Shape Up BSCENE

Sitting on the hot asphalt, with my head drooping to my knees, fighting to maintain a very unsteady grip on consciousness while sweat formed a puddle on the ground the size of a small lake ... wasn't really part of my normal routine at 6:15a.m. on a Tuesday morning. But there we all were: the staff of BSCENE Magazine scattered around the office parking lot, hours before work was scheduled to begin. Each of us gasped for breath as two preternaturally upbeat trainers from Premier Fitness put us through our paces (most of which would be described as “confused stumbling”) as part of a corporate fitness challenge of sorts.I think the entire staff would agree that first day was nothing short of brutal. I have no shame in admitting I got sick (though there's no way I'm actually telling anyone how few pushups I was able to manage). But, it was just the beginning of a six-week undertaking that included drastic changes in diet, multiple group workouts each week, one-on-one training sessions and the constant tracking of our progress. At the very least, it was an ordeal. Yet everyone who took part in the challenge came out the other side in better shape, and more importantly, in better health.

BSCENE was approached by Premier Fitness founders and owners, Cune and Michelle Pena, about the prospect of a company-wide fitness challenge at the beginning of this summer. “I want to see a businesses reach their fullest potential, and that starts with how their employees feel,” said Cune. “So for us, it was to show you this could be a great way ... for businesses to come to Premier (or any one of these other fitness centers) to help their employees get in shape and to see the benefits, as owners or managers, of how their employees would be more productive in the process. Thats the reason we did it. Plus we've been in a relationship with you guys since [BSCENE] started, around the same time we did. So, it was just a neat thing for us to say 'thank you and let's see what we can do with you guys!'”Cune's wife Michelle, who oversaw our little endeavor, added: “I was driving one day and was just trying to think outside the box, just [thinking of] things that would help re-energize our business (Premier Fitness) and just give it life and get back out in the community. Over the years, I think it's easy, after you get married and have kids, to have that tunnel vision and only focus on what's in front of you. So, I realized that we really need to get it back out into the community, and I thought that this would be a good way to do that.”

Michelle also reiterated the positive aspects of something as simple as working out with coworkers. “I think its so important to do things like this as a team, because you're working together and when you can actually sweat together, and cry in pain together, keep a commitment – a 6 a.m. commitment, together, I think that says a lot for what you're willing to do ... not just for your own personal fitness, but what you're willing to do for the team and for your company.”But what exactly was the plan? What did this corporate fitness project entail? Was it really bad enough to make everyone almost pass out – repeatedly? Yes. Yes it was.

There were three facets of BSCENE's project with Premier. First, came the nutrition. For that, Premier employed one of their most experienced trainers and nutrition experts, Chris Hughes. Hughes focused on showing us a plan that we could apply to eating every day, wherever we were, as opposed to simply giving us a list of things we loved we could no longer have.“It's not like we were putting anyone on a really strict diet,” said Hughes. “It's not like their kitchen looks like some amazing chef and they have all these master ingredients and hours and hours of preparation. Though, preparation is absolutely key – if you want something quick, you'll eat what's on hand. If you're not prepared, then that usually means unhealthy stuff. When you prepare and know what you're eating, you don't have to over think it. If you over think it, it starts to get troublesome ... Really, it's about people having to make smarter choices and get away from these huge meals – you know skipping breakfast and then trying to fit in 1,500 calories a day between two meals.”

Hughes worked on getting us to see our nutrition as a pyramid – starting with a good breakfast and building from there. We ate fewer carbs and more protein and veggies. We ate regularly, but controlled the portions. And, we cut out alcohol and most any drink that wasn't water, tea or coffee. He always uses the analogy of our bodies as a car, specifically a Mercedes. “You don't put Kool-Aid in a Mercedes, it will ruin it,” said Hughes. “You select the highest grade fuel you can. You change the oil and check the brakes and do everything you can to maintain it at a high level. That means it operates as best it can, and it's the same with your body. You will work out better, you'll feel better and you'll look better. You may love all that ice cream, but it's gone in 3 hours. Your body is with you now, and it will be with you forever. It's a matter of perspective. It's not about keeping an 85-page notebook of every calorie you've ever had and maintaining this incredibly strict diet. That doesn't work. It's about learning guidelines for what you eat that make your body work well, then applying them.”Most of these guidelines you could probably guess: keep the carbs low, don't drink 20 sodas a day, stop drinking lots of beer, and so on. Others, we were surprised by: bananas aren't very good for you. Diet soda is fine by itself but with a meal, you're better off with a regular Coke, and so on. In any case, they armed us with a few handy printouts (and a seething resentment for not being allowed to eat pasta and bread twice a day). Then, we began the second, concurrent phase of the process: individual workouts with a personal trainer.

