Boot Camp Training to the Rescue

As fitness trainers, we are passionate about guiding and motivating people to attain high quality of life through healthy lifestyle habits centered around physical activity, healthy nutrition and recovery.  While the profession of fitness training allows us to do what we love and love what we do, as business professionals we must also focus on generating revenue.

With the mandates in place around the country, trainers are faced with making changes to shore-up their business and create sustainable income.   Adaptions may range from smaller class sizes, shorter training sessions and more time allowed between training sessions.

With decreased revenue, a budget for advertising may not be possible.  Social media is one of the very best ways to advertise on a shoe-string budget.  When you provide clients with tangible evidence of progression and success, they will be your best advertisement AND they will keep coming back for more.

This article will explore strategies to utilize boot camp style programming to increase and sustain your business by maintaining and increasing your client base.

Create Sustainable Momentum

One of the best ways to create sustainable momentum for boot camp programming is to provide tangible evidence of progression towards improvements in body composition.  Body fat assessments or girth measurements provide positive feedback and validate healthy lifestyle habits.

In an effort to maintain social distancing, it may be necessary to rely upon scales that measure body composition rather than skinfold calipers or hand-held bio-electrical impedance devices.  You may also want to consider purchasing measuring tapes and provide them to clients with instructions on how to take their own girth measurements.

Choose HIIT For Time-Efficient and Results-Oriented Programming

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a scientifically sound time-efficient method of exercise which, in addition to improved body composition and weight loss, has also been shown to have a positive effect on overall health.  These improvements include heart rate and blood pressure levels, lowered blood sugar levels and improvements in insulin sensitivity and enhanced cardio fitness levels.

With the extra time needed to sanitize equipment between clients and the need to accommodate smaller groups, 30-minute HIIT workouts may be just the ticket.  This will allow more workouts booked into a day while still accommodating the same number of daily clients.

Creating a Workout for Everyone

Smaller groups and shorter sessions may necessitate grouping deconditioned clients with highly conditioned individuals.  An ideal method of accomplishing this is to utilize the Tabata method with eight exercises performed for two rounds of 20-seconds of work followed by 10-seconds of recovery.  The higher-conditioned clients will be able to achieve the intensity they want while deconditioned clients will be able to complete the short intervals. 

Body Weight Exercises are effective, easy to modify and negate the necessity of sanitizing equipment following a workout.

Warm-up for 5-minutes with rhythmic limbering activities.  The 8-minute workout portion should be followed with a 7-minute cool-down and 5-minutes of flexibility work.

During the workout portion, perform each exercise for 20-seconds with a 10-second recovery.  Perform two rounds.

The total time adds up to 25-minutes which allows time for introduction at the beginning of the workout and time for motivational feedback at the end of the workout.

1. Push-Ups
2. Jumping Jacks
3. Cross-Over Crunches
4. Plank Holds
5. Squats
6. Mountain Climbers
7. Rear Lunges
8. High-Knee Cross-Overs

The FiTOUR® Primary Boot Camp Course provides valuable information on the basics of boot camp while the FiTOUR® Advanced Boot Camp Course provides in-depth information on the science behind high intensity interval training.