Louis Alexander

NAME: Louis Alexander AGE: 24 DATE: 26th June – 3rd July COURSE: Mixed Residential Camp, Devon "I lost 11 pounds and 17 inches!"

At first when I signed up for a Prestige Boot Camp I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought it was going to be a lot of big guys shouting at me to do more however when I got there I discovered it couldn’t have been further from the truth. The first day I was greeted at the train station by two ‘Staff’ who were very friendly and accommodating and also knew how to have a laugh (which becomes a real morale booster through the week).

When we arrived at our camp (a lovely group of barn conversions) we were greeted by the Boot Camp Manager who was on hand all week if we had any aches or pains that were niggling or frustrating. After that we quickly changed and had a fitness test which consisted of a cardio exercise and also some short bursts of sit ups/ press ups so that we could be placed into the most rewarding group (Alpha, Beta or Charlie group) for us. This is in no way singling out the fit from the unfit but to identify certain aspects of your fitness that you can improve and to also know that you can be pushed to a limit that your body is capable of. The second day and we did circuit training which was fairly difficult for me personally (this changed towards the end of the week as my fitness levels drastically improved).

With every session that we did I could feel myself becoming mentally and physically stronger! This showed when we did our last circuit of the week where I was able to push myself beyond my wildest imagination. A highlight of the week for me was the rock climbing, abseiling and zip wiring which was extremely fun. It is fairly daunting at first but when you realise that you are in safe and encouraging hands, you seem to forget all the worry that was in your head before.

The food that we had in the seven days was some of the best food I have ever tasted and the chef was our saviour at the end of a busy and tiring day. You get a sit down session with the chef and can request certain recipes from some of the meals that you have had during your stay.

Come the end of the week we were treated to a lovely ‘last supper’ together where we were all awarded our certificates and had a little speech given about our accomplishments (you can’t help but feel proud when you hear how hard you have worked and rightly so, you deserve it!). The people I met on the boot camp were some of the best characters I have had the pleasure of meeting in my life which you come to rely upon when you are having a down day and also you then step up when one of your friends are having a tough time by spurring them on. A real sense of camaraderie!

The hardest thing that I had to do on the whole week was to turn up on the first day and I promise that you will amaze yourself with how much your body can actually do, for instance when I first arrived I had no pace at all however by the end I was sprinting with speed and my recovery period dropped significantly!!!

I learnt a lot from my experience like how to train correctly and how to eat properly without being starved. My whole lifestyle changed without even realising it. The only thing that I could fault was Staff Reitze’s choice in music… TERRIBLE!!! Other than that I don’t have a bad thing to say about the Staff. They were extremely supportive and anything that they could do for you was never enough.

My overall loss was 17 inches in total (5 and a half from my waist alone!) and 11 and a half pounds I had one of the best and most rewarding weeks of my life and I urge anybody thinking about it to just do it! You will never, ever regret it. I know that I will be back again for sure.