We were all paired up with different trainers: Cecily Anderson and I had Cune to break us down twice a week. Mitzi Hardee worked out with Diana Anderson. Ginny Gould got T.J. Holly Head partnered with Emily Dumelle and Lauren Gould trained with Seth Walker. These workouts were tailored to each of our needs, strengths and limitations. For example – Cune worked with Cecily and I on improving our overall fitness and strength through a lot of CrossFit type workouts. As you've seen in these pages before and on BSCENE TV, CrossFit is a broad, general and inclusive plan for overall fitness that applies to everything from cardiovascular health, to strength and flexibility that is scaleable to almost any level of fitness (it's also really, really hard). For Mitzi, Diana worked more indoors, with flexibility, cardiovascular exercises and plenty of lower body work. Holly had recently injured her knee, so Emily was able to craft her workouts to both work around the issue and help rehabilitate it, as well. TJ and Ginny lifted weights and jumped rope – I think she was training to become a boxer. Lauren trained with Seth to be more toned through an incredibly wide variety high-intensity, multiple-repetition exercise sets.

Throughout this process, our trainers were incredibly supportive and helpful. They pushed us to work harder and get stronger, but no one ever came into my office crying and complaining that someone from Premier screamed at them until they did one more pushup. “Diana was really encouraging and tough and motivating, all at once. I looked forward to going to my sessions with her every week – because I was seeing results, and I always felt amazing when I left. It was always worth the effort. And, we even got to know each other personally, and she was fantastic!”

The third part (and perhaps what was most effective and representative of our entire journey together) was the group fitness. Every Tuesday and Wednesday for six weeks, we would all get together before work to punish ourselves, I mean 'work out.' On Tuesdays, everyone would meet at the office at 6:15a.m., with Lealon Gammel and Diana Anderson. These were the two who were entirely too chipper when it was barely light outside. But, that's probably for the best. Their attitudes definitely rubbed off on all of us.

“Like Cune and Michelle talk about,” said Gammel, “So often, when people are sitting around in an office all day, being inactive, they feel different. Like when they see an athlete on TV sprinting, people think 'there's no way I can do that,' because all they know is sitting at a desk all day long. What I wanted to bring to the group workouts was the idea we can show you that, yes, you can do these same things that other athletes do or the people who work out intensely do … We weren't made to sit on our butts all day ... I understand that it's hard. But if you're going to show up, you're going to get it. And most of the time, if anyone's got a heartbeat, they're going to like it because it's gratifying, and there's no way around it – it works. It's motivating when you see yourself come to a point where you think, 'I really just did that.' … Not only does it build a better physique, but it builds more; it builds character. You find out a lot about yourself ... That was my main goal of the rugged workout, the 6 a.m. sessions in the rain.”

On Wednesdays the staff did a group CrossFit class together at Premier Fitness. There isn't too much to be said about this, other than what should have been nothing more than medieval torture actually turned into something we all looked forward to (in our own ways). Sharing those wildly challenging workouts with coworkers did bring us closer together as a company – it improved our attitudes, as well as our health.

“I really enjoyed everybody on your staff,” said Cune, reflecting on the six-week process. “When I look at your staff … Everyone just has a great personality and they do their job well … We just really enjoyed everyone's company. I enjoyed visiting with y'all when we trained. I enjoyed that [some of you] were folks that, on the first day, literally got sick and kind of dizzy. Then you went from that to people when I randomly asked you to come in that same afternoon to make up your workout, you jumped into a class that was a little bit faster paced and you completed it in pretty decent time.”

Michelle added, “I was pleased when I would see you all up here, just at random hours working out. I thought 'Wow they really want this.' I was pleased with our trainers, Lealon and Diana, TJ, Seth, and Emily, who 100-percent donated their time. That just speaks a lot for their character and the integrity that they have. And that they really do care about seeing people be successful.”

And Anderson was able to put a final touch on the whole thing: “I would say it was inspiring to see how you guys started. You know, it was day one, 6 a.m., and I just saw lots of people probably a little bit discouraged, or humbled by their fitness level. To see from day one, then to the last group workout you guys were out in the rain, pushing cars and no one was complaining. That day I started heading to my car when it started sprinkling, but you guys didn't stop. It was pouring down rain and y'all are pushing Lealon's car all the way down the road. Just to see the progress you'd made was incredibly inspiring to me.”