Bootcamp Ideas

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Bootcamp Drills

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8 Go-To Boxing Class Ideas

A lot of readers of Bootcamp Ideas looking for boxing ideas land on this post I created of boxing ideas. I still get emails from new trainers who stumble across it.

However, I wrote that list way back in 2011.

Between now and then I’ve picked up more go-to boxing drills. I want to share them with you today for next time when you’re struggling to plan your boxing workout.

1. Ladder Circles

Group Drill

Set up your pad holders in a circle facing outwards. One boxer pairs with each pad holder.

Pick a punch (jab/cross or uppercuts works well). Boxers do 50 punches then run around clockwise around the outside of the circle and back to their pad holder. They do the same punch for 40, then run, then 30, then run, then 20, then run, then 10. Once they complete 10 and run, they will then start going back up, doing 20, 30, etc.

Cut them off when the slowest pair finishes 10 reps.

2. Musical Boxing Chairs

Odd Number Group Drill

Set up your pad holders in a large circle facing inwards. One boxer pairs with each pad holder. There will be one more boxer than there is pad holders ie. one boxer will be the odd one out.

Play some music, boxers start running around the outside of the circle clockwise/anti-clockwise. When the music stops they have to find a pad holder and start boxing (pick a combo/punch beforehand). The one boxer left out goes into the middle of the circle and does burpees until the music starts again.

Keep the music free-punching times to 10-40 seconds.

3. Boxing Circuit

Partner Drill

Use 8-10 boxing drills and combos that you’ve used in the past few weeks. By using drills you’ve done recently you can spend less time explaining and more time working out. Set them up in a circle like any other circuit.

Pairs complete an entire round of the circuit before swapping pads and gloves and doing the circuit again.

Self Timed Example: Boxing Circuit

4. Choose Your Own Boxing Workout

Partner Drill

Similar to the circuit above except in this one write all of your drills down on cards and place them on the ground in the middle of group.

Pairs choose a card at random, do what it says on the card then put the card back in the pile. Pairs aim to complete as many drills as possible in 20 minutes.

Add to your cards over time as you find more boxing drills.

Example: Choose Your Own Boxing Workout

6. Progressive Intervals

Partner Drill

These are great for newbies to teach them more complicated boxing combos.

Spend 2 minutes on, 30 seconds off (to quickly swap gloves and pads) for each drill. Each person does each drill before moving on to the next one.

Round 1: Jab, Cross
Round 2: Jab, Cross, Left Hook
Round 3: Jab, Cross, Left Hook, Right Uppercut
Round 4: Jab, Cross, Left Hook, Right Uppercut, Left Knee to Pads

Change the combo to whatever you like.

2.5 minute rounds x 4 combos x 2 people = 20 minutes

7. Down The Line

Large Group Drill

Get your campers in two line facing each other. Boxers are in one line, pad holders are in the other.

Call out a punch and a number (a multiple of 10 works best); e.g. 20 uppercuts.

Boxers do 20 uppercuts with the pad holder in front of them, then shuffle to their right to the next pad holder where they do 20 more uppercuts.

Once a client gets to the end of the line, they must run back to the other end and continue. Repeat through until boxers are facing the pad holder they started with.

Swap pads and gloves and repeat.

beginnersboxing

8. Saturation Drills

Partner Finisher Drill

This short sharp interval training method works great as a finisher to a boxing workout.

To be done properly, boxers need to go for speed during their work periods rather than power. Light, quick movements are the name of the game here.

Pick 3 boxing drills and demonstrate them. Then boxers will go for 60 to 90 seconds (depending on how much your campers have left in the tank) on each drill with 30 seconds rest in between.

Pairs swap pads and gloves and repeat.

Example:

  1. Jab, Cross, Left Hook – pause – Cross, Jab, Right Hook – repeat
  2. Crunch and Punch (10 reps down to 2 and back to 10)
  3. 10 hooks (each arm), 10 uppercuts (each arm) – pause and repeat

And there you have it, eight more boxing ideas to fall back on when you’re having trouble planning your sessions.

If you run boxing sessions regularly and want even more ideas, I recommend checking out the 55 boxing drills we have on BootCraft.

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15 Minute EMOM Workout

This workout is from Lyndon Fernandes and was featured on BootCraft last month. Thanks Lyndon!

Hang On For 15 Minutes

Drill Length: 18-20minutes including set up, explanation and demonstration

Minimum Group Size: 2 campers

Equipment Needed: Cones, Kettlebells or Dumbbells

Set up two cones 30m apart for shuttle runs.

This is an EMOM which stands for Every Minute on the Minute. Time is capped at 15 minutes.

Every minute bootcampers will perform a movement for a specified number of reps. Choose reps according to their fitness level. If they finish the reps before minute is up, they get to rest for remaining seconds. Finish quickly for more time to rest and prepare for the next movement.

EMOM x 15

8 reps (beginner), 10 reps (intermediate), 12 reps (advanced)

Minute 1: Burpees

Minute 2: Single Arm KB Clean & Press (divide reps for each arm eg. 10 reps = 5 reps each arm. Choose to go alternative arms or one arm at a time)

Minute 3: 6 Shuttle Runs (30m)

Go Back to Burpees for Minute 4, and so on.

