BOSU® Fitness Intern #3 Blog

San Diego State University

John Sterling Trapps — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:47:51 +0000

I recently graduated from SDSU last week. And as a graduate I need to pay off my bills and find a full time job, but most importantly, I need to find a place to workout. I went to 24 Hour Fitness, but their rates are out of my budget. Luckily with some smooth talking I was able to get a free day pass when I showed wearing my exercise clothes. This visit to the gym was unlike any other in my life. After 25 minutes of exercising I realized that I did not need to buy a membership because I consistently used the same equipment over and over. My new goal is to create my personal home gym. I realized that this is a possibility because I recently bought the BOSU ball and have been using it religiously to improve my athletic ability. To start off I need to get 25 – 50lb dumbells. I also need to get my ACE certification so I can take my home gym idea and train my friends for a fraction of what they pay for a gym membership and personal trainer. In a year or so I would like to create a legit business where I can become my own boss. I have so many ideas that I cannot wait to get started. However, I need get money to afford my gym equipment and certification. Soon enough, “SterlingFit” will be the talk of the town & my name will be recognized.

A Day With BOSU

John Sterling Trapps — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:13:32 +0000

The other day was unlike any other at the BOSU office. Jena & I were given a task of the up most importance. David Weck and Steve Froehlich told us to figure out how to make their newest invention better. The BOSU team created 2 new different ways to exercise using ropes. The problem Jena & I had to solve was to go to all the local sports stores and find appropriate weights to increase the newest inventions. We were told to find the best ankle weights that were between 10 and 5 pounds and were the best fit. Also, we were given a camera to document the journey. After Steve handed me the money to buy the weights we were off to the stores. I thought it was going to be an exciting experience because Jena & I gave a few stores a sneak peak into what they were going to be selling next. First, we go to Sports Chalet in Point Loma because it was the closest. That Sports Chalet did not have the exact weights that we were looking for so we decided to make our way around town. A patter quickly formed as Jena & I made our way through the city. We repeatedly got strange looks as if we were dressed like pirates. However, as soon as we explained to the curious people that we were working for BOSU and that we are testing the new prototype for the latest invention, the curiosity quickly transformed into awe. Soon after we went to Target, Sports Authority, and another Sports Chalet in mission valley. The response from everyone was the same no matter what store we went to that afternoon. I am glad Dave and Steve gave us the opportunity find out which weight would work best on their newest invention because that day I have my part in changing the world one store at a time.

World Cup

John Sterling Trapps — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:21:45 +0000

I finally got to play a few friendly matches of pick-up soccer yesterday. Andrea is the only female who consistently shows up to play with all of the big boys. She plays for the SDSU club team & is among the best soccer players I have seen regardless of gender and I love when she plays on my team because all of the guys assume she is terrible until she dribbles by them and scores a goal. In the excitement of playing last night I started to think about the World Cup and who I thought was going to win. First, America is going to play better than we did last year because of two main reasons. England’s popular player, David Beckam, is out of the tournament because of a torn Achilles and we have been placed in a relatively easy group. So I predict that America will proceed to the third round without any chance of winning the entire tournament. For the teams who have an actual chance of winning the tournament I have narrowed my picks to my three favorite teams. Brazil of course is on the list to win the tourney. With star players such as Ronaldinho, Kaka, and Robinho Brazil is the only team to win back to back World Cups and have the largest number of wins. Next, I have to condider Italy. They have a world class league containing some of the world’s greatest players. Toni, an amazing striker, should always be considered a threat, with Piro backing him up in the goal, and the ability for Italy to draw a foul in almost any situation, I have to be worried that they will take trophy home again. Lastly, I have to pick the home team South Africa. The country has been going through wars, poverty, and imprisoning innocent men, has a lot to prove to themselves and to the world. Also, home court advantage in a month long competition is also a huge advantage over other teams in any sport. Be on the look out this June 11 for the start of game one! Soccer is the greatest sport in the world.

Intramural Soccer

John Sterling Trapps — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:58:14 +0000

I recently finished the final intramural game of my college career. As usual, the team I was on dominates when the entire roster shows up, but when we are missing our key striker & goalie, our chance of success fades away faster than snow in the summer. The team captain showing up late was the perfect foreshadow of the team’s fate. We played a team with zero subs, but they played very well together. Each player knew their role and where they needed to be on the court so they were not awkward on the court at all. On the other hand, we did not even need to show up to the game. Because we have a large roster everyone wants to play the entire game, score all the goals, and juke everyone on the other team. Without explanation, none of that happened. We started the game behind and could not overcome the hill of failure. I played my heart out, but it was not good enough. I missed two excellent opportunities for goals, but I gave the game my all. I never won a championship so I am a little disappointed in myself, but I still have about 15 more years of soccer playing left in my future and I am sure I can win a few championships before I retire

Working with Charles

John Sterling Trapps — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 06:59:24 +0000

Every week I have to go into the fitness clinic at SDSU and work with Charles. The fitness clinic is a place where people who have disabilities can work with SDSU students and improve their physical fitness levels. My client is a 16 year old boy who have Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, and mental retardation. I was quite nervous working with him for the first time for a few reasons. First, I have only seen people with disabilities as I am going to class or to a store. I have not had the opportunity to start a friendship with a disabled person. Secondly, starting an exercise program is hard enough, but starting one for a person who is wheelchair bound can be intimidating. I am very glad to have met Charles because he opened my eyes to a world that I ignored. I have enjoyed working with him for the entire semester & I may come back to State once in a while to visit him and make sure he is doing well.

