Today’s Boot Camp – All Gain, No Pain
The idea of “group exercise” has come a long way since its introduction to the fitness industry a few decades back. From the days of Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons to today’s seemingly infinite choices of exercise including Spinning, Body Pump, and Zumba, exercisers have the freedom to design their own fitness program to fit their preferences. One of the long-standing favorites has been Boot Camp, a military style workout composed of bodyweight movements, sometimes combined with athletic speed and agility drills, and of course a little healthy competition between participants. Traditionally, boot camps have drawn a specific type of crowd; a good mix of athletes past their hay day, looking to get back into shape, and those looking to make big changes, in little time, to their body composition and fitness level. At one point being synonymous with the term, “No Pain, No Gain,” boot camps may have gained a reputation responsible for keeping away anybody hoping to keep their connective tissue intact and the ability to walk the next day. But what may have been one of the original promoters of functional fitness, a trend that’s hit the exercise industry hard during the past few years, has fortunately developed into an all-encompassing, safe and effective option for exercise. With the rapidly increasing rate of obesity in our country today and the subsequent decline in fitness levels and overall health, boot camp instructors must adapt to this population and adjust their programs accordingly.
The best boot camps are made up of a combination of exercise components:
- A dynamic warm up. By now most of us have heard the risks of static stretching (holding a stretched position for 20-30 seconds) prior to working out. An athletic type warm up that mimics the movements you are about to do, but on a smaller scale, is the proper way to prepare yourself for exercise.
- An equal amount of push, pull and rotation exercises. Long gone are the days of workouts solely dominated by bench presses and bicep curls. In order to maintain a strong, balanced and functional body, movements in every plane of motion are necessary.
- Bodyweight functional exercises. Think the military uses weight machine circuits in their boot camps? I don’t think so.
- High intensity cardiovascular conditioning. Combining strength training with fast paced cardio such as jump roping, jumping jacks, and sports drills pushes you to challenge yourself and tap into your body’s fat stores.
- Optional Progressions and regressions. Boot Camps bring together people of every fitness level and it is necessary to have beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of each exercise. Anyone CAN do boot camp, it is just a matter of having a qualified instructor that can recognize how to properly progress and regress any exercise.
- Social interaction and friendly competition. Partner and group drills, races, and mini competitions take boot camps from being grueling workouts to fun, energetic and motivational experiences. It’s common for participants to form friendships both in and out of the gym with fellow campers.
- A proper cool down. This is the time for that static stretching mentioned earlier. When your muscles are warm and you are done with your workout it is the perfect time to safely stretch. A cool down should be thorough and include all of the major muscles in your body. Most commonly overlooked, a complete stretching routine is necessary for proper recovery and injury prevention. And you have to admit, it feels great.