As much as I love to swim, bike and run, I absolutely loathe strength training. You see, I already have my three- headed monster and had no interest in adding a fourth. However, if I want to be competitive in triathlon for the foreseeable future, you bet your booty that I need to get mine strong! Enter Boundless Performance Systems, a facility that has become a welcome addition to my demons.
One of the “heads” of the monster, owner Antwan Harris, me and my trainer Hannah. My eyes are closed because I just finished my first workout there and I’m lightheaded. #whereamI?
The Monsters Behind the System
Boundless Performance Systems is the dream realized by three owners:
Chelsea Carisio – Master’s degree in occupational therapy
Hank Carisio – A professional background in athletics playing as elite athlete in the AHL, and a 3X All-American in LAX, licensed massage therapist, A.R.T. Specialist, Personal Trainer, FMS Certified, and is a all-purpose entrepreneur, business management, creative solutions, business management.
Antwan Harris – Master’s degree in exercise science and a master of managing client relationships, community work, social media, program creation, implementation, strategic outreach, business managements, and preventive measures.
Antwan showing us how it’s done!
I can tell you these three are all hustle!
From the first day I entered the gym it was high energy, in your face enthusiasm, knowledge and a kick ass workout. I love how passionate they are about fitness (reminds me of when I owned my own gym!) and how eager they are to get you started in a safe, fun and goal oriented way.
I loved it from the start.
My Workouts
Since I’m trying to build strength in my offseason, my trainer Hannah can basically hammer me at will. But seriously, the way the workouts are set up is easy for everyone, are clearly marked on a whiteboard and change weekly. Hannah is there to guide us and show proper form, modifications and, of course, be our cheerleader. She seems sweet but is also tough and will not let us off with bad form or half-assery of any kind!
Me and Hannah post-workout.
Dynamic warm-up
We all know that I tend to skip these, right? Well, there is no skipping it at Boundless Performance. And, I always feel ready to go once the warm-up is over and the real work begins. And example of my dynamic warm-up consists of:
Planks with monster walks
Fire Hydrants (HATE!)
Supermans
Ankle Rotations
Butt Kicks
Carioca
Usually the full warm-up takes about 10 minutes and then the real work begins.
Our dynamic warm-up board.
[Tweet “Are you doing your #dynamic #warmup? I am thanks to @B_P_Systems #getstrong”]
The Workouts
The workouts change weekly for me but are always functional and total body. I have more of a focus on core, glutes, hamstrings and shoulders so we tweak as necessary as we go. Everything is for time and the first exercise our metabolic ramp-up – – think burpees, mountain climbers or boxing/punching. There is an airhorn recording so you definitely cannot miss your cue to begin and end!
Depending on what we’re doing for strength that day, the cardio session will be between 10-20 sets with 15 seconds on and 5 seconds off. It’s as grueling as it sounds.
Once our heart is hip to the fact that we are now working hard, we move on to the strength portion. This block is a consistent set of exercises that we do for a set amount of reps with a total time of 16-22 minutes. So, no matter the exercises, we keep repeating them for allotted time. It’s boatloads of fun.
My workout last week looked like this:
Forward lunges with weight (12)
Good mornings with front loaded weight (12) < – – OMG these were hard!
Russian twists with dumbbells (20)
REPEAT for 16 minutes. #helpme
Boundless Moments
This is definitely the moment I love to hate! A “boundless moment” comes at the end of the workout when your arms and legs feel limp and you’re trying to catch your breath. They can be almost any torturous move that was dreamed up by one of the owners or trainers. My first week it was 45 pound bar bicep curls to failure. I made it to 45 reps. The second week was this…
They then broadcast your performance on a list that hangs on the wall so you can see how weak strong you are in comparison to basically anyone else who trains there.
[Tweet “Have you had a #boundless moment yet @B_P_Systems? You’re missing out!”]
Grand Opening
Up next for the three-headed monster is a brand new facility. The grand opening will be held on Saturday, November 5 at 1200 Park Street in Hartford! You can expect live music, health & wellness vendors, live demonstrations, and lots of fraternizing amongst current and prospective clientele!
If you are local, you don’t want to miss it!
For more information about Boundless Performance Systems check out their website and follow them all over social media:
This post was written in exchange for personal training services at Boundless Performance Systems. Of course, I would never write it if I didn’t love it and you know that is 100% truth!
What are you doing to strength train?
Do you have a three-headed monster in your life?
I read this and ACTUALLY CONVINCE MYSELF Id do this and be hardcore if you were my next door neighbor.
Or
Maybe Id have to move in with you.
And steal all your badassnessment in order to do this.
OR
you can go and Ill play with the twins!!
