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March 26, 2013

5 Bootcamp Drills for Finishers and Fun

Hi trainers, no full workout this week, instead we are going to try something a little different. Enjoy this little collection of finisher drills and games from trainers around the world.

1. Roxanne

A nice little finisher I do with indoor or outdoor classes.

You will need: 1 stereo and a download of Roxanne by The Police.

So how it works: Explain to the clients you will be playing a 3.5 min track. Tell them for the duration of the song they must remain in the upper push up position and when they hear ‘Roxanne’ it’s one push up and when they hear ‘red light’ it’s one squat thrust. Heaps of fun and hard work especially when it goes ballistic in the middle and end.

Thanks to Rubin Allen from Parkfit Cambridge

sea cliff

2. Scavenger Hunt

I use this to stall for time, if I have to fix up a station or if I’ve forgotten something.

Tell everyone that they need to shake hands and introduce themselves to 3 different people, touch the leaves on 3 different trees, step up and down on 3 different seats, and anything else random that will get them running all over the park. I have also asked them to tell me what the park entrance sign says, or bring me back a flower.

Thanks to Chriss Tinsley from BOD Squad Personal Training

3. Card Game

I use this one when I am brain dead.

I have made up lots of separate cards with no equip exercises on them.

I have split them up into 4 categories:

  • Upper
  • Lower
  • Cardio
  • Abs

Examples: push ups and all the variations, tri dips etc squats / lunges and all variations hills, 1 long lap, star jumps any ab variations I wont list them all, I’m sure you all have heaps.

When I need to fill in some time in the class, I ask someone to take a lucky dip. They can take just 1 card or 1 of each. Its then up to you on how many they perform. For example, 1 minute of each or 20 sec of each, then 30 sec, then 40 etc, or tabata. The list is endless (actually you could also do cards up with how they perfom them and lucky dip that too).

I make it fun and blame the exercise on the person who pulled it out (not on me) for example, ‘It’s Sue’s fault you all got burpees. ha ha.’

If anyone brings their kids along – I’ll get the kids to draw the lucky dip. I’ve even got an elderly couple on their walk to do it. Everyone had a laugh, including the couple.

Thanks to Chriss Tinsley from BOD Squad Personal Training

4. Mirror Image

Equipment: None

Time: 1 minute 30 seconds each way

Players: 2-25

Aim: To mimic you partners movements as quickly as possible.

Method: Have the pairs face each other with a 3 metre gap in between. Player one must copy player twos movements as quickly as possible. The key is to make it as hard as possible for the other player. Players should be encouraged to mimic the movements as quickly as possible. Players must be facing at all times and should be fixed to one spot. Once the time is up, players swap. Aim to play two games with a swap of partners for the second.

Rules:

  • Players are encouraged to use a wide variety of exercises.
  • The instructor should demonstrate first to give the other players ideas about what to do.
  • Each round should last 1 minute 30 seconds.
  • Pair players up with the same ability where possible

Game Variation:

Players can only use the following movements:

  1. Right shuffle touch floor
  2. Left shuffle touch floor
  3. Tuck jump in the air
  4. Touch the floor

Players can only use these 4 movements

Give it a try and let me know how you all get on, its guarenteed to add fun in to your bootcamp.

Thanks to Leon Melnicenko from Sound Fitness

rock paper scissors

5. Team Rock, Paper, Scissors

This is a team game that would work well as a finisher or mid-workout cardio boost. This came from my boys gym teacher (NOTE: ask kids in elementary school what they did in gym that day, it’s a GREAT resource for ideas to take to bootcamp) which he titles “Wizards, Goblins, Ghouls”, it’s based on Rock,Paper,Scissors but I can never keep straight if Wizards beat Ghouls or Goblins etc, so for the adults I use Rock,Paper,Scissors.

Play on a Soccer Pitch\Football field\Basketball court:

  • Split the group into two teams.
  • Each far side of playing field is each teams’ home base (I say “in the goal” when using the soccer pitch).
  • As a team, ‘campers huddle in goal and decide what they’re going to throw as a team (either Rock,Paper,Scissors), making sure other team does not hear.
  • Both teams meet at edge of center circle and throw their choice out on the count of 3.
  • Winning team chases down losing team.
  • Losing team turns and runs as FAST as they can back to their home-base, if they reach home base, they are SAFE. Any ‘campers tagged by any member of the winning team are now part of the winning team.
  • Repeat

Play continues for 5-10 minutes, team with most players wins, or until everyone ends up on one team.

