How to get the most out of a Bootcamp

Bootcamps, as the name implies, are largely based on the methods that the military employs to induct new recruits into the military. These can include high-intensity aerobic exercises as well as traditional callisthenic exercises like push-ups and jumping jacks. Bootcamp classes are often intense and packed with challenging movements and sequences that train your entire body.

How to find a fitness bootcamp

• Location: Make sure the bootcamp is located in a convenient location for you.
• Time of day: Choose a bootcamp that fits your schedule.
• Intensity: Choose a bootcamp that is the right intensity for you.
• Price: Consider the cost of the bootcamp when making your decision

THE BENEFITS OF BOOT CAMP:

• VARIETY - Every session is different to the last. Working to the same high standards, every BMF instructor has their own unique way of delivering a highly effective outdoor training session.

• CHALLENGE - British Military Fitness is a whole-body workout which; through team and individual exercises, circuits and games, is designed to improve speed, agility, strength and stamina.

• QUALITY - All our instructors are highly trained, experienced, and up to date with the latest fitness techniques and developments. We can't promise that their sense of humour is up to quite the same standard, but they try their best!

• TEAMWORK  You'll experience an enjoyable, effective workout through team games, paired exercises, and group activities.

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF BOOT CAMP?

It isn’t just your scales that will thank you for doing boot camp classes. Your long-term health and general wellbeing will too. Sure, you’re bound to look better after you’ve become a boot camp regular. You’ll be enroute to getting toned up and slimmed down, after all. You’ll feel fantastic after exercising outside, but science has found it will benefit your long-term health, too.

LESS FAT, STRONGER HEART, BETTER HEALTH - As you might imagine, physical exertion has a habit of burning fat and improving overall fitness. Boot camp-style work is definitely a great form of physical exertion. But, while fat loss and better stamina are great in and of themselves, they come with extra health kicks, too. 

LESS STRESS - Any kind of exercise can be great for stress relief, but it’s been discovered that exercising in the midst of nature can be a particularly powerful antidote. recent research in Japan found walking in the company of trees meant lower concentrations of cortisol, aka the stress hormone, than doing the same in an urban environment. What it all suggests is that getting your exercise on in the wild, like you do with us, could not only lower your stress levels but help fight against all the negatives too much cortisol is thought to cause. 

GROUP MOTIVATION - The social boot camp set-up doesn’t just improve overall enthusiasm, the very act of doing exercise in a group increases performance during that workout. when doing it with one or two others than if they were on their own. That means more calories burned and more weight lost just by getting a sweat on with a friend or new bootcamp buddie.

 COMPETITION = LONGER WORKING OUT - You’ve gained the all muscle mass boot camp is likely to offer, and you work high-intensity training into your weekly plan. The only thing you’re after is turning your slightly soft physique into one that’s sharp and shredded. What can boot camp do that your current routine can’t? It can provide competition. Exercising in a group is prone to prompt just that.More than going solo, or simply working out next to someone else. 

 

 

Can BOOT CAMP HELP TO IMPROVE STRENGTH AND MUSCLE MASS?

If you’re after more power, a toned physique and even improved performance, boot camp-style exercise can help. Boot camps are great for improving strength. There’s the multi-joint bodyweight exercises that hit every bit of you and the varied quantity of reps that’ll build the perfect balance of endurance and power.

FIT TO FUNCTION - Boot camps use what the fitness world calls ‘functional’ exercises, meaning movements that employ several joints as well as muscle groups and translate to actions you might actually do in the real world.  Both improve your pushing ability but the first readies your arms, chest, back and core and teaches them to work together. The second focuses on your arms and chest. 

SUSTAINABLE STRENGTH - The number of reps (aka repetitions) you’ll do in exercises at a boot camp is ideal for building up your muscle power. You see, how many reps you perform on something like a squat will influence what your leg muscles get out of it. For bodyweight work, repetitions of around 20 mean you’re priming muscles for endurance.

 

LIGHT CAN BE RIGHT - However, there are studies which say lighter can be just as good as heavier at encouraging muscle growth. Instead of a large number of reps, as used by bodybuilders, you have to keep going until failure.  While not all boot campers will do push-ups until they can’t anymore, those that do could start seeing bigger arms.

HOW SHOULD I RECOVER AFTER BOOT CAMP?

After a good boot camp session, you might think that you can’t even entertain the idea of moving a muscle. Giving your moaning muscles a rub-down by your own hand or use a foam roller.

For some people they embrace ice therapy,  is that the freezing temperature constricts your blood vessels, which pushes out blood filled with the waste products caused by exercise (and that lead to post-workout pain). When you return to room temperature, fresh blood floods your muscles with nutrients.

Also don't forget sleep “Have an early night; eight hours of sleep.” 

Read our article running boot camps  if your a looking at delivering boot camps, if you need any further help we would be delighted to answer any questions.