Fit Chicks is a series of boot camps and fitness retreats that began in 2008 when founders Amanda Quinn and Laura Jackson saw a gap in the market for women who wanted to be part of a fitness community.
Today I’m trying one of their outdoor bootcamp sessions in Willowdale Park with instructor Veronica Morgia.
WARMING UP
We started with a dynamic warm-up of five minutes using dynamic movements to get the blood flowing and body warm.
THE WORKOUT
The exercises are broken into sections, and you do each one for a full minute before moving on. We started with plyometrics, strength and isometric exercises like windmill jumps, squats and static pliés. Then moved into the kick boxing section with squats with front kicks alternating sides, plié hold with speed bag arms, squat side kick right and then left. Then we put our feet together and did uppercuts, jumping jacks with uppercuts and finally jab cross on the right side and then left. Next up was two sections of high intensiy interval training with lunges, push ups and squats. The final drill was a sprint, followed by a jog, and then we did five minutes of abs exercises like the plank, lower leg lifts and side plank with hip taps.
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
This was really challenging. Each exercise is repeated for one minute and your legs will be screaming at you to move on to the next.
DURING THE WORKOUT
I loved the fact that we were working out in the open. The monotony of the gym has always bored me. This bootcamp is perfect for the anti-gym person who needs external motivation. And when you’re part of the program, the workout changes each night, so you keep it fresh and your body guessing. It was a killer sweat session.
THE NEXT DAY
The workouts are all designed with a total body workout in mind, and that’s exactly what I got. I felt it the most in my lower body the next day. The lower body was utilized during the cardio movements and the strength exercises.
FAVOURITE PART
Fit Chicks gives you the feeling of having a personal trainer with the camaraderie of a group class. Veronica Morgia pushed me to do more than I normally would do on my own, which is key to seeing changes in your body.
ROUND TWO
This is something I could definitely get into and would try again. It’s challenging and affordable because they use outdoor parks for their workouts or rent spaces in community centres, school gyms and churches in the colder months.
