Diary of a bride to be

Meet Konnie Kara - wedding journalist by day; bride-to-be by night. With insider access to the latest bridal news, trends and planning advice she’s been called a wedding guru many times, but does she have what it takes to plan her own special day? Offering honest, frank and humorous insights, this is an account of one of the most exhilarating, and rollercoaster-emotion-filled years of her life

The boot camp bride

By Konnie Kara on 04 Apr 2011 No comments

Right at the beginning of wedding planning, one of my biggest concerns was toning up and looking amazing in the body department for the big day. So I hit the gym like I said I would, I took up Power Plate which was amazing, and in between that, I also signed myself up for British Military Fitness. To be honest, the first week I signed up, it snowed and so I did not go. I later found out from die hard enthusiasts in my local park that training in the snow is the best feeling ever. But like I said, they were and are die hard enthusiasts.

No, for someone like me who hasn’t trained in the great outdoors properly since I was 17 and played league netball, I needed a perfectly warm and sunny day, no rain, no wind - perfect weather conditions. I got that, only I didn’t realise the full extent of the British Military Fitness experience. Most people assume it’s an ex-military soldier barking orders and publicly humiliating you for being fat and slow in comparison to everyone else on the course. That’s what - I guess - is off putting to most people. But, for me, it has been the single most life changing exercise I have embarked on since PE at school and league netball and I have never felt fitter or more motivated.

First, unlike a group session at the gym, you actually get to know these people. You work together in a team, and there is absolutely no posing involved at all. I mean, being shouted at - albeit playfully and with your health in mind - while wearing a blue bib (that’s for beginners; red bibs are for those intermediates with reasonably high levels of fitness and green… well, with those levels of fitness, they might as well start training for the Olympics in my opinion.)

Each session starts with group warm-ups such as jogging on the spot and jump squats. You get to decide what group you want to go into before this (or can change after the warm up depending on how your stamina has been affected) and nothing about it is daunting or overwhelming or embarrassing.

The instructor, Clint, was once stationed in Iraq - he instructs you to follow exercises on his strict orders and mark and if you get it wrong (ie turning left when he tells you turn right but purposefully points to the left) the whole group is penalised into doing extra sit ups, running to a bench marker in the park or doing push ups. There are lots of sprinting games and PE style games too like team caterpillar races, bunny hops, which are painful on the tendons but split your belly in two from all the fun and laughter to be had.

And it’s all incredibly bonding. The only thing is the surprise factor - you don’t know what is going to happen in the hour you are there for Brit Military Fitness and so what you think of as one sprinting session becomes about 10 and that’s when the aches and pains come on!

There is no resting - you have to continue jogging on the spot at all times as resting can stiffen up the joints - and you are frequently partnered up so you feel responsible for not letting another person down with any laziness or moaning (as I am prone to do at the gym when I’m by myself).

I did bank on getting fit, but I really didn’t bank on me wanting to go every week, but here I am, still heading off to the park, come rain, sun or snow. I also am slightly surprised with the weight loss, the stamina levels I’ve achieved (me, able to jog for an hour solid? I never thought I’d see the day) and the friendly people I’ve met. The class go out for drinks every now and again and as we’re all local and have a common interest - fitness. My regular class partner, Tamsin, and I often find ourselves as diet buddies swapping tips and watching each other’s alcohol content. We’re currently enjoying vodka and soda waters - Cheryl Cole’s drink, Tamsin tells me. Also, I’m super competitive and Tamsin says this is good for her because she’s not and I hate losing in team challenges. Tamsin is desperate to get back into a bikini she once wore on a holiday to St Lucia five years ago as she felt her most happy then and I am desperate to look amazing on my wedding day. We both want the other to succeed which is why BMF works so well for us.

Clint is wonderful too. Yes he does the over the top shouting thing, and is built like a machine - all ripped biceps and forearms - but it is for effect and he is a real comedian who cares about your goals and doesn’t make you feel like a wally when you screw up on the exercises or run to the nearest bin to throw up as I have done after a vigorous Sunday morning session. I’ve been raving about the classes to Vinnie and hopefully when we’re back in London we can find a group to join near our house. I can’t wait for my next class (getting up on a Sunday morning proves that - I’m usually a massive fan of weekend lie-ins.) I also think it has something to do with all the fresh air and the childhood freedom of running around wildly in a park. I only hope that, a few months after the wedding, I’ll be promoted to red bib status.

For a free trial class and to book a course at your nearest British Military Fitness class, please visit Britmilfit.com.