Thanks to Brittney St. Germain

Images: blmurch, Mark Turnauckas

To see your awesome workouts and drills on the website use our submit a workout page. I love getting your bootcamp ideas so keep sending them through!

Filed Under: Bootcamp Drills Tagged With: , , , , , , , 1 Comment
February 6, 2013

Full Body Bootcamp Workout

Today’s workout is from Karen Drozdowski. I thought it might be a good one for those who are stuck doing bootcamp indoors at the moment.

muddy

Full Body Trifecta

Need: dumbbells, mats & cones

Set up: ROW 1: Weights of choice depending on exercise. ROW 2: mats. ROW 3: cones

Warm Up

3- 5 min of dynamic exercises.

Main Drill

Clients start at any station where they will do each exercise for  50 seconds. They have 10 seconds to get to the next station which should be about 10 yards away. Once they complete all 3 stations in their row they move onto the next row. Give a 1 minute rest every 3 rounds. Each circuit should last about 17 minutes Repeat circuit 2-3 times.

For example, the first 2 rounds might look like this: Thrusters, Scissors, Squat Jacks, Kick backs, Flutter Kicks, Mountain Climbers.

ROW 1 Exercises (dumbbells):

  1. Squat Thrusters
  2. Tricep Kick Backs
  3. Walking Lunges w/ DBs
  4. Hammer Curls
  5. DB or KB Swings

ROW 2 Exercises (AB work):

  1. Scissors
  2. Flutter Kicks
  3. Coffin Sit ups
  4. Bicycles
  5. Plank

ROW 3 Exercises (body weight)

  1. Squat Jacks
  2. Mountain Climbers
  3. Split Lunges-prisoner style
  4. Burpees w/ pushup and tuck jump
  5. Surfer Turns

Finisher

End with 4 minutes of:

  • 20 yard sprint then turn around
  • 10 yard bear crawl
  • 10 yard broad jumps

About Karen

Karen does indoor and outdoor bootcamps in Cypress, TX. She enjoys creating unique workouts that keep clients interested and challenged. Her goal is to help people experience fitness in a way where they are having fun yet constantly feeling the benefits of their workouts. Using timed intervals is a great way that even the not so fit clients can still participate. Check out Transform Me Fitness.

Reminder

Kyle here. Just a quick reminder that there is only a few days left to get the Fitness Bootcamp Instructors Survival Kit at a massive discount. After Friday night (US time) it will be returning to full price.

If you want to learn more about it, check out the website. If you would like to share a workout with us, like the one above, please use the Submit A Workout page.

Filed Under: Circuit, Dumbbells, HIT, Indoor Tagged With: , , , , , , 5 Comments
January 15, 2013

Heart Raiser Bootcamp Workout (New Exercises Galore)

I received half a dozen workouts from Desiree Hodnett at Camp Gladiator last year. They are all so great I’ve had a lot of trouble deciding which one’s to put up on the site. I decided to start with this one which looks quite fun (and super tough). Thanks for sharing Desiree.

jump

Cardio Control Workout

Equipment: Skipping Ropes, 3x whiteboards, dumbbells

There will be three groups of mixed ability for this workout. One group will be the cardio control group- the other teams will continue to work on their series of exercises until the cardio control group completes theirs. Once the cardio control group finishes you will rotate groups. Have three whiteboards with each groups exercises written on them; groups are circled around their board; when it is time to rotate just swap out each teams board.

Cardio Control Board:

Number of reps for each exercise is multiplied by total number of people in that group

  1. 50 Hard Count Lateral Jax
  2. 20 Forward/Backward Burpees at mat- squat jump forward, do burpee, squat jump back, do burpee
  3. 50 Pushup Position Shoulder Taps
  4. 50 Sagittal Scissor Jumps- like a jump lunge but not as deep and with more speed, incorporate arms into scissor action
  5. 50 Mountain Spiders
  6. 100 Jump Rope
  7. 10 Ground Rotation Pushups- do GR and keep that knee tucked under AS you do the pushup (great for abs) then switch legs at the top
  8. 20 Plank Suicides
  9. 20 180° Squat Jumps

Dumbbell Board #1

Campers are working individually here- no multiplying reps by team number, they each are doing specified reps for each exercise and repeating until cardio control is done.

