You are here: Home / Archives for Bootcamp Tips

How To Keep Strength Bootcamp Workouts Interesting (+Workout)

May 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

As you can tell from flipping through this website, bootcamp workouts come in all shapes and sizes.

While a lot of the workouts I share with you use intricate drills, tyres, ropes and lots of running, sometimes it’s important to give your clients a basic high intensity strength workout to reinforce technique and burn a lot of energy. In fact I schedule in what I dub a ‘boring’ workout once a week for my groups.

What is a ‘boring’ workout?

When I talk about boring, I mean for me, not my clients. I couldn’t stand coaching eight workouts a week where I am watching the stop watch the whole time (even with a Gymboss). I like variety, I like 3 people running one way and 6 running the other way and the rest dragging heavy ropes across the wet ground. Those are fun workouts.

However, the bootcamps are not about me, they are about my clients and high intensity strength workouts are great because they work.

I am not very good at planning them, so usually I will go to a Bootcamp Girls workout or a bootcamp workout idea for some inspiration. Recently I added MRT Bootcamp Workouts to my repertoire.

What are MRT Bootcamps?

If you have hunted around online for bootcamp training, no doubt you have come across Turbulence Training. In fact there is a banner on our recommended products page.

Craig Ballantyne has created an online empire for his brand Turbulance Training (TT) He is a great role model in learning how to take the skills and knowledge you build as a trainer, packaging them and selling them to a wider audience. TT has had a bootcamp package out for sometime now, but more recently Craig took his new Metabolic Resistance Training (MRT) techniques and turned it into a series of 61 bootcamp workouts.

This book is a great source of simple high-intensity and strength bootcamp workouts to use in conjunction with more fun and interactive challenge type workouts.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Bootcamp Resources, Bootcamp Tips, Indoor, Strength Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A Simple Mobility Warm Up For Bootcamps

March 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: +3 (from 3 votes)

For this weeks Exercise(s) Of the Week I was inspired by a video I posted up on the Facebook page.

Below are six of my favourite mobility drills to use with clients. Some are kindly borrowed from Eric Cressey’s Show And Go Training.

They are all simple to instruct and are great for loosening up the body for a good bootcamp session. Do not have clients hold the stretch position for more then a couple of seconds.

1. Walking Knee Grab

Mobilizes the posterior of the hip. Warms up stabilizer muscles in legs.

How to instruct:

  • Lift your leg and grab the top of your shin with both hands.
  • Pull your knee up and towards your chest aiming for a quick stretch through the hamstrings/glutes.
  • Place foot back on the ground in a step forward.
  • Repeat with the other side.

Do 5-10 each leg or over 10-15 metres.

2. Walking Ankle Grap

Mobilizes the posterior of the hip targeting the piriformis.

How to instruct:

  • Lift your leg to the front and grab your ankle.
  • Pull your ankle upwards while rotating about the hip.
  • Place foot back on the ground in a step forward.
  • Repeat with the other side.

Do 5-10 each leg or over 10-15 metres.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Bootcamp Exercises, Bootcamp Tips Tagged With: , , , ,

We’ve Got A Winner!

February 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

My clients have hated me over the last few weeks.

Perhaps it’s simply doing a workout that’s designed by someone who is not their usual trainer that has made them all challenging. I on the other hand have enjoyed myself immensely while putting them through their paces.

But on to the part you’ve been waiting for. The winner of our little (or not so little judging by the amount of forum hits) competition.

First Place

With a choice between an internationally accredited Bootcamp Instructors Course or 12 months of workouts and a voucher, the winner is Jess Griffin from NJ Fit Mom.

Her Acronym workout was a lot of fun and damn hard work. I particularly liked the Rock Paper Scissors warm up (we had our clients use their whole bodies to make the rock, paper or scissors) and the EMOM addition.

Second Place

Taking the remaining first place prize was Rubin Allen with his Dynamic Endurance workout. This workout has an excellent combination of interval based strength and cardio drills. Use one or the whole workout.

Runner’s Up

It was very close between the next 3 places. Naomi, Lisa and Axel have just won themselves a copy of Bootcamp Workout Ideas.

Thank you to the other trainers who took the time to share their workouts (David, Mike, Shaun and Kerry). The forum with always be there for you to share ideas and ask questions.

To the prize winners, I will be in contact with you via email over the next few days with how to claim your prize.

Filed Under: Bootcamp Tips Tagged With: , ,

Voting For Your Favourite Workout Is Open

February 6, 2012 By 4 Comments
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Voting for the Bootcamp Workout Competition has begun and will continue until Friday 24th February. I need to to help decide who has the coolest bootcamp workout.

