Confessions From A Personal Trainer: I did hydro-burpees in the Mississippi River

True Confession Tuesday:

Where every Tuesday: I confess.

Confession: I did hydro-burpees in the Mississippi River at 3am and 5am.

You might be thinking “burpee” – that’s a dirty word – don’t ever say that word! Haha. If you don’t know what a burpee is, I’ll give you a quick second to google it. As a trainer, if I even so much as mutter the word, it is usually met with a bunch of groans and dirty looks.

So you can imagine what kind of looks our Cadre got when he said “we’re doing hydro-burpees” while we were standing in the Mississippi River.

If you’re completely lost, I’ll catch you up to speed. In last Friday’s email (which you can read here if you missed it) I confessed how I was nervous, anxious, scared, and other emotions because I was participating in my first Go Ruck event.

A Go Ruck Tough, which is what I did, is a 10-12 hour military style team event. You wear a ruck sack (back pack) with 30 lbs in it, show up, and do all sorts of crazy challenges including hydro-burpees in the river at 3am.

The cool part about this event is it is truly a TEAM event. You have to get somewhere by a certain time – as a TEAM. You must complete individual challenges in a certain amount of time, but all of you have to finish – so you might go and help out a fellow teammate who needs help finishing.

I saw great examples of teamwork every time I turned around. Our event culminated with the carrying of a gigantic, heavier than life log (we named her Bertha). We walked with the log over 4 miles in total before the finish.

We did those hydro – burpees together in the Mississippi as a TEAM.

And we completed the event – as a TEAM.

When I look back at the event and my nerves prior to, I realized that I was thinking about it as an individual challenge. What if I don’t make it? What if I can’t do enough? And the thing is – those teammates were always there to encourage, to motivate, give a high five, groan in mutual suffering, and ensure we all got to the end.

So, I can tell you without hesitation that hydro burpees are the best kind of burpees – especially when you do them with a TEAM.

Find your team, lean on them, and come out stronger in the end. 
I’m not just talking about a team for a physical event.

• Your husband, wife, partner – you are a team

• Your kids – you are a team

• Your co-workers – you are a team

• Your golf buddies – you are a team

• Your Friday night dinner buddies – you are a team

• Your work out friends – you are a team

I run a lot of “individual” obstacle course races but really I am part of a huge team that I am always adding to. Every event I start with one or two friends and add people along the way by talking with them, helping them on obstacles, and learning about them.

Every day of your life is an opportunity to be a part of a team, build a bigger team, and rely on your team. 

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