10 reps each

  • Wide Squat with Arc Raise – palms facing out in between legs at bottom of squat; as you stand up you raise the DB’s to the side in an arc overhead forming a circle
  • Pushup Pos alt Lateral Raise – if straight arm is too challenging have them go to knees or do a bent arm lat raise
  • Side Lunge Rotation to overhead leg lift crunch – this one can be a little tricky at first but it’s a really good one. Hold one dumbbell in both hands, gripping the bell portion on each end. Do a side lunge to the left and rotate your torso and DB to the outside of left knee. As you step back to the start position you swing the Db to the right in a small arc, load the right leg, and lift the left leg straight up to the side as you do an oblique crunch with the weight overhead.
  • Ski Jumps with Triceps Kickback – keep a squatted position, feet together and  squat jump to the side and do a kickback, alt back and forth

DB Board #2

10 reps each

  • Pushup position alt row to frog press- do 2 rows from pushup position then jump feet in to a low squat, keep core tight, lift arms up and do a shoulder press. This is one rep.
  • Squat Jax Flashers – sounds similar to a toyota squat jump
  • Flying Jump Lunges- keep arms in lat raise position, like you are flying (bent arm for less advanced option) and do 10 jump lunges (emphasize power and not speed on these lunges)
  • Wide Squat to Upright Row
  • Alternating Bicep Curls (20 total)

I am always taking new workouts here at Bootcamp Ideas so if you feel like sharing, head to our submit a workout page. To get workouts like this delivered to your email, sign up to our mailing list.

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Image: benaston

Filed Under: Cardio, Dumbbells, Outdoor, Strength Tagged With: , , , , , , , 10 Comments
January 11, 2013

Christmas Themed Bootcamp Circuit

This workout is thanks to Sarah Gahagan. Sarah has an interesting story of how she got her job. Thanks for sharing Sarah!

By the way, this workout is an excellent example of a drill circuit.

snow man

Melting Frosty

Type: Cardio, Strength, Fun!

Time: 60 minutes

Equipment Needed: 10 cones, 4x 25lb weight plates, 6 mats, 2 agility ladders, 10 small hurdles, 5 large hurdles – your numbers may vary depending on your class size

Warm-Up

30 sec. each of:

  • Empty sleeves
  • Arms swings
  • Frankenstein walk
  • Knee hugs
  • Ankle grabs
  • Warrior lunges

Repeat.

The Workout

Split the group into 4 teams with only one team member per station.

Timekeeping: When the individual on the Melting Frosty station finishes the last suicide run he/she yells “Magic Hat!” and that team will move to the next station.

Take frequent water breaks.

Stations

1. Melting Frosty

Set up a suicide run with a baseline and 5 markers in a row, each 5 meters apart.

Individuals run to the furthest marker (25m) and back to the first. Once they get back to the baseline they do 10 push-ups. Then the individual runs to the second furthest marker (20m) and back and does another 10 push-ups. Individuals continue in this pattern until their last run to the nearest marker (5m) followed by another 10 push-ups at the base line and then yell “Magic Hat” (because “Frosty” survived the push-ups and came back to life!) when finished.

2. The Grinch’s Legs

(Clients should want the strength he gets when he saves Cindi on the sleigh) The individuals on this station should repeat the following exercises, with a 25 lb weight plate, until it’s time to change stations.

  1. 10 Regular squats
  2. 5 Fwd/bkwd lunges (same leg then switch)
  3. 10 Romanian deadlift
  4. 10 Sumo squat pulses

3. The Star of David

Set up two cones 10 meters apart. Individuals do a star burpee (jump up with hands and legs spread out like a star) at one cone and then run to the other, turn around and do another one. They keep repeating this until it’s time to change stations.

4. Santa’s Bowlful of Jelly

The individuals on this station should repeat the following exercises until it’s time to change stations.