Gym

John Sterling Trapps — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:19:06 +0000

Last weekend I decided to go back home to catch up with a few of my friends who I have not seen in a while. My best friend who I have known since the 5th grade was especially excited to see me again because he recently got a gym membership. He knows that fitness is my area of expertise and wanted to get in better shape. I told him that I was going to be moving back after I graduated and we would be going to the gym together. He knows that I always like to find different exercises and routines to improve and challenge myself to become a better athlete. So when I went home he took me to the gym so I could show him a new workout. I decided to take him through the “300″ workout. From the name of the exercise the men who started in the move 300 performed this exercise to build their picture perfect physique. Needless to say, it is not an easy workout. We modified the routine so we could both complete the exercises and made a competition out of it. In stead of completing 50 reps of each exercise, we changed it to 10. Initially I started off with a time of 2:40. I wanted to pace myself and see how fatigued I would become during a maximal attempt. He beat my time and then the competition immediately started to ignite. My final trial was finished in a time of 2:09 and he finished with 2:24. I cannot wait until I graduate and have someone to push me like he does.

Getting active

John Sterling Trapps — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:24:27 +0000

I started this month off in spring break as sick as a mule. I spend more time on the couch that week than I have all year combined. But the break had to come to an end and I needed to return to reality sooner than I wanted. I have taken anatomy, physiology, and microbiology. One major lesson that can be learned from those courses is give the body proper time to heal itself in order to make a complete recovery. I have stayed away from the gym because I knew that I would be doing myself more harm than good if I started to workout. however, I have given my body plenty of time to recuperate and now it was time to get back to business. I wanted to start off slowly and only do my arms, chest, and abs. I quickly discovered that I was nowhere near the shape I’m used to. My normal time in the gym is typically about 2-2.5 hours, but this time I was there a total of 1 hour feeling completely exhausted. I expected the fatigue to come early so I did not what to push myself too hard and I felt it was appropriate to quit early.

Soccer

John Sterling Trapps — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:03:21 +0000

The other day I played my first game on another intramural team. The game was at 10pm and I was not too excited be playing soccer that late because I had wake up at 5am the next morning to be at the boot camp. The league is 4 v 4 with 20 minute halves. I was surprised when we showed up to the game because our team had 18 players, but luckily only 8 people showed up to the game. The indoor soccer field at SDSU is a basketball court with soccer nets on each end of the court. because the indoor soccer court is on the corner of the building, we play against a wall on one side and a large net shaped like an over-sized curtain on the other. It is undeniably the worst field I have ever played on in my life, but “beggars cannot be choosers”. I did not want to play the entire game because I was more concerned with the boot camp the next day. Long story short, we won the game with 7-2 and everybody on the team played like a champion. I am excited about this team and I feel that we could with the championship and make my senior year a dream.

Yoga

John Sterling Trapps — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:40:35 +0000

Saturday afternoon my friend wanted to go to the gym and I told him that I would go to help him out. Because he recently started eating healthy and is trying to live a healthy lifestyle, as soon as he saw that Yoga was going to start in five minutes he dragged me in too. I know that I am not the most flexible guy in the world, and I knew I was in for pain because I did not see a single guy in the class. I don’t know any names or stances of the poses so the entire class I was watching the girls in an attempt to figure out how to properly contort my body. Initially, we are sitting down and the instructor is telling us what we are going to be doing in the class. At this point I figure it is going to be an easy class because all we are doing is sitting. Immediately the class started to pick up and I was quickly proven wrong. The other girls in the class performed the positions perfectly and effortlessly. My friend in the back in the class are huffing and puffing because we can barely breathe. I have not been in that much pain and discomfort since I can remember and I couldn’t quit because all of my manhood would have walked off too. I stayed and finished the class then quickly returned to my room where I could rest my body. I do not like Yoga at all.

BOSU Office

John Sterling Trapps — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:40:45 +0000

Today went to the BOSU office like I normally do on Wednesdays after my last class and today was an extraordinarily explosive brainstorming day. David Weck is working with Tyson Gay, the number two sprinter in the world, and helping him increase his power and speed so he can overpass Usain Bolt. David was exploring a starting technique in which you would throw both hands behind your back like as fast as possible and keeping your body as low as possible in stead of the traditional method throwing one arm ahead of the body and they alternate with each stride. David was brainstorming which specific method of throwing the arms behind the back will decrease the center of gravity and increase speed off the blocks. I was just sitting on the couch researching information I am going to do for a presentation and was just blown away by the innovative technique he was going to present to Gay to decrease his 100 meter time. David loves tying in how the body needs to pronate and supinate to keep centered and balanced, and how efficiently and effectively Gay can pronate and supinate will directly correlate to how good of a sprinter he will be in the future.