Wait, you’re not on BootCraft yet?

I know, because I’ve been there, how much time gets taken up planning sessions.

I mean, that’s why you’re here reading this right? To save yourself some time trying to come up with a workout idea for your bootcamp this week.

So we created BootCraft which is like the uber version of this blog. It’s got workout likes this one coming out of it’s ears!

Check it out and start saving time planning sessions.

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Supersetting Warm Up (or Finisher)

This workout is thanks to Lori Watson who shared it on BootCraft last October. Thanks Lori!

10 Every 10

Time: 10 minutes

Type: Warm Up or Finisher

Equipment needed: None (perhaps a couple of cones)

Boot campers will alternate between a total of 50 or 100 reps of an exercise (depending on the round) while performing a second exercise every 10 reps until all reps have been completed.

For example:

Round 1

50 Jumping Jacks / 1 Shuttle Run

Would look like:

  • 10 Jumping Jacks
  • 1 Shuttle Run (using distance available—such as length of gym or cones set out in park)
  • 10 Jumping Jacks
  • 1 Shuttle Run
  • 10 Jumping Jacks
  • 1 Shuttle Run
  • 10 Jumping Jacks
  • 1 Shuttle Run
  • 10 Jumping Jacks

Round 2

100 Walking Lunges / 10 Mountain Climbers

Round 3

50 Plank Shoulder Taps / 10 High Knees

Round 4

100 Squats / 10 Side Shuffle Runs (to a cone and back)

There you go, your warm up for tomorrow’s session is sorted.

If you want some help with a great main drill and finisher to use, then I highly recommend BootCraft. It’s this mammoth database of workout ideas that we’ve been putting together the past 3 years.

Warm ups, boxing drills, HIT workouts, bodyweight strength sessions and more. It’s very cool, it’s very fresh and it’s a great tool to have access to when planning your sessions each week.

Check out the details here.

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The Big Collection of Christmas Workout Ideas 2018

It’s that time of year again where both naughty and nice trainers are planning their last workouts of the year.

And what better way to finish a year of training than with an epic holiday themed workout?

I’ve rounded up all of the Christmas, snow and present themed workouts on Bootcamp Ideas into one spot for you.

To kick off with I’ve got three new drills to share that trainers shared in our Facebook group and then I’ve got links to FIFTEEN more ideas below that. You should be able to find plenty to inspire you to some fresh end-of-year workouts.

Now,

without further ado,

here,

are the first two:

1. Down the Christmas Tree

Thanks to Rosie Goldsmith for sharing this one.

This is our Christmas workout for this morning. Fill the Christmas tree with whatever exercises you like.

Clients will all start with 10 burpees, then they’ll run a length of our area (inside today due to rain so it’s not too big -might make them lunge instead) and then come to me to predict whether a card from a deck of cards is red or black. If they’re right they get to move on to the second exercise, if wrong they need to repeat burpees and then run/lunge again before coming back to me. Continue until you reach the end of the board and then do the AMRAP in the trunk. Merry Christmas!

2. Trim the Tree

Thanks to Donna Houlihan for sharing this one.

I love to do a “trim a tree” workout every year. They come in and the tree is up and lit. I have done it a few different ways but one i did that comes to mind was the xmas balls were all numbered and they had to do they exercise that went with the number and then put on the tree. By the end of the class the tree was decorated and beautiful and they got an awesome, fun workout!

This year I a did a warm up with this:

I had everyone partner up. The xmas balls were hanging in one area of my studio (actually on the garage door track). I had a bag of holiday themed words. each pair would take a word and give clues to their partner while doing jacks, hi knees, and skaters. some were hard and some easy. Once they guessed they had to jump up on a tire to get the ball to put on the tree. If they picked “bonus” out of the bag they had to do 5 burpees and it was a special xmas ornament. I thought having them switch partners each time would have been fun but we had a large group and my space is not that big so in interest of safety we stuck with the same partner. It was very fun. 🙂

One year I also did a “find the word” puzzle with holiday words:

It was teams. They held a plank or wall sit while someone found the word. Once they did they went and got the ornament and the next teammate went to the puzzle. The holidays are a great time to have some fun in boot camp. I have themed classes for holidays throughout the year, although it can be a lot of work my groups love it.

3. Do You Want To Build A Snowman Finisher

Thanks to Eileen Glass Patterson for sharing this one.

Each team gets 1 die corresponding to 1 snowman. ( I made 3 so I can always have 3 teams) Roll. Whatever number they roll they go get that piece.

In order to roll again the entire team must do X exercise (I use 3 burpees, 2 sprints, push ups etc) Roll again. Retrieve next number.

In order to roll again they must do Y exercise. Etc.

If they roll a number they already have they must roll again BUT first do X exercise. First team to get a whole snowman wins. Gets harder and hilarious as they try for their last pieces.

