The warm up is the first thing your clients will do with you in any session. It’s potentially the first thing a brand new client will ever do with you as a trainer.
So if your guilty of doing just a few arm circles and high knees then skipping to the workout, you’re missing out an awesome opportunity to really impress your clients and stand out.
Below are three excellent warm ups that will get your campers engaging, having a good time and of course, warmed up and ready to workout.
1. Circle Warm Up
From Faye Castle
Part 1
Form a large circle, each camper about 2m apart. Start them side stepping clockwise for 15 secs and then anti-clockwise for the same, repeat.
Then do the following using the same format as above:
- Side stepping at a faster pace
- High knees
- Forward run
- Backward run (always a laugh!)
Repeat.
Part 2
Then have everyone walk lunge to the centre and say ‘Hello!’ then jump squat backwards.
Then bear crawl to the centre (don’t forget to say ‘hello’) and crab walk backwards back!
Repeat.
Part 3
Still in the circle, in the upper push up position, ‘walk’ clockwise for 15 secs and then anti-clockwise for 15 secs.
Staying in that position, perform 30 secs of mountain climbers.
Warm up done!
About Faye: I am a Personal Trainer based in Suffolk in the UK. I run boot camp sessions all year round with several sessions just for women. Children are welcome at all my sessions as I feel it is important they learn that exercise is something that you should do throughout your life. All of the parents tell me how their children ‘do boot camp’ at home, so it’s clearly rubbing off on them!
2. Groups
I get everyone running around me in a circle (or skipping or side swinging etc).
I tell them “I’m going to call out a number” and they have to get in a group of that many people. If they are not in a group they get a punishment of say 20 push ups or 3 hills etc. Once you have called out your number and they get into groups, you give them all a simple ex like star jumps (just to keep them moving).
They have to do star jumps until the person with the punishment finishes their 20 push ups.
Its a great way to segment a big class and count them. I do it a few times, calling out 5, 6, 3, 4 etc. and I usually finish with 2 – stating “find someone you don’t know”. Once they find that partner, I get them to do a partner exercise like low squats holding on to each other’s forearms and I ask them to find out their partners name and their favourite colour, or movie or ice cream flavour etc.
Its a good ice breaker.
About Chriss: Hi I’m Chriss Tinslay from Chriss Tinslay Food & Fitness Coach. I have been in the fitness industry for more than 15 years. I specialise in outdoor group PT and I love this site to share ideas. You can check out my Facebook page here.
3. The Colour Circle
By Rob Jones
This running focused warm-up works best with a bit of space, here’s how:
Mark out a large circle using ten coloured cones (or witches hats), six of one colour and one each of four different colours (if you don’t have different colours mark four of the cones with the numbers 1-4)
Make sure the circle is large enough for all campers to run around with room for speedy ones to overtake. Each of the four coloured cones (or numbered) cones should be spaced well-apart from each other in the circle.
As campers jog around clockwise shout out a few drills such as high knee running, butt kicks, side shuffles, fast feet, prisoner lunge walks, high skipping (deer leaps).
Every so often randomly shout out one of the four colours (or numbers) at which point all bootcampers sprint to that colour and get into a plank position (they have to run around the circle in any direction, not across the centre). The last two people to plank head into the centre of the circle and perform five penalty burpees (or more for the fitter amongst the group) as the others start jogging again anticlockwise. If like my own bootcamp your campers are a mixture of fitness levels, you can skew the warm-up slightly by making the fittest in the group work harder shouting the colour furthest from them.
Keep campers running for 5-6 minutes to make sure they’re all thoroughly, nicely warmed!
About Rob: My name’s Rob and I live and train (plus do the occasional bit of fitness writing like this) by the pebbly seaside and chalky hills of the South Coast of the UK – in the lovely city of Brighton and Hove, to be exact. I started my own outdoor training and fitness writing thing (stridefit.com) back in 2011 when I decided I’d SERIOUSLY had enough of the past seven years living a 9 to 5 existence in a soulless office.
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Got a workout your campers loved that you’d like to share? Send it in to us and we’ll give you a shout out.
Kyle Wood created Bootcamp Ideas in 2010 when he was hunting around on the internet for workout ideas. He ran a successful bootcamp in Victoria, Australia and spends his spare time managing this site, adventuring (or lazying) with his wife and find new ways to make bootcamps even better.
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