In early September Agency Wars named the 28 fighters participating in theToronto media and advertising industries annual amateur boxing event benefiting NABS and Ronald McDonald House. Ideon Media‘s Chris Connolly was included in the 2013 lineup and he will be checking in weekly with AmongMen as he participates in a grueling training regimen leading up to the November 27th event in Toronto.
Check in every Friday to track his progress.
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Today was officially the first day of training for Agency Wars 4, a demanding 12 week exercise program that will transform my body into an amateur boxer… hopefully.
My goal:
I signed up for Agency Wars because I was looking for a challenge. A few good friends have participated in the past and all of them had really positive things to say about the intense workouts and diet program. As for workout number one… My goal was to just make it through.
My first workout:
All of the potential fighters were eager to get started leading up to the 7pm start time, and boy were we in for one heck of a surprise. The one hour training session at Riverdale Park started off with a light stretch and a few laps around the 400 metre clay track. Once we were all loosened up, our conditioning coach Kristina Ejem asked us to run 200 metres as quickly as we could. She (of course) tracked our times. This will give her and the other coaches a little insight on our current fitness level and help to track our progress throughout the next 12 weeks.
Our next challenge? Kristina asked us to tackle to the notorious Riverdale hill, which is regularly used during various summer boot camps. Let me tell you this hill was a wake-up call for every fighters, as the challenge whooped our behinds again and again. To finish the first training session off competitors were walked through some of the exercises that are included in our home work out plan, supplied by Kristina of course. These included: squat jumps, mountain climbers, front and side planks, burpees and many, many more.
It was a challenging but successful first night out, and I’m certainly looking forward to going through the growing pains of becoming an amateur boxer and experiencing my first legitimate fight. I’ll continue to keep you guys updated on my progress, and try and be as transparent about the struggles and successes that come along with the journey.
