Fitness Boot Camps: Trend Or Truth?

The popularity of fitness boot camps is on the rise, but is it simply because they are the current fitness trend, or is there more to this fitness phenomenon than trendiness?  I can tell you from first hand experience that they are a fun, efficient and effective way to work out and achieve your fitness goals.

A few years ago, when I first signed up for a twelve week fitness boot camp, I was overweight and out of shape.  By the end of those twelve weeks, I had lost nearly forty pounds, dramatically improved my body composition, and I had a six pack for the first time in my life!  More importantly, I had fun doing it!  But the best thing about joining a fitness boot camp is that it helped me to develop positive habits and an attitude about health and wellness that will last a lifetime.

The focus of a good boot camp program is to improve one's overall level of functional fitness.  Workouts typically consist of interval based aerobic training and resistance exercise which, together, burn fat, build muscle, promote balance and stability and improve cardio-respiratory conditioning.  Such programs also have the tendency and ability to boost self-confidence, increase energy levels, improve mood and attitude and evoke and inspire an overall lifestyle change.

The motivational and fun atmosphere, accountability factor and comradery of fitness boot camps make them an ideal exercise program for those who my be less "intrinsically motivated" to exercise, and participants receive a lot of the individualized attention and benefits of one on one personal training sessions, usually at a rate everyone can afford.

So, enlist on your own or recruit a friend, and find out for yourself why boot camps are not just the latest fitness trend, but rather an excellent way to improve your health and your overall quality of life...  No boots required.

 Gary Gochenour MT, CPT,

Writter for THE BODY DOC