Before I continue, thank you to the nine awesome trainers who took the time out of their busy schedules to share their workouts with myself and the community. There are some awesome workouts here that I can’t wait to unleash upon my clients.

Here are the nominations (in no particular order):

How to vote:

Step 1:

Try out one or more of the bootcamps linked above. They are free to use so go ahead and use them all. You have three weeks to try them out.

Step 2:

Vote on the poll below for the ones you liked.

Step 3:

Go to the forum thread and vote there too. Every little extra vote counts.

Step 4:

While you are at the forum, take a couple of minutes to comment on the threads of the workouts you liked. Go ahead and share any modifications you used too to help other trainers.

To the entrants:

Feel free to share your workouts with your colleagues and fellow trainers. Every vote you get counts!

Poll

Which workout(s) did you like the best?

  • ACRONYM BC! AMRAP/EMOM/RSP by njfitmom (49%, 66 Votes)
  • Dynamic Endurance by Rubin (30%, 41 Votes)
  • Total Body - High Intensity - "7" workout by Lisa (13%, 17 Votes)
  • Legs, Glutes and Abs by totalfit (4%, 5 Votes)
  • Pyramid Workout by Naomi Miller (3%, 4 Votes)
  • Partner Bootcamp Workout by Mikeh (2%, 3 Votes)
  • Timed Bootcamp Workout by shaun (2%, 3 Votes)
  • Climb The LADDER! by dsullivan (1%, 2 Votes)
  • The Kitchen Sink by kmoore (1%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 136

Loading ... Loading ...

Ask any questions you have below.

Filed Under: Bootcamp Tips Tagged With: ,

Bootcamp Ideas Annual Trainer Competition

January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

I’ve been hinting at a bit of a surprise over the past couple of weeks. Finally everything is in place so I can announce it! Read on for more details.

Bootcamp Workout Competition

Who’s got the best workout up their sleeve?

We’ve decided to host a small competition on who can come up with the best workout. You can submit any of your workouts from last year or the years before or you can make up a completely new one.

Here’s how it’s going to work. Trainers who wish to participate can submit workouts via the forums over one week.

The rest of the Bootcamp Ideas readers then have 3 weeks to try out the workouts they like the look of and vote on them. The workout with the most votes wins.

Prizes

The awesome sponsors for this competition are the Bootcamp Alliance and Bootcamp Workout Ideas. Both have been very kind in arranging some great prizes for you.

First Place

First place will have their preference of ONE of the following prizes

OR

Second Place

The second place winner will receive the left over prize from above.

Runner Ups

The next three runner ups will receive a copy of Bootcamp Workout Ideas (value $59)

EDIT: I realised that some of you who want to enter may already own one or more of these products. Rest assured that if you win and you already own the product you will still be looked after. Most likely with a voucher of equal value to a store or program.

Dates

Workouts can be submitted from 9.00am tomorrow, (Saturday 28th January 2012) and will close 11.59pm EDT Friday 3rd February (03/02/2012).

Workouts can be voted on from 9.00am EDT Sunday 5th February (05/02/2012) until 11.59pm EDT Friday 24th February (24/02/2012).

Winners will be announced on Sunday 26th February (26/02/2012) via the website and our Facebook page.

How to Enter

  1. Create an account on the community forums.
  2. Share a workout in the Bootcamp Workouts forum. (Don’t use the form in the navigation above)
  3. All workouts submitted within the appropriate dates will be considered.

Rules

  1. Only one workout submission per trainer.
  2. Workouts should take 45-60 minutes to complete. Warm ups and cooldowns should be included. Please do not submit just drills.
  3. Any unknown/unusual exercises should be described or have links to websites/videos that describe them.
  4. If you would like to submit a workout that you have already submitted to the site before, to keep it fair I’ve decided that you may modify this workout and submit it to the competition.

Terms & Conditions

This isn’t an official competition with pages and pages of fine print. This is something fun I thought we could all do to get the community rocking. There is however a few terms that you should agree to before submitting.

  1. The winning workouts will be featured on the blog (with links back to your site).
  2. Votes will be counted from three  places. A poll on the blog and a poll on the community forums will be provided. In addition, the number of replies to a workout thread will also be added, excluding replies by the author. You can vote in one or all of these places. Note: Replies sent before the voting commencement date will still be counted.
  3. In the case that there is an unusually high number of workouts submitted, I will shortlist them with the help of a few impartial trainers. I will judge them by how innovative they are and how easy they are to follow.

I need you!

This is a community competition so if you feel I’ve been unfair or I’ve missed something out, please pop it in the comments below. I look forward to seeing some great workouts!

