It's official. I'm a fitness video star.
Ok, ok. So I'm really just a participant in a fitness video, but it's still seriously cool! My video was FINALLY released just before the holidays, and upon viewing, I was thrilled that my two greatest fears weren't realized: 1) I didn't look stupid, and 2) I didn't look fat.
Whew.
It all began back in .... April, I think, when Coach Troy and IronGirl sent out a casting call for participants in an upcoming series. The series was going to consist of a strength workout, a treadmill workout and a Spinervals (bike) workout. Interested participants had to send in a short bio and a collection of photos, and we'd be notified a few weeks later if we got the nod. I was thrilled (and somewhat terrified) to have been chosen for the strength workout - I would have been happy with any of them, but I thought I'd be most comfortable in this slot. I had a few months before filming, and my first tri of the season was two weeks before the film date, so I quickly forgot about it and went about my business. However, once my race was over, I threw myself into strength work to make sure that 1) I didn't look stupid, and 2) I didn't look fat, come film day (recall greatest fears mentioned above).
Filming was WILD! I flew down to Baltimore, MD on Saturday evening, and drove up to Sparks, MD where the gym was located. I shared a room with Nancy and Cherrie, two friends I'd last seen at Coach Troy's triathlon training camp back in March. We had a ball catching up and getting excited about the shoot the next day. Nancy was working behind the scenes, and Cherrie was going to be in the treadmill workout that was being shot earlier in the day. We got to the studio/gym early on Sunday and basically stayed out of the way while the guys set up. And there was a LOT of setting up to do! It was amazing to me the amount of equipment that is necessary to pull together a production like this. You'd think, a few treadmills, a few cameras, and that's about it, right? The few treadmills was right, but everything else I imagined was MUCH too small scale. The cameras and all of their rigging were HUGE. The lights were GINORMOUS, and there were a ton of them. All this and the slew of folks required to work all of the equipment jammed into what wasn't a terribly large studio space to being with.
Troy is so ... Troy. He's so good in front of the camera - his personality really does shine through. Although it made me laugh to see him do his characteristic intro - he definitely puts on his "film voice" for this portion! The treadmill workouts were fun to watch - I haven't yet tried them myself, but the advanced workout in particular looked just fantastically brutal. At one point during the workout, when Troy saw one of the girls at a 10% incline and, get this, a 10 mph pace, he exclaimed "Holy Crap!" Hopefully that made it past editing, as it really was a "holy crap" effort by this athlete! It was amazing to watch.
Then, it was our turn. As the studio was being prepared for the strength workout, we coordinated our outfits and chatted nervously while we waited. When Troy placed us in the studio, we quickly reviewed the elements of the workout, and just dove straight in!
I was surprised to find that the cameras didn't really bother me at all - I think I was too busy concentrating on the hard work of the workout. What did bother me - all of us - was the unbelievable heat from the lights. Before we lifted a finger, we were all sweating buckets. It felt as though we were working out in an oven - it really was unbelievably hot. Before long, my forearms were sweating. Now, while I'm definitely a sweater (I come from a long and proud line of sweaters) this was really absurd! The workout was a lot of fun, and definitely challenging. During the lower body workout there are some great shots of my legs shaking like jello during one of the MANY sets of isolation squats!
I'd definitely recommend giving this a shot if you are looking for an effective and efficient strength workout to add to your training schedule!
