcome to Fit Camp!! Can’t wait for her blog response now.

    Looking forward to Wednesday. Debs has even suggested she’ll be along too.

    I have a theory that if we ask for boxing then we get running and vice versa. So with that in mind….. more running please! And I’ll just go and get my boxing gloves ready for Wednesday now.

    Keep up the good work lads. March to June is with an eye on ‘beach readiness’ and maybe Greenpeace won’t turn up trying to refloat me.

    Roll on Wednesday.

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77. Ed Says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 10:46 am

    Last night was fun!

    Especially the bit where my heart was pounding so hard I had to sit down for a moment! Dave and Simon did slow me down a bit and kept checking on me - they do have a softer side after all!

    A nice jog up the castle to start with last night and I knew I was going to be in trouble as running just ain’t ma thang.

    Ollie was in his element, run Ollie run. Sorry to get you into trouble for talking, even when you didn’t say a word. I have to admit that I did find it very funny though. Stick by me and let’s see if the boys really do crack one day.

    Just to have a quick moan - I could have been at Cheltenham Festival on St Patrick’s Day quaffing champagne and collecting thousands of pounds in winnings from 250-1 dead certs down the racetrack….. I suppose there’s always next year… sigh! lol

    Well, just shows that Boot Camp has become a priority in my life. I have had 2 people comment this week about how much weight I have lost - it’s visibly dropping off again after 4 x 1 hour sessions. It’s amazing results.

    The evening was great. It was light, nice weather, clear skies, the stars just popping out whilst I was half dead on the castle grounds lawned area wondering if it’s possible to be in any more pain.

    It’s a great time to get back into Boot Camp if you’ve missed a few sessions - start now and be ready for the beach this summer!

    See you all on Saturday.

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80. Ed Says:
    March 10th, 2010 at 10:03 pm

    Well what can I say about tonight? Tough, tough session although I don’t think I’ll ache like I did last Wednesay as it wasn’t quite that severe!

    It was an unusual session. First we were shown the boxing gear all lined up ready for use but, unusually for Boot Camp, we actually got to use the equipment. For those of you wondering what on earth I am talking about please see my previous blog.

    So, we all threw about 2-3,000 punches each stopping briefly to skip, sprint, use the bands, generally exhaust our energy systems.

    For anyone who didn’t make it tonight… the nights are getting lighter. We started the session in daylight. Finally got to see what everyone looks like on a Wednesday… be afraid…. very afraid…

    The hour flew by again. Yes there were 3 or 4 points I thought please make it stop but no sooner was I thinking that then it seemed we were warming down. Mind you, some of the ‘60 seconds of exercise’ counting by Dave and Si seemed to go on for much much longer. It reminded me of the times the PE teachers at school would cover you for a maths lesson at school and you’d ask them to count to a really big number like 23 and then watch them run out of fingers and toes!! To count to 60 must be exhausting for them too! (I look forward to the press-ups punishment with relish for the last comment).

    It was a quieter turn out tonight than usual. Was it due to a really tough session last week? It’s time to push through the occasional tough session as they are not all that bad.

    Many thanks to Kendal for buddying up with me for this session. You threw pretty decent punches all session tonight.

    Ollie, get down and touch those lines on the shuttle runs dude, no wonder you beat everyone on the running….

81. kendal Says:
    March 7th, 2010 at 10:40 am

    Dave who?

82. beverley j Says:
    March 6th, 2010 at 6:42 pm

    Well second bootcamp and to be quite honest was thinking i really am tired(training in the week, and painting 6 ceilings twice in 2 days)anyway surprised how many people turned up new faces, i ask one person
    a week there name so by christmas should know everybody.
    Really got into it, even though i struggled a little, thanks ed for words of encouragement, i did hear you. Didn,t realise how wet the field was until we had to lie down and do sits up, i think i must have found myself a pond to lie in. got up and had a soggy bottom (no not a saggy bottom) you heard right the first time, but hey ho everything in the wash now.
    Have to say simon did a really good job so thank you, like ed i really enjoy the boxing, and to see the gloves just lying there, seemed a shame,never mind next time, i can practice my punches with gusto.
    Thank you also to Di, you really give me inspiration.
    for anybody thats never done boot camp before, give it a go. Dave and simon are like a box of chocolates, tough on the outside with a soft centre,and a few nuts here and there!

83. Ed Says:
    March 6th, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    I woke up this morning realising that my legs still hadn’t recovered from Wednesday’s session. One of the great things about Fit Camp is that I get to compare the aches and pains with the rest of the group…. I was not alone in still recovering from Wednesday and that made me feel better as it wasn’t just me struggling!!

    So there I was being lulled into a false sense of security as I noted an array of boxing gear lined up and waiting for a boot camp session. Why was it a false sense of security? Well, we never used them!!! Yep, more running, leg work, …. aching…. pain…. laughter… !!!

    Right let’s get serious for a moment… what a turnout today! There must have been about 20 to 25 of us? It was amazing especially considering the tough session on Wednesday, the cold weather, the damp fields! But there we all were.

    This was the reason that Simon couldn’t do a boxing session… there was too many of us there. And praise to Simon for still pulling an amazing impromptu boot camp out of the bag. Testament to his abilities as an instructor.