- Kyle

Filed Under: Bootcamp Tips Tagged With: , , , ,

Pre-Season Bootcamp Training For Teenage Sports Teams

September 6, 2011 By 1 Comment
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

In my inbox after bootcamp the other morning I had an email telling me I had a new comment:

So glad I found your website. I am starting to plan training for my U17 football team for 2012 (need to start early – these guys are keen).
With testosterone loaded young men, the idea of a bootcamp would certainly appeal to them. Do you have some tips when designing a plan for 16/17 year olds? Do you have a suggested routine?

Thanks

Justin

The answer I wanted to give was a bit long for just a comment so I decided to do a whole post on it.

Training Teens

There are a couple things to keep in mind when training teenagers so that you can get the most out of them.

They want to be first

The big difference between training adults and adolescents or children is their competitive nature. I have about 4 bootcampers who get really motivated with some good competition, the rest just do it because I tell them to.

On the other hand, in Justin’s case, if you have several ‘testosterone loaded young men’ who want to train and are essentially a captive audience, you can really push their buttons with some competitive challenges.

So try to use challenge drills as often as possible, even include some light hearted punishments to the losers. Make sure it stays light hearted though and doesn’t get personal.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Bootcamp Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,

Beyond Bootcamp Strength Circuits: The Drill Circuit

August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Strength circuits are one of the staples of many fitness bootcamps. They are pretty easy to set up and don’t need a whole lot of equipment. A timer, a few bands and mats and you’re set.

However, the main problem with a giant strength circuit of 10-12 stations is maintaining intensity. You can only focus on one station at a time, meanwhile those clients at the other stations start losing momentum. They don’t mean too, it’s just a minute can seem like a long time when they are tired and doing 50 pushups gets boring.

You can combat this problem by adding intensity techniques or you can take a step outside the box.

My solution

One style of workout that I use regularly, that is effective and that always gets positive feedback from my campers is the Drill Circuit (or at least that’s what I’m calling it).

The drill circuit is exactly what it sounds like. It is a series of drills performed in circuit fashion. Clients move in small groups from drill to drill according to the timing method of your choice.

It works because going from a drill to a different drill engages the clients more effectively on both a mental and physical level which in turn results in more interested and harder working clients. On the other hand, it also means more work for you, but to be honest I’d rather be running around helping my clients than just standing there with a stop watch.

Here’s how to set it up:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Bootcamp Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Where To Buy Bootcamp Ropes

June 15, 2011 By 3 Comments
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Bootcamp ropes or as they are sometimes called power ropes or battling ropes have become all the rage over the past 12 months. They vary in size and length but the same exercises and drills can be performed on all of them.

The key is to have a rope thick and heavy enough, most boating and hardware stores only sell synthetic rope in the large diameters which is quite light to use. If you cna get some for free from a marina or shipping yard, go for it.

Australian Suppliers

I use ropes from the first two suppliers listed below for Australia.

Iron Edge – 38mm diameter rope, 15m long. Good weight for females and beginner males. Stronger clients will need either a heavier rope or to do single arm battling.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Bootcamp Tips Tagged With: , , , , , ,

7 Simple Bootcamp Workout Ideas

June 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Do you have a bootcamp session tomorrow but are completely strapped for time to write up a workout? Use the ideas below to pull together a quick workout. There’s one for each day of the week.

1. Bring out the boxing gloves

Grab your boxing gloves or have your clients bring their own. Compile 8-12 boxing drills and perform each one for 2 minutes with 30 to 60 seconds rest between intervals.

2. Time for a sprint session [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bootcamp Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

3 More Bootcamp Warm Up Drills to Help Prevent Injury

May 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

The last post I did on fitness bootcamp warm up drills was getting pretty long so I decided to move a few over here to this post.

Sprint Warm Up Drill

Planning on doing sprint intervals today? How about a few cone agility runs or maybe you are going to take your bootcamp on a 5km run?

You need to make sure that their muscles are ready for some serious activity. Below is one of my favourite warm ups, feel free to change it at will. All you need are a set of cones set up 10-20m apart.

Phase 1 – Mobility

First, start with getting your clients muscles working through their full range of motion.

  • Walking knee hug – Stand on one leg and hug your knee to your chest for one count. Put the leg down and step forward. Repeat with the other leg.
  • Walking butt kick – Stand on one leg and pull your heel to your butt for one count. Put the leg down and step forward. Repeat with the other leg.
  • Walking ankle grab – Stand on one leg. Lift and internally rotate your other leg. Pull your ankle up for one count. Put the leg down and step forward. Repeat with the other leg.
  • Warrior lunge – Focus on stretching through the hip flexors.

Phase 2 – Blood Pumping and Dynamic Movement [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bootcamp Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Real Time Web Analytics