Boot Camps for me.

The popularity of Boot Camps is testament to the fact that participants continually achieve fitness results greater than if they were training alone.

Through the financial and time commitments associated with a Boot Camp as well as the “team” focus of Boot Camps, participants feel more obliged to attend their scheduled boot camp sessions. This generally results in participants experiencing a higher exercise frequency then if they were just going it alone.

When training alone it is much easier to post-pone a workout compared with a Boot Camp where you have “enlisted” for the duration and are expected to attend each session.

If you do decide to sneak that extra hour of sleep in your nice warm bed instead of attending your boot camp session, a good Boot Camp instructor will not let you escape and will actually email, sms or telephone you to remind you of your “enlistment” in the sessions and how you being “AWOL” may jeopardise the results that you will achieve.

Generally a good Boot Camp will be conducted in a conducive environment ranging from park, oval, gym or hall and comprise work outs that challenge not only your body but your mind.

The workouts will generally consist of a group warm up such as a light jog and stretches, lots of push ups, heaps of sit ups, plenty of lovely squats, skipping and boxing based activities.

Thrown into the mix may even be a few team games such as tug of war, touch frisbee or relay races.

At the successful completion of each Boot Camp session the participants will experience a great feeling of achievement and satisfaction and may even notch up a personal best on the weekly fitness tests such as the 3 minute step up-test, the beep test, or the push ups max test.

But sometimes the greatest part of a Boot Camp in this day and age of social networking on internet sites such as facebook and twitter, is the actual person to person interaction with real people.

Through a Boot Camp you will have the opportunity to meet new people and possibly make long lasting friendships as well as being trained by a Boot Camp Instructor who should be a personal trainer.

When selecting a Boot Camp make sure that your Boot Camp Instructor holds the appropriate qualifications and is committed to helping you and others achieve their specific fitness goals.

It is the Boot Camp Instructor’s job to make sure you attend your Boot Camp sessions, to encourage you each step of the way, to inspire you with their own fitness levels and commitment to a healthy lifestyle, and to provide a guided exercise regime that is both safe and challenging.

A good Boot Camp instructor will also provide you with feedback on your nutritional intake and this can be achieved through a Boot Camp diary that you will maintain each week and then hand in to your instructor for their perusal and assessment.

In addition a good instructor will also support you, as a participant, outside of Boot Camp sessions via facebook, email, sms, telephone, skype or mental telepathy. Just kidding on that last one!

So the only thing holding you back from improving your fitness through a Boot Camp is you. So isn’t it time to take the step and join a Boot Camp, what have you got to lose?

Jamie Lyngcoln is a Boot Camp Instructor in Ivanhoe, Victoria and a Physical Education teacher at Northland Secondary College.

Anyone interested in attending a Boot Camp can contact Jamie Lyngcoln via email jamielyngcoln@hotmail.com or join his facebook group for online personal training tips and chat

Category: Fitness, LifestyleHq