Choosing the right boot camp exercises is crucial to creating an effective workout that will challenge you without discouraging you as well. Many personal trainers struggle unnecessarily doing precisely that and end up losing clients in the process.
So, here are three surefire tips to help you select the right combination of exercises for the ultimate boot camp workout as recommended by a professional personal trainer.
Tip #1 for Choosing Boot Camp Exercises: Think Big!
When choosing exercises for your classes, it’s essential to consider that your clients only have so much time to work out. Think about it – most of them are getting up early and rushing like crazy to fit your workout class in three to five times a week. So, you need to respect their time and give them the most effective and efficient workout possible for their time.
That’s why you need to think BIG with your exercise selection… as in “big muscle groups.” In other words, whenever possible, try to select exercises that engage multiple large muscle groups.
My all-time favorite exercise that fits this requirement? Burpees, hands down. Burpees work out the entire body and will challenge your boot campers but are not so complex. This brings me to my next tip…
Ultimate Boot Camp Workout Exercise Tip #2: Complexity In Small Doses…
I frequently see fitness instructors who appear to be competing for who can create the most confusing and complicated workout. I think this is probably a throwback to the aerobics craze of the eighties, although it is also a sickness perpetuated by an industry that is always trying to sell the next greatest thing. However, if your clients wanted to be confused by their workout, they’d do a step aerobics class; trust me, making your workouts more natural to understand will improve your retention, drastically.
So, at all times, keep your exercise selections restricted to those movements that can be emulated with minimal demonstration and instruction. Here’s a litmus test for you – if your mom couldn’t do it after watching you demo it once, it probably doesn’t belong in your workout.
Boot Camp Workout Exercise Tip #3: Be A Multi-Maniac
“Multi-maniacs” are fitness instructors who favor exercises that engage multiple muscle groups, that are multi-joint, and involve multi-planar movement. This is how the body moves typically during your clients’ activities of daily living. Whether they’re unloading groceries from the car, picking their baby up from the floor, or doing a double-leg takedown in jiu-jitsu practice, the body moves in unison, not as separate parts.
So, leave the single-joint/single-plane exercises to the gym trainers. As I said previously if your clients wanted to be at the gym doing those exercises they would be. So, give them functional exercises, and that adds some fun and variety to their workouts. In almost every instance, the “multi-maniac” approach will fit the bill.
About the author: Eric B. Leader is an ACE certified personal trainer with a BS in Exercise Science, and the owner of www.everybodyspersonaltrainer.com, the biggest in-home personal training company on the East Coast. As the owner of Every Body’s Personal Trainer, and a personal trainer himself for over 20 years, helping people reach their goals is his passion.
