Fitness Boot Camps. Have you heard of them? Have you ever attended one? They are a growing trend in the fitness industry today for good reason. They typically are much less expensive than one-on-one personal training, yet they offer more camaraderie and social support, are much more exciting, and have many more convenient time slots than personal training while still providing expert supervision and fantastic results.
Unfortunately, boot camps do have their downside. Many fitness instructors want to jump on the lucrative boot camp bandwagon without having any of the skills or experience to design custom workouts for the wide variety of fitness levels typical in large group training. Here are 10 important tips on how to select a boot camp that will get you great results and keep you safe at the same time:
The Top 10 Boot Camp Safety Checklist
1.) The Instructor(s) Must Be Certified With Nationally Recognized Institutions such as the National Strength and Conditioning Association or the National Academy of Sports Medicine. There are many online pay-for-certifications where people can get a certificate with little or no knowledge of proper training methods. This is a big part of what gets people hurt and gives fitness a bad name!
2.) The Instructor(s) Must Look The Part And Walk The Walk. If the trainer takes physical fitness seriously and is on the cutting edge of new training methodologies, they will be fit themselves, plain and simple. After all, who wants to take advice from someone who is in worse shape than they are!
3.) The Instructor(s) Must Be Experts With Exercise Progressions. Every exercise has the appropriate regression and progression based on your current fitness level. Overweight, de-conditioned beginners SHOULD NOT perform the exact same exercises as their more fit counterparts. If you ask your trainer if he/she can show an exercise modification that better suits your particular situation and they give you a blank stare, leave the class on the spot!
4.) The Instructor(s) Must Make Themselves Available 10-15 Minutes Before and After Every Session. Although a good trainer can effectively train the group as a whole and still give that personal touch, he or she must be willing to speak with clients before AND after every workout to address any personal issues that might arise within the scope of your training or in related to other very important topics like nutrition, supplements and general fitness questions.
5.) The Program Must Emphasize Body Weight Before External Resistance. There should be no added weight to any movements until you have mastered the key foundational body weight exercises in full ranges of motion like push-ups, squats, lunges, etc. A red flag should be raised if you are being instructed to add weight to a movement that you have yet to master with your body weight alone. This one's important because it's not a matter of if you will get hurt... it's a matter of when!
6.) The Training System Must Focus on Body Weight Circuit Training and Cardio Interval Training. High-Intensity Interval Training is scientifically proven to burn 9x more fat than the aerobic training alternative, so it is critical that both the resistance training AND cardio programs provided incorporate intervals since the goal of 99% of fitness enthusiasts is fat loss. Furthermore, most people are seeking for the lean, athletic look of a men's health or women's health cover model respectively, and this is easily accomplished with 2-5 (or more) body weight resistance training movements organized in a easy to understand circuit fashion with the proper pre-programmed work to rest periods between exercises.
7.) The Program Must Provide Nutritional Information. Nutrition is 80% of the weight loss battle. Without it, you are joining an incomplete program and wasting your money since there is no amount of exercise that can compensate for poor dietary habits. People are very busy so the nutrition program needs to be clearly outlined and easy to follow. It should provide both Quick-Start Nutrition Guides for both men and women so that will have you eating to support your fat loss goals in 5 minutes or less. In addition, a cookbook with a whole bunch of healthy and delicious done-for-you recipes should be provided to keep you on track!
8.) The Program Must Have A Website AND An Interactive Web 2.0 Social Network offered. Bottom line, if the boot camp program in question does not have a website in this day in age, it is not worth your time and money. Personal training is not just about "training," it is a business and it needs to be approached that way. Furthermore, social support must extend outside of the boot camp workout. There are several web 2.0 interactive social networks (e.g. NING) that offer member profiles, blogging, and a forum where trainers and clients can interact with each other for FREE, so there is no excuse not to set this up for boot camp clients and the program itself.
9.) The Program Must Have Social Proof And Raving Fans. If the fitness program works, there should be proof in the form of client testimonials. Their previous clients should have results and be raving about all of the benefits that they have received from the program. Ask for before and after pictures and written or video testimonials of their services before signing up (again, this should be made available on the company website). And remember, it's NOT just about the weight loss. Benefits should include, but not be limited to, increased energy levels, dress/pant size reduction, improved health profiles, increased strength and flexibility, less joint pain, etc.
10.) The Program Must Offer A FREE Trial or Satisfaction Guarantee. If the boot camp program is confident about what they have to offer, then they will let you come in and try it for free or they will guarantee your satisfaction or your money back to completely eliminate the risk on your end. A results-based programs looks to minimize barriers of entry for prospects into their boot camps because they know that once the prospect experiences the benefits of the program firsthand they will surely continue their workouts with the boot camp.