  1. 10 reverse crunches
  2. 10 flutter kicks (each leg)
  3. 10 v-ups
  4. 10 plank up-downs (each arm)

5. The Menorah’s Shine

Set up two cones 10 meters apart. Clients do a candle burpee (jump up like a pencil, with hands straight up) at one cone and then run to the other, turn around and do another one. They keep repeating this until it’s time to change stations.

6. Kevin McCallister’s Booby Traps

Clients race through the following agility course as many times as possible until it’s time to change stations.

  1. Agility ladder: in/in, out/out
  2. Small hurdles: high knees, one foot over each
  3. Big hurdles: hop over with both feet
  4. Bear crawl to cone
  5. Run back to start

Cool Down / Stretch

About Sarah

I’m from Presque Isle, Maine and I’ve been a boot camp instructor for 1.5 years and volunteered for about 6 months prior to leading the class on my own. When the owner of the gym knew I was volunteering my time at 5:00am three days/week, with no intention of actually getting a position of any sort, but simply because I had a passion to teach and I’m a stickler on form, he figured it was only right for me to take it over!

It’s been quite a blessing to be a part of others’ lives in this way and I now teach four different classes, and am a personal trainer and a massage therapist at the gym. My seasonal jobs are coaching the middle school cross country ski team and leading other outdoor youth programs. Find me on Facebook.

In regards to the workout, I can’t take all the credit. Most of the credit goes to one of the awesome workouts I got from Kyle Wood in his Little Bootcamp Book of Workouts (buy it!). I took what he had and modified it to make it Christmas-themed. It worked really well given the limited space and equipment I have to run my class, and of course, I dressed up while teaching it.

Merry Christmas! :)

How to do Reverse Crunches, Flutter Kicks and V-Ups

Check out SEALFIT‘s video on how to do several of their signature ab exercises, including reverse crunches, flutter kicks and v-ups which are all used in the workout above. Email readers you can view this video here.

That compliment above was completely unsolicited but very appreciated. If you want to share a workout (compliment about me not required) you can do so via our Submit A Workout form. Or if you prefer to just get the workouts, sign up to the email list (green box below) to get weekly emails.

Image: Nomadic Lass

Filed Under: Circuit, Indoor, Outdoor, Strength Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 3 Comments
January 7, 2013

Functional Bootcamp Workout

This holiday themed workout comes from first time workout submitter Nicole King.

If you don’t have all of the equipment below, try to come up with your own stations that fit with the festive season.

shoveling snow

Functional Fitness Frenzy

Equipment: Interval Timer, Dumbbells, MedBalls, Sledge Hammer, Tire (tyre), Battling Ropes, Mini Hurdles, Prowler/Sled

The Workout

Each exercise represents an ordinary daily event that one may do.  Between each exercise, ‘Fido’ the dog escapes and participants must sprint to end of field (to get Fido) and back to the next station.

First round, each station is for 1 minute. Second round each station goes for 30 seconds.

1. Morning Coffee – wall sits while doing DB or med ball curls (like your drinking coffee)

2. Chop the wood – sledge hammer on tire

3. Shovel the snow – lift med ball from feet and “throw” it over opposite shoulder

4. Carry the suitcase – carry DB up stairs – 5 squats and come back down

5. Shake out the rug – rope slams

6. Toy jumps – jump over 8 hurdles

7. Grocery Shopping – push sled to plate, add, push to next plate, add, etc.  Pull back to beginning

8. Dragging – your body is so tired at the end of the day, that you are dragging. On belly, body is limp and simply use arms to drag yourself back home.

9. Wine time – like #1, wall sits with DB curls.

Again, after the time is up, instructor calls, “Who let the dog out?!” and they all sprint to the end and back to their next station.  It was so fun and a couple of people got pretty upset that the darn dog kept getting out of the house.  Very fun and functional.

About Nicole

I am a personal trainer in MN and have fallen in love with bootcamps. I firmly believe in functional fitness and the benefits it provides to all of us.

How To Do Rope Slams

Check out My Mad Methods short video to doing rope slams. Email readers use this link.

Image: oddharmonic

To share your own workouts with the community, use the Submit A Workout form. To stay informed of all of our future workouts, join our newsletter by entering your email in the green box below.

Filed Under: Circuit, Indoor, Outdoor, Ropes, Strength, Tyres Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 3 Comments
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