When did I start waking up at 6.13am, before my alarm?? And since when did my alarm go at 6.15 on most days of the week?
Well, this week, it’s been set that extra bit earlier so that I am up in time to go to Bootcamp. My friend Emma was trying out a new bootcamp in the park near my house, and suggested I join her for a trial week. Considering this week I wasn’t working in my usual location, and was therefore further away from my gym, I was more than keen.
We went to Rocket Sports Fitness run by Jonathan in Chiswick near Turnham Green tube station. He runs 45mins bootcamps Monday-Friday, plus a running group on a Saturday morning. Emma and I chose to attend the morning camps, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There were 4 of us in each session which felt like a small, informal group setting- perfect for beginners to exercise.
Each sessions started with a warm up along the cones, jogging, high knees, lunges, sidesteps etc. When I first started, I was worried that each session would be the same format, however Jonathan kept it interesting, and although we repeated similar moves each class, they were structured differently.
We then moved on to exercises such as squat jumps, planks, sit ups, burpees (too many burpees), and many others. These were all done in fun ways, incorporating games, ladders, and partner moves that made them fun, but still very challenging.
Bootcamps are successful in terms of increasing your fitness and weight loss because they are mostly based around HIIT- high intensity interval training. For example, in Friday’s class we completed 7 exercises for a minute each, with a minute break in between each exercise.
We completed body weight exercises as well as cardio moves, getting a total body workout in each session. I was pretty sore the following day!
I think bootcamp would be great if you like body weight exercises, friendly (in some cases!) classes with a comradery amongst the rest of the group. Additionally, meeting up with a group makes it harder to skip out on a session.
I really liked that Jonathan got involved with our exercises and worked out alongside us, however I do think that one of the benefits of the small group situation is that you can get a lot of attention from the teacher. This ensures that you are really pushing yourself, as well as completing the exercise with the correct form. I would have liked Jonathan to correct our form, as well as ensuring that we kept up our effort throughout the duration of the exercise. Maybe that’s why Military Fitness, and trainers like Jillian Michaels get such great results, they’re not afraid to shout! Jonathan certainly didn’t seem like he was a shouter, something I appreciate before 7am!
I haven’t tried many other bootcamps, although I would like to as I really enjoyed the workouts, especially when your workout is done by 7.30 am! Love feeling smug throughout the day.
If you want to try Rocket Sports Fitness, the first 7 days are £7 donated to charity. They are also offering a £49 a month special offer at the moment – great if you’re in the West London area. There are bootcamps offered all over the UK and abroad, so it’s worth finding one near you that suits your timetable and needs.
Great post – I go to bootcamp in Brighton (www.bfit.co.uk), and I love it. I love the sense of belonging to a club, you make great friends, everyone’s in it together, and you get the best cross training as every session is different. I would never go back to the gym now 🙂