Ideas from previous years:

4. The Camper Christmas Challenge

Make your campers love (or begin to hate) the word CHRISTMAS in this fun AMRAP. Perfect for Christmas lovers and Scrooge’s.

5, 6 & 7. Christmas ‘Who Am I?’, Do You Want To Build a Snowman and 12 Days of Christmas Word Search

This post from last year features 3 drills from our community. Enjoy!

8. 12 Days of Christmas

This classic song has always been a go to for a fantastic Christmas accumulator workout. This is a great place to start for Christmas workouts.

9. Presents Under The Tree

Looking for something with a bit of a random factor? Campers open ‘presents’ in this boxing workout to see what exercises lie inside!

10. Around the World Christmas Bootcamp

Can your campers make it around the world in time to deliver all of Santa’s presents? Find out in this workout.

11. Functional Fitness Frenzy

This workout emulates the craziness that can be the holiday season. It should prepare your campers for anything.

12. Melting Frosty

This is a very fun timekeeper circuit where each station is it’s own Christmas themed drill. It’s worth the effort!

13. Christmas Boxing

Another boxing workout. This one involves four different boxing drills including the Christmas Lunch Grab, Christmas Waltz and Knocking Out The Christmas Tree Lights.

14. Kris Kringle Workout

Loosely based on the Kris Kringle method of gift giving, this workout will end by giving your campers the gift of exercise.

15. Christmas Tree Workout

This workout has campers scaling UP the tree. Each round the number of exercises goes down but the number of reps goes up.

16. Santa’s On His Way

This fast paced workout full of intervals will have your campers helping Santa and getting fit at the same time.

17. White Elephant Gift Exchange

Based on the nasty Christmas gift giving method, this workout proves to be just as revealing of people’s personalities.

18. 12 Days of Christmas again

Finally, here’s a twist on the 12 Days of Christmas workout. Check this one out before creating your own.

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Double Dice Team Finisher

This month of content has been sponsored by HART Sport.

And by sponsored I mean they sent me some free equipment to try out and share with you. I haven’t been paid to give a positive review or anything along those lines. Instead I took the opportunity to let my creativity run wild and come up with some great ideas for you using the equipment they sent. All equipment has been thoroughly tested by me over the past month and I’ll only be sharing what I think is quality gear.

Today, to finish of our HART Sport inspired drills, it seemed appropriate to share a finisher drill with you. This drill requires a special set of dice but with some creativity I’m sure you could modify it to work with any set of dice.

Double Dice

Time: 10 minutes.

Equipment needed: Fitness Dice, Bucket of Pegs, Optional: Whiteboard with exercise variations (see below)

HART Sport sent me these crazy 10 sided dice. On one die is the reps (from 2 to 20) and on the other die there are exercises written. These are just your standard, run of the mill exercises, so I wanted to do something where we could jazz it up.

Here’s how it’s going to work:

Get your campers into groups of 3 or 4 of similar fitness levels. Designated each group as level 1 (beginners), lever 2 (intermediate) and level 3 (advanced) based on their fitness level.

Groups find themselves an space in the workout area. Place the dice and pegs in the center, you might need a couple of sets of dice for a big group.

Before you start have one person from each group come up and roll the dice. The numbered die gives them the reps, the exercise die gives them the exercise (see below) for their first exercise.

On ‘Go’ groups do their first exercise (eg. 16 Push Ups each). Once completed, one team member runs to the center picks up a peg (denoting one point for their team) and then rolls the dice for the next exercise and reps.

They run back to their group, do that exercise, and it starts all over again.

Teams complete as many reps as they can in 7 minutes. The team with the most pegs wins.

What do they win? Nothing really, but don’t tell them that until the end 🙂

Suggested Exercise Variations:

In all cases, one sided exercises (eg. Lunges), reps need to be completed for both sides.

Exercise shown on dice Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Burpee Squat Thrust Burpee w/o Push Up Burpee w/ Push Up
Plank Hold (reps = seconds) Plank Hold Plank Hold Plank Hold
Star Jump (aka Jumping Jacks) Star Jumps Star Jumps Star Jumps
Tuck Jumps Jump Squats Tuck Jumps Tuck Jump Squats
Sit Ups Side Plank (reps = seconds) Side Plank Hip Drop Gravediggers
Lunge Static Lunges Forward Lunges Jump Lunges
Dips Dips (knees bent) Dips (legs out straight) Dips (legs out straight)
V-Sits Crunches Crunches w/ feet up V-Sits
Push Up Kneeling Push Ups Push Ups HRPU
Squats Squats Squats Squats

Don’t be limited by just push ups = a push up variation though. You might choose to really mess with your campers heads by making burpees = push ups and sit ups = kettlebell swings. Just have it all marked up on a whiteboard.

One last thing before I go. I just wanted to say thank you to HART Sport for being a great sport (oh yes! The puns are strong) and looking after the Bootcamp Ideas community this month.

The 15% discount they’ve offered us is still good through to the end of August, so jump in and grab something before September 1st to claim it. The code you’ll need on checkout is BOOTCAMP15.