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David Skinner's new found friend...

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Three weeks into the 100-Day Challenge, The Royal Gazette's chief photographer David Skinner experiences the pain of boot camp bunny hops, jumping jacks and all.Here is his report.

Three weeks into the 100-Day Challenge, The Royal Gazette’s chief reporter David Skinner experiences the pain of boot camp bunny hops, jumping jacks and all.Here is his report.So, three weeks in and we have just had our first boot camp. What is ‘boot camp’? Well, it is 90 minutes of high-intensity, high-impact calisthenics and other cardiovascular torture methods.I had heard about the dreaded boot camp from past contestants and had determined that nothing good could come of it.Picture this. Time: 0800; location: National Stadium; objective: to inflict as much pain to muscles as possible.While I was waiting, trying to mentally prepare myself for the event and sizing up my opponents at the National Stadium track, we seemed to experience an eclipse of the sun.I removed my sunglasses, turned around, and there appeared this muscular mass of a man cloaked in a black T-shirt, combat shorts, combat boots, a whistle and a stop watch.Around his neck, he was carrying a clipboard.Holy manure! I’m done for!Who was it? It was . . . Ron Magnum. Or as he says: “Just call me Magnum.”“Yes, sir, no argument here, sir!”Bodybuilder, past professional wrestler and multi-talented athletic champion with a CV longer than your arm the man has won more titles in bodybuilding than I have missed deadlines.“Right! Two laps to warm up!” he shouted. Good grief, I was back at boarding school. From there, it went steeply downhill.We had pull-ups, then push-ups, from that to sprinting 50 metres three or four times, then back on the grass for jumping jacks, then back on the track for bunny hops. Yeah, that did wonders for my male ego.Then, to something called ‘the mountain climb’. That went very ugly, very fast.The excuse for the catastrophic rate of failure was that the grass was wet and we couldn’t get enough traction so we did them on the track.Apparently, though, the wet grass had nothing to do with it. It seems it was the legs that didn’t have enough traction. This was followed by ‘walking squats’ they bore a close resemblance to the funky chicken dance.Then, it happened.Actually, let me go back a bit to the first day of production. The head of prduction and camera man for the 100-Day Challenge was Charles Reilly. You might know him from some of his creative works: ‘the old bag at Lindo’s’, the C-Travel commercials, a host of other advertising gems and a good still photographer.He had warned us that this is ‘reality TV’ and not to take it personally, but that he would probably be pushing a few buttons to get a reaction for the television show and he didn’t mean his camera buttons.Back to the walking squats. Our intrepid button-pushing camera man decided he would push one of the contestants’ buttons by comparing her walking squats to those of a sumo wrestler.Well, the response was quick, sharp and to the point. In no uncertain terms, she told our lensman just where to go and what number bus to take. She is my heroine!The good news is that I’ve heard that plastic surgeon Christopher Johnson is a judge this year again.Why is this good news? Well, I’m sure he will be able to give Mr Reilly a deal on the reconstructive surgery that he will need after they remove that camera that’s giving him a colonoscopy exam.Beat that, Health Minister DeSilva!So, on Sunday, the day after the killer boot camp, we went to check out the TurboSonic at The Healing Centre. What is that, you might ask?I had heard rumors about this 22nd century machine, and it is something you might see on the Starship Enterprise.If you like your body shaken, not stirred, then this is for you and it is an amazing piece of kit.Okay, for a quick rundown: it looks like a weighing machine that one might find in a doctor’s office. Facing you is a dial pad.You clock in your desired exercise, its strength and then you stand completely still. Mmm, yes, even I can get into this routine.It shakes and I’m not talking about that vibrating shake you might find on that device that one straps to one’s rear end and then something happens that is not fit for human eyes (I’ve seen the video on YouTube, and I still have nightmares!), but it is more of a sonic inner vibration.Don’t ask me how, but this thing is able to target certain parts of the body, such as the legs, or your abdomen, or it can give your whole body a workout.There is another option the one I went for. The body massage. Ahh.Now, the morning after the boot camp, I found myself walking down the stairs very gingerly to get my cup of Joe.After my encounter with the Turbosonic, all the stiffness and pain in my legs had gone. I was able to run back up those stairs to tell my wife about this new discovery.Some of the other benefits of my new-found friend, apart from the pain and stiffness reduction, is the elimination of fluid retention, fat and cellulite.It also improves cellular oxygen circulation, serotonin, energy and a host of other things that ail you. What an amazing feeling afterwards.The first showing of the 100-Day Challenge is scheduled for Tuesday, February 15 at 8pm on ZBM TV 9, so show your support for all the contestants, and tune in.

David Skinner, Royal Gazette chief photographer, who is doing the 100-Day Challenge.