Bottling Bootcamps: A Big Mistake

Bootcamps are everywhere.  Even up here in the Northeast Kingdom, there are so many per capita that it reflects exactly what is happening all around the world and has been for a couple years.  It truly is bittersweet to see.  I love the idea of group training and the community and support a group can bring to an individual and lift their effort, positive attitude, and results farther than anything the individual would have done on their own.

Before I get into what worries me, let me first explain that I call my program ‘bootcamp’ because it is a catchy word that people are curious about.  How many times have you seen the word bootcamp and your first thought was that of fear. The fear of yelling, belittling, screaming, and just plain not fun?  Let me tell you that is not what we do, in fact it is almost the complete opposite.  We do expect you to work hard, but also safe. We yell but only encouragement and instruction, and despite the workouts being very difficult to the point they test your will, we make it fun by being light hearted, have a positive personality, and supportive of eachother.

Many various professions use the word ‘bootcamp’ to describe seminars or workshops they put on and it is that realization early on that I know I had made the right decision in naming my program.  Sure it was catchy and I did bootcamps before bootcamps were cool, but the word bootcamp doesn’t exactly just describe the type of workout.  In other professions they use the word to give the idea of a brief but intense session of a lot of various components that you will utilize, perform, or learn.  Basically a condensed version of a workshop, or workout without compromising the end product (learning or seeing results).  I feel this has to be explained as so many are scared of our program based on the name when the name actually means something completely different than what they portray (perhaps a marketing error on my part .

Ok, back to the topic.  I love the idea of group training in most instances as it has way too many positives to ignore.  However, it must be done correctly.  As the instructor or coach, you have to work much harder in groups than you do in individual training as you have to provide as good of a service to the group as you would to the individual (at least that is what is in my head whenever I teach a group of clients).  A successful program will do that and will value their client as an individual before, during, and after every class.  Anyone can watch a group training class and feel they can teach one right away on their own, or think they can start a ‘bootcamp’ on their own and make it successful.  However, there is much more to it than meets the eye.  Besides making it all inclusive in a condensed amount of time, it is much more than a two or three times a week meet up and throw a bunch of exercises together and workout type of gig (unfortunately this might be news to some bootcamp ‘owners’).  Here is just a small list of things we do for our clients to ensure they are getting the best service:

Evaluations

Orientations to our program

Nutrition Service (some included with membership, some not)

Blog

Workshops to further their understanding of exercise tools and other strategies to further their success

Specialty classes to focus on trouble areas or to bust through a plateau with their results

A supportive environment- something money can’t buy

Those are just a few components to layers and layers of what our program does.  Now while the workout is the main component, obviously, to build a community that is all inclusive is difficult and takes a lot of work.  It goes much deeper than one exercise is better than another, people want to change themselves physically, but in order to do so, must first change from the inside as their thinking and actions dictate any end result. With our program it all comes down to one word:

Empowerment

I tell all of our clients from day 1 that our number one objective every day they come through our doors is empowerment.  We must be the most empowering part of their day or we haven’t done our job.  And empowerment means a lot of things. Perhaps its setting a personal best in an exercise using a specific weight.  Perhaps its taking less rest during a work period of the workout of the day.  No matter what it is, we create an environment where empowerment happens.

Two things amazing happen when you empower someone or create that environment: They begin to realize their potential and that the limitations they set upon themselves were very modest and that the sky truly is the limit.

The other thing that happens is of course motivation to move forward and a new outlook on their health, their life, and their lifestyle.  What was once thought impossible is no longer.

The product of these two realizations through empowerment produce results.

Now I know I went off on a little bit of a tangent so let me wrap this up and explain the title of this article.  Many people tend to think bootcamp is a style of training when that is not the case.  Bottling bootcamps into one category is an unfair way of categorizing a fitness program that is labeled as hard, lots of yelling, and just a negative situation all together.  Or just a group exercise program with no personal attention and a generalized workout that has a bunch of random exercises thrown together because thats what ‘the instructor felt like doing today’.  Structured programming, individual attention, and an environment to promote empowerment is a recipe that less than 1% of the bootcamp programs in the world.  And that’s because its tough to do.  Tough but necessary.