3 Class Formats To Shake Up Your Bootcamp Routine

Class formats can make-or-break a session. They need to be functional and motivating enough for participants to come back, yet offer a creative outlet for trainers.

But what if my creativity left?

Sometimes I find myself stuck doing the same format every week. When I’m in a rush and life gets busy, I don’t have that usual burst of new ideas and creativity. I tend to fall back to my standard, safe workout formats. Typically, 1 minute of each exercise, 2 to 3 sets, for about 10-12 exercises in total. While there is nothing wrong with that, I appreciate variety in workouts and I am sure my class participants do, too.

In case you are in that situation right now, I am here to help.

The workout formats cover the 45 minute ‘main part’ of your class. You can add a 5-10 minute warm-up and 10 minute cool down of your choice. Check out these ideas:

• 5 Fitness Bootcamp Warm Up Drills to Make Your Job Easy
• 3 Sizzling Team Bootcamp Warm Ups
• 17 Exercises for Indoor Warm Ups

1. Add On’s

How It Works

Start with a base of 3 exercises, add one more exercise after each round.

In my case I opted for a glute heavy workout with a quick activation set to prepare the muscles. Feel free to exchange exercises depending on what your goal of the class is.

Equipment needed: Weights, Timer, Mat

Glute Activation

• 1 min glute bridge single leg (each side)
• 1 min glute bridge leg drop (each side)

Exercises

1 min each (5 sets in total):

Round 1:

1. Single Leg Deadlift
2. Squat Overhead Press
3. Plank Row

Round 2:

1. Single Leg Deadlift
2. Squat Overhead Press
3. Plank Row
4. Crunch

Round 3:

1. Single Leg Deadlift
2. Squat Overhead Press
3. Plank Row
4. Crunch
5. Hamstring Walkouts

Round 4:

1. Single Leg Deadlift
2. Squat Overhead Press
3. Plank Row
4. Crunch
5. Hamstring Walkouts
6. Push Up

Round 5:

1. Single Leg Deadlift
2. Squat Overhead Press
3. Plank Row
4. Crunch
5. Hamstring Walkouts
6. Push Up
7. Lunge Kick Alternating

2. Hold and Move

How It Works

Pick one exercise, for example a plank, hold it for 30 sec and then right away add a similar exercise, like a push up for another 30 seconds.

The ‘holding’ part will fatigue the targeted muscle group and the ‘moving’ part acts as a ‘finisher’. My sample exercise program hits all major muscle groups but feel free to adjust accordingly.

Equipment needed: Weights, Timer, Mat

Exercises

Circuit 1:

3x hold-move (30/30 sec time for each):

1. Plank Hold / Push Up 
2. Boat Hold /Leg Drop or V Crunch
3. Biceps Front Hold / Biceps Curl
4. Triceps Extension Half Way Down Hold / Up-Down 

Cardio Interlude:

2x 45/15 sec rest:

• Skaters
• Burpees

Circuit 2:

3x hold-move (30/30 sec time for each):

1. Chair Pose Hold / Squat
2. Reverse Fly Hold / Reverse Fly
3. Table Top hold / Up-Down
4. Down Dog Hold / Pike Push Up

3. Up the Ladder

How It Works

For this layout, I opted for a full-body workout. The idea is to go through each circuit as many times as you can within the 8 minutes.

Each circuit has a 3 exercises with a different amount of repetitions, increasing from 5 to 10 to 15. This workout is a great ‘testing’ circuit as well – get your participants to write down how many rounds they accomplished and re-test a few months later to see if they improved.

Equipment needed: Weights, Timer, Mat

Exercises

8 min each circuit. 2 min break in between circuits.

Circuit 1:

1. 5 Plank Push Up (5 leading with each arm)
2. 10 Curtsey Lunges 
3. 15 Squat Jumps

Circuit 2:

1. 5 Glute Kicks (dumbbell behind knee, 5 each leg)
2. 10 Side Plank Rotation
3. 15 V-Sit Overhead Press 

Circuit 3:

1. 5 Walkouts
2. 10 Glute Bridge Triceps Extension (skull crushers)
3. 15 Mountain Climbers

Circuit 4:

1. 5 Romanian Squat (5 each leg)
2. 10 Biceps Curl Standing
3. 15 Crunch Reach (legs up, reach for toes)

I hope these layouts get you excited again to plan for your next session!