Bootcamp: Defeat Does Not Exist In This Dojo, Does It?

Editor's Note: Bootcamp is a column I'm writing based on my experiences at Burnsville's Beyond Personal Training. On April 4, I took advantage of a Groupon offering unlimited bootcamp sessions for a month. These are my stories.

A recent personnel change at BPT put co-owner and resident fitness queen Catherine Hoha in charge of Friday morning's bootcamp session. 

I've got to admit, after being put through the ringer for the past few weeks—courtesy of Jason Cameric and Jeff Culhane—seeing Catherine prepare session notes was a big relief.

At least that's what I thought at the beginning.

A Division I college athlete at Arizona State University, Catherine—along with husband Trevor—turned athletic prowess into a successful business. Using what I can only imagine is an indefatigable work ethic and a quitting-is-for-losers attitude, Catherine has chewed up and spit out the fitness competition in Burnsville.

Unfortunately for us, her bootcamp sessions mimic her attitude quite closely.

Three to five minutes into the session, I knew that my early confidence at the realization that Catherine would lead our bootcamp was mistaken.

Confidence was the last thing I would finish with on Friday morning.

Catherine loves circuits. She loves core work and squat thrusts and planks and plyometric balls and burpies. She loves to work hard. She loves to push her students.

As far as I can tell, there is one thing Catherine doesn't like: rest. 

Much like the martial arts instructor in the original Karate Kid, I bet she sees rest, defeat and pain as forms of weakness. And water? Well, water is for sissies. 

Don't get me wrong. Catherine's bootcamp was great. It was a great mixture of anerobic and aerobic (i.e. strength and cardiovascular) exercise that we enjoyed (read: struggled through) for 60 god-forsaken minutes. 

Catherine's bootcamp was a lot of things. Restful it was not. 

Most workouts, whether you're motivated by yourself or someone else, ebb and flow. Periods of strenuous intensity are followed by periods of rest which are then followed by intensity, and so on and so forth, like oceanic tides. 

Heart and breathing rates rise and fall and rise again. Muscles contract and relax. And so the dance continues until you're finished.

But Catherine's bootcamps are different. Catherine's workouts are more like a motorcycle shifting through gears.

It starts with a symphony of sounds but limited movement. The screeches and screams get louder as the pace quickens and the pieces are pushed further and harder. It ends in a crescendo of intense noise and ferocious core work that leaves onlookers muttering to one another "Oh my goodness."

At no point does the engine quit or stall or pause. An engine that does those things is broken, and Catherine will not allow her students to be broken. 

She does not smile. She does not laugh. She simply instructs, "Let's go again."

Half of me wanted to shout, "Yes, sensei!"

Catherine Hoha's Training Tip: Workout even if you are sore. The burn you feel the day after an intense workout is a build-up of lactic acid. You'll feel a lot better if you get up and get moving around.