JOE catches up with William Sainsbury for a brief on how he is fairing in his bid to get back into shape at Bootcamp Ireland.
Name: William Sainsbury
Age: 25
Location: Kilmainham, Dublin
Weight: 94kg
Occupation: Secondary teacher
JOE: So how are things progressing?
William: It’s good. It was tough the first couple of weeks, I was very sore after it, but I was there last night and although I still find it tough I’m finding myself in the middle of the group rather than at the back. I can feel myself improving already.
JOE: How many times have you been at this stage?
William: I’ve been five times. I missed one in the first week because of work, but we’ve done three weeks now and I’ve been to all the others.
JOE: How are you feeling? Any aches or pains?
William: No, nothing. I wasn’t really in shape when I started – I wasn’t bad, I’m not severely overweight or anything, I just hadn’t done enough over the last couple of years. After the first couple I was stiff getting up the next day and for a couple of days afterwards. But now I’m fine.
JOE: So does the training vary or is it a case of doing similar stuff each time you go along?
William: I’d say it is similar every time, but there are variations. The first night the circuit training was all push-ups, sit-ups, squats, star-jumps – there was about 12 different stations. You did them for 90 seconds on each, and then you would run for 90 seconds. Whereas last night there was 12 minutes of three-quarter pace running, then a jog and a circuit for 30 seconds at each exercise. So it’s similar things, but the timing is different and trainers often have different ways of doing individual exercises.
JOE: How does it compare to other types of exercise you have done in the past?
It’s demanding, very demanding. I’ve done hurling and soccer training, and they would be two hours long, and you probably do as much exercise [as in Bootcamp] but it’s not as spread out. This is an hour of intense, tough exercise.
JOE: Have you noticed any difference in yourself, in terms of how you feel etc?
I would yeah. It gets easier to go every time. I’m not dreading it as much because I know I’m going to be able for it. I’d say I’ve lost a bit of weight already.
JOE: Will you stick it out do you think?
William: Definitely, yeah.
JOE: So would you recommend this type of training to others?
William: I would, but I’d say you might have to do something on top of it. If you’re severely overweight then two nights a week over 12 weeks probably won’t do enough for you. It’s Monday and Wednesday, but if you did a run or two on Friday and Sunday you would be fine. You wouldn’t need to anything particularly strenuous on top of it, because it’s very tough.
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