What type of assessments do you peform on boot camp members?
In my opinion, boot camp members should be getting the same assessments that personal trainers give to their clients. Most of the time this isn’t possible due to the amount of people enrolled in the program, you simply don’t have enough time to do specific assessments for each person. Flexibitly screens are where you should start. Make sure that there is adequate flexibility and mobility in all joints for each member. More advanced assessments for muscular endurance or aerobic threshold aren’t feasible for a large group of people depending on the format of the boot camp program and the amount of time that you have to devote to each person.
Consider doing a BIA for each person. This is a quick way to get a round-about measure of body fat. In a boot camp setting, I feel confident in saying that fat loss will be a good indicator of client success, considering the common format of most boot camp programs. It’s always best to give each client the attention he or she deserves, but with boot camp it’s not always possible at many clubs because they simply don’t have the resources. If your club is one that has the time to devote to each client and the tools for measurement, you should do as many relevant assessments as possible. (body fat analysis, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, postural assessments… things of that nature)
In my group bootcamp classes, this is somewhat driven by how many people are participating, and what their goals are. In general, easy assessments to benchmark beginning and ending cardiovascular, strength, & flexibility gains are what I do. These can be easy tests, such as a timed run/walk test (on a premapped distance), timed wall squats to failure to assess lower body strength, push-up test to measure upper body strength, sit-up test to measure abdominal strength/endurance, sit and reach test for flexibility, etc…work well in a group setting. Using this method, I’d measure a beginning result, and follow with an end of session result…normally about 6-8 weeks after the first testing. I’ve often accompanied this with a benchmark weight (pre-post session), and basic body composition measurements.
(In a smaller, small group training situation, it’s more possible to take more complete and detailed measurements.)
The bottom line is that in a large group setting, measurements should be pertinent to the exercises you’ll be doing in class, should be easy to administer with minimal equipment, and should be repeated at the end of the session (6-8 weeks after initial measurement) to measure progress.