I will take ANY of those or combination of those!
Is it weird that I got insanely jealous that you got to do all of this stuff? If I lived in Hartford, I’d be there in a heartbeat. And then my heartbeat would be through the roof and I’d be saying #helpme! Looks awesome!
Not at all. I love having a personal trainer because I just want to be told what to do…and then whine about it 🙂 I was so happy when they reached out…
This looks really interesting. I was just telling a friend that I’m trying to do more strength work and I feel like this would be a good step for me. Thanks for sharing.
I’m sure strength training would only increase you’re running power!! Go for it.
I need them in my life. Mostly to make sure I don’t break myself. I love all of these variations on familiar moves!
Exactly!!! Especially now that I’m OLD, I break a lot easier 🙁
So so fun. Of course, my idea of fun may be different that most people’s. I can say this because Becky makes me do all this and more. And it works. I think the creativity makes it fun, instead of just lifting barbells ad nauseum.
Right!! I love your posts and pictures with all the great stuff Becky has you do. Once again, we are like minded on this one 🙂
I just tried a new class called LIT this morning… Low Intensity Training but it was hard… lots of rowing and trx and arms…. maybe if I keep going I’ll have your arms one day…..
On another note, your WR article and the commentary… just wow!!! I don’t understand people who feel the need to spew out such stupid comments. For what it’s worth, I went on FB and left a positive comment… thanks for keeping it real….
I love the thought of LIT! And yes, I’m sure your arms will be sculpted in no time!
Thank you SO very much for the support. I have to say, I was shocked at the outright nastiness of some of the comments. I’ve stopped reading them but I really appreciate you leaving some positivity. The haters are all the same so I’m focusing on the comments and tweets I’ve received that are POSITIVE and the women out there thanking me for writing it.
You are such a beast. I can’t even wrap my mind around how strong you are. My strength training includes 100 push-ups every other day!
It all counts! And, I’m really not as strong as I look. Shhhhh 🙂
How about a trade? You do all of my cardio and I’ll do the strength training. Deal? That chain kettle ball pull thing looks like fun!
Throw in cooking most of my meals and you have a DEAL! I will provide the wine, naturally.
That sounds amazing! I’d love to have a trainer pushing me and telling me what to do- and functional movements are key. On my own, I call it good after 20 minutes or so and know I could be pushing more. Enjoy this off season training!
That is me exactly when I’m left to do it on my own!! This is so much better!
I WISH I was a local because this is MY KIND OF PLACE! I love the backgrounds of the owners too, they are highly educated amazing peeps!! LOVE the videos too 🙂
Totally. It’s no frills but high knowledge and passion, with a great workout. I love it.
I love how methodical this is! I try to do a similar layout in my strength training but it devolves into 20 minutes of whatever. I appreciate also how knowledge the owners are!
I used to do the same kind of random 20 minutes and call it a day. This forces me into a great warm-up and then cardio and strength. It’s really exactly what I need in the offseason 🙂
That looks AMAZING!!! Glad you enjoyed it! Now will you be going back for more?!
I honestly LOVED working out there and really loved the staff. The issue is that it’s FAR from my house and I’m rushing like a maniac to get there on Tuesdays. But, I’m going to work with Hannah to see if I can go twice a month at a better time. And, my Barre class re-starts next week too!!
Oh my stars this sounds amazing and crazy!! Reading it I was like what in tar nation?! And how?!! But it sounds exhilarating and I’m sure it’s fun. What a great place to have I wish I could try it! The owners energy sounds so uplifting. That’s awesome. I’ve been thinking about trying a place called orange theory and it’s sort of similar, I’ll report back if I make it. Strength training needs to be on my menu more often. I did 20 minutes of squats on Monday and I’m still burning!! Clearly I need to get done squats again so my muscles can get better with it. Love and hate the burn lol
Oh how I wish we had an orange theory anywhere near me!! I have heard great things. I’m sure that class will whip those quads right into shape 🙂 Good luck!
Oh i kind of love this. I love functional workouts like these (but I HATE fire hydrants!). And you look pretty badass in those videos. I wish it was local to me too!
I have nightmares about fire hydrants! I seriously just hate them so much but, they are needed and this forces me to do them 🙂
Well, what am I doing to strength train? Not enough! This post has some great routines and workouts that I need to be better about incorporating into my weekly running routine! I always make time for a run, but I am not getting any younger and strength training is a huge piece of “keeping me running”! Great post!
This seems amazing! How often do you go? I found it hard to fit in strength training towards the end of my marathon training but have committed to being better about that next go around.
Oh it’s SO great!! I only go once a week but it is enough 🙂