    Things were going well until Di invented a new jumping burpee type exercise which just wiped me out early on! (Love you really Di but it won’t stop me blogging!). By the time we came to jogging around the field, my legs were like lead blocks and then the running up and down the flood defence later in the session was the final straw……. before Si managed to add more final straws with the round the group ‘pick an exercise’ session.

    The hour flew by. The banter, the laughter, the strength of the group to help each other (even from Di when she was trying to knobble us with a crazy exercise ). I really enjoy the sessions and meeting the members of the group. They have instilled a joy of working out again within me and I can’t wait for Wednesday!

84. Ed Says:
    March 3rd, 2010 at 10:44 pm

    OMG. Tough training session tonight!

    That was a real shake up for my old creaking system of bones.

    The cold was quickly forgotten as we went off on a jog. I thought we would be on manoeuvres however, ’twas but a short jog before we settled in to some painful leg and arm training.

    That said, it’s great fun. The hour just flew by for me. Why people join expensive gyms when they could be boot camping is beyond me.

    Now I do have to say something to Dave and Si. What was all the comments along the lines of… ‘here’s an easier way to do this exercise but only for the ladies’ and ‘ ladies only on this side, the wall is shorter’ etc etc…. it’s sexism I tells ya!!! In this day and age, it’s time we acknowledge the important and equal role all ladies play in society and we should afford them their own wisdom to make their own decisions and set their own expectations and I for one cannot condone any sexist comments…….. especially as these chicks are really cute little bunnies!! lol

    I did smile on one shuttle run. We had received it as a punishment for talking during instruction. The culprits? Me and Ollie. Ollie, for those that don’t know, could outrun Forest Gump. So his punishment? A run! The irony was not lost on me.

    I am looking forward to Saturday, more irony, more running, more pain, maybe 50 press-ups for my sexism joke, and maybe a bit of rain just to give the whole session an ‘outdoorsy’ feel!

85. beverley j Says:
    March 2nd, 2010 at 11:54 pm

    well done ed on saturday, you did well, my first fit camp and thank you also for your encouragement, struggled a bit, but didn,t want to let my partner down.Have a good session wednesday,have an hour with dave wednesday so maybe in a couple of weeks might have the energy to do wed and sat.
    Also thank you to everyone else in the group you are a great bunch of people and to dave for pushing ( i need that lol!)Looking forward to saturday.

86. Ed Says:
    February 27th, 2010 at 6:49 pm

    I’m back!!! And so are the mindless witterings of an aching fit camp prisoner!!!

    I made Wednesday’s training and again this morning. It was fun! Out in a bit of rain and with lots of exercise stations, short shuttle runs and loads of teamwork.

    I partnered up with Bev today. Many thanks Bev, your words of inspiration had me digging in deep today.

    The new format is great. Shorter shuttle runs are welcomed by me! Lots more times for stations type activity. The boxing is welcomed and overall it just suits me.

    That said, a lack of burpees and running means that the pain during training experienced by me in December is missing. Is that good? I dunno! But the chance to slim down, take strain off my knees and get to significant levels of fitness before the dry weather is giving me cause for optimism.

    Good to see the some familiar faces today… hi Di, Ollie, Gary, Lorna…. and also great to see some new faces. I hope to see everyone on Wednesday.

    I am now off to a warm room to soothe the aches and pains.

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88. Dirty Diana Says:
    February 21st, 2010 at 9:05 pm

    Hiya fit campers,

    Thought fit camp was great this week!!! loved the boxing and the runs up the bank, Hard work at times but good. Keep on in there everyone the eye of the tiger and all that Ha.

    Well have a good week and see you all on sat for more hard work, yeah!!! x

89. Dirty Diana Says:
    January 24th, 2010 at 12:44 pm

    Hi Gi Si, Gi Dave and fellow prisoners,

    Loved fit camp on sat, on maneuvers was great enjoyed every minuite. Si, Dave what can i say you always find new ways to train us which is brilliant i admire you both…
    Jogging through town was a good idea but i think we need a song to chant if we do it again, come on prisoners think of something we can put together!!!!
    Well i dont know about anyone else but my armsfeel heavy today dont know how im managing to do this Ha! i think i need more practice with the chin ups…

    Ok you lot have a great week and hope to see you all on sat, not sure whats on the agenda but im sure it will be good… X

90. kendal Says:
    January 23rd, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    chin ups under the bridge…new one on me…lot of work to do before that gets easy!

    I hope my commission cheque will be in the post for the shameless advertising by making us run through town!

    but in all seriousness..hard..but great fun. i shall be spreading the word!

91. maria j Says:
    January 23rd, 2010 at 8:40 pm

    Out on maneuvers today round Tamworth, fantastic session. That’s the beauty of boot camp, you never know what you’re going to be doing, all you know is that every week it will be a challenge. Everyone pushed themselves this week, and that’s what it’s all about. If you want to see the results you have to put the hard work, and with boot camp, there’s no excuse. Simon or Dave don’t let you give in, just enough encouragement to get you there.

    All I can say is, more maneuvers please!

    See you soldiers next week

92. kendal Says:
    January 17th, 2010 at 8:41 am

    after a month away with xmas parties & work issues…i got what i deserved. it was hard work and the cardio will need picking up again, but worth it as usual. Thanks to james for the tips.

93. james Says:
    January 17th, 2010 at 2:43 am

    I thought i be the first…. good session today, good start to the year…. again a murdered the calories…. Looking forward to Wednesdays

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