The PT Nazi

Oh the agony... Embracing a culture of fitness sometimes seems a little sado-masochist.

I previously wrote about our Command PT program meeting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. We've started doing our Wednesday PT at the Bloch Arena (Naval Station Gym) with a physical fitness trainer (a.k.a. PT Nazi). He leads us through different types of interval workouts.

When we first did this back in September, he led us through a variety of exercises we could do on the boat in confined spaces. It was a great workout and great training. As a result of that, we created stations around the boat for guys to do the interval training. I wish we had something like that in place for deployment or for the transit from Norfolk to Pearl Harbor. As it was, we only had two brief underways after setting up the workout stations, so they didn't get much use. I still thought it was a great idea.

In most of our previous Wednesday sessions, we did some sort of stations / intervals where he set up an exercise every 10 feet or so around the perimeter of the basketball court in the gym. There were normally two guys per station. You'd do that exercise for a minute until he blew the whistle, then you'd run a lap around the basketball court and stop at the next station. Then you'd do that exercise for a minute until he blew the whistle, then you'd do another lap around the basketball court and stop at the next station, etc. It's a really good workout and I always leave sopping wet and feeling like jello from muscle exhaustion.

Today though... Today he had a new treat for us. I think he's starting to get in the holiday spirit, because we got to do the 12 Days of PT. OMG I thought I was going to die. Now, I could explain it to you by just listing the 12 different exercises we did, and how the repetition worked just like the 12 days of Christmas song, but I don't think that would adequately convey the level of effort we put out at PT this morning. So let me step you through it:

"Day 1" we did:
- 10 Pushups

"Day 2" we did:
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

"Day 3" we:
- Ran 2 laps around the basketball court
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

"Day 4" we did:
- 10 Squats
- Ran 2 laps around the basketball court
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

"Day 5" we did:
- 10 Bicycles (lie on your back and alternate touching your right elbow to left knee, etc)
- 10 Squats
- Ran 2 laps around the basketball court
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

"Day 6" we did:
- 1 minute of running up and down the stairs in the bleachers
- 10 Bicycles
- 10 Squats
- Ran 2 laps around the basketball court
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

"Day 7" we did:
- 14 Lunges (7 left and 7 right)
- 1 minute of running up and down the stairs in the bleachers
- 10 Bicycles
(Note: It was at the end of this set of bicycles that when he jumped up to lead us in Squats, every single member of our crew stayed laying on the ground gasping for breath. It took us a few moments to get everybody up on their feet to continue the next exercise).
- 10 Squats
- Ran 2 laps around the basketball court
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

I think it was here that we stopped to get drinks of water and catch our breath. Someone pointed out the mind-boggling observation that we were only 30 minutes into this HOUR-LONG workout. So although we were more than "half" way through the "days", we were in all actuality only HALF way through the workout!

"Day 8" we did:
- 10 Superman thrusts (lie on your belly holding your arms and legs off the ground, thrusting your arms back)
- 14 Lunges
- 1 minute of running up and down the stairs in the bleachers
- 10 Bicycles
- 10 Squats
- Ran 2 laps around the basketball court
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

"Day 9" we did:
- "Suicides" - Start at one end of the basketball court. Sprint to the free-throw line, touch the line and run back. Sprint to the half-court line, touch the line and run back. Sprint to the other free-throw line (3/4 across the court), touch the line and run back. Sprint to the other end of the court, touch the line and run back.
- 10 Superman thrusts
- 14 Lunges
- 1 minute of running up and down the stairs in the bleachers
- 10 Bicycles
- 10 Squats
- Ran 2 laps around the basketball court
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

"Day 10" we did:
- 1 minute of Quick Steps (bouncing on the bottom step of the bleachers, alternating left foot up on step with right foot on the ground, then jump up and land with right foot up on step and left foot on the ground).
- Suicides
- 10 Superman thrusts
- 14 Lunges
- 1 minute of running up and down the stairs in the bleachers
- 10 Bicycles
- 10 Squats
- Ran 1 lap around the basketball court
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

"Day 11" we did:
- 10 Flutter Kicks
- 1 minute of Quick Steps
- Suicides
- 10 Superman thrusts
- 14 Lunges
- 1 minute of running up and down the stairs in the bleachers
- 10 Bicycles
- 10 Squats
- Ran 1 lap around the basketball court
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

"Day 12" we did:
- 10 Diamond Pushups
- 10 Flutter Kicks
- 1 minute of Quick Steps
- Suicides
- 10 Superman thrusts
- 14 Lunges
- 1 minute of running up and down the stairs in the bleachers
- 10 Bicycles
- 10 Squats
- Ran 1 laps around the basketball court
- 10 Crunches
- 10 Pushups

Man... I certainly didn't do as many laps up and down the bleacher stairs or run as fast on the laps or the suicides as my younger crew members, but I was pretty pleased with myself that I kept moving and did all the exercises. I've been a little sore through the day today. I suspect I'll really feel it when I wake up tomorrow morning.

The crew seemed to really enjoy it. There was a lot of laughing and competitive spirit during the laps around the court, the bleacher stairs, and the suicides. Some of the E-Div guys were skipping the laps around the court instead of running... Sometimes I wonder... (No, not "skipping" as in sitting on the side and not doing it. "Skipping" as in what my YS likes to do skipping across the parking lot on our way into the NEX).