Keep your campers Hap Hap Happy Again with these running focused workouts, for those days when it’s cold and wet.
These drills are all missing one feature – lots of mat work. No one likes getting wetter or muddier than they need to, so keep your campers engaged this Winter with these tried and tested running based workouts.
Olympic Pentathlon Fitness Test
There are still a couple more days to run an Olympic themed workout. Here is the one Kyle created, which was used as a fitness test.
Goal: Strength/Conditioning
Time: 60 minutes
Equipment: Mats, Bench
Original Post: Olympic Themed Bootcamp Fitness Test
Warm Up
5 minutes of running. Dynamic movements to prepare your clients for the workout.
Fitness Test Concept
In the spirit of the Olympics this round I have put together an Olympic themed bootcamp test based on a Pentathlon.
Clients will need to complete 5 exercises, a run, lunges, push ups*, dips and squats. There are three levels, Beginner, Intermediate, and Veteran.
Olympic Pentathlon
Measure this test in two parts; the strength exercises and the run. Combine the times for a total score.
The reps required are in the (brackets).
| Beginner | Intermediate | Veteran |
| Reverse Lunges (30/leg) | Forward Lunges (40/leg) | Forward Lunges (30/leg) and Reverse Lunges (30/leg) |
| Kneeling Push Ups (50) | Push Ups (50) | Hand Release Push Ups (50) |
| Squats (50) | Jump Squats (50) | Jump Squats (60) |
| Dips – knees 90 degrees (50) | Dips – knees 135 degrees (50) | Dips – legs straight (50) |
| Run (1500m) | Run (2000m) | Run (3000m) |
*Push Ups could be modified to elevated Push Ups to avoid campers getting wet and muddy on the ground.
Finisher
If there is time left over do one of this sites finisher drills.
Cooldown
400m cooldown run and stretch.
Sport Themed Bootcamp Workout
This workout was shared by Eliza Hodge Fitzgerald in our old Facebook group.
Type: Aerobic, Muscular Endurance, HIT
Time: 60 Minutes
Equipment: MedBalls, Cones, Interval Timer
Warm Up
Start off the workout with a favourite warm up of yours. You may want to use this time to practice some of the workouts exercises.
Sports
Complete a full round of tabata (4 minutes) on each drill before moving on to the next one. Take a short 60-90 second break between each sport for drinks.
- Basketball: Catch and jump shot with ball.
- Football: Fast feet with up/down command (up = jump to your feet and fast feet, down = touch the deck)
- Volleyball: Squat and spike
- Tennis: Court sprints
- Soccer: Quick taps to the ball
- Baseball: Catch and pitch
- Boxing: Hook, Uppercut, Side kick
- Track*: Medball shotput, 100m sprint, one long jump.
*Don’t do tabata for number 8 Track. Just have clients do 8 rounds at their own pace.
Further information about drills
Baseball: “For the baseball drill we just used a pretend ball. Squat in a low catchers squat then wind up and pitch. we felt a little silly, and there was a lot of giggling on this round,(especially when we switched sides and tried to “pitch” with our non-dominant hand) but that’s not a bad thing and we could really feel that one in the obliques. The only thing I used any equipment for was the track one. We used a 10lb medicine ball as a shot put.”
Tennis: “On the tennis court sprints we ran up to the net, across the court, back peddled to the back of the court, and laterally again to where we started. Half the ladies in one side and half on the other so we didn’t run into each other.”
Run To The Hills
This workout was designed by Kyle.
‘We have a fairly steep 100 metre long hill on a quiet street near our bootcamp (one of the advantages of working along the Yarra) that we used for this workout.’
You can replicate this workout using shorter hills or a football field.
Goals: Strength
Time: 30-45 minutes
Equipment: Hill (steep – approx. 100 metres long)
Warm Up
Our warm up involved running to the hill, it was about 1km away.
Hill Sprint Intervals
Set up six cones, each 20m apart along the hill. The two furthest apart will be 100m.
Do one sprint from the first to last cone as a group. Use the results to sort your clients into 3 groups; A for advanced, B for intermediate and C for beginners.
*The numbers correspond to the markers in the diagram on the right.
Have clients rest for 2 minutes after sprinting and then repeat again. If you are using a shorter hill you may find you need to do more than 2 rounds.
Run to a flat grassy area.
Cooldown
Stretch and discuss how running up hills and stairs would be useful in a Zombie Apocalypse.
Partner Interval Sprint Workout
Sprinting is a very primal activity. The ability to be able to move quickly to capture prey, save oneself or save another is an important skill to have.
This sprint workout is an adaptation of Kyle’s interval technique in which one person runs while the other rests. Make sure you have your running shoes on too so that you can push your clients along on each interval.
Goals: Speed, Cardiovascular Endurance
Duration: 1 hour
Equipment: Cones, Mats (for stretching), Interval timer
Warm Up
Take clients on a 5 minute jog. Incorperate butt kicks, warrior lunges, carioca’s, dead leg running, bounding and power skips.
Spend a few minutes going over sprint safety.
Sprint Drill
Clients pair up with someone of a similar running fitness (use their last fitness test results). Client A runs as far as they can in a straight line (or around an oval) in 2 minutes. Client A then rests for 2 minutes while client B attempts to reach them within the next 2 minutes. This is one interval, continue for a total of three or four times.
Once completed change the interval time from 2 minutes to 1 minute. This time have client B set the distance with client A trying to catch them in the second minute. Run four rounds.
Judge your clients fatigue level, if you deem them still able, continue with a round or two of 30 second intervals.
Finisher/Overtime
Pair clients up with someone of a similar fitness level in pushups (once again use their fitness test results). Client A will attempt to complete as many pushups in 20 seconds as possible. Then client B attempts to beat that score in the next 20 seconds. Then client A and so on.
The drill ends after 6 attempts each (or as many attempts as you can fit into the remaining time)
Cooldown
Jog around oval, Stretch.
Bonus Finisher Drill – Leg Obliterator Drill
It’s a hard life coming up with drills to inflict muscular damage upon your clients. Here’s one that should help:
This simple drill works well as a finisher for a sprint or running workout.
Clients should start with 5 reps of each exercise with the exception of the run which is always one. Each round clients do one less repetition of each exercise.
Round 1:
- 5 Jump Squats
- 10 Cross-Body Mountain Climbers (5 each leg)*
- 10 Jump Lunges (5 each leg)
- 50 metre Run
Round 2:
- 4 Jump Squats
- 8 Cross-Body Mountain Climbers (4 each leg)
- 8 Jump Lunges (4 each leg)
- 50 metre Run
And so on until:
Round 5:
- 1 Jump Squat
- 2 Cross-Body Mountain Climbers (1 each leg)
- 2 Jump Lunges (1 each leg)
- 50 metre Run
From there start adding one repetition each round until Round 9 in which you should be back to 5 reps on each exercise.
*You could change the Mountain Climbers to Skater Jumps to keep your campers off the ground.
Theresa Prior has a mission to bring Mums and women together in a safe and supportive environment that just so happens to have fun fitness sessions at it’s core. She has been running her own personal training business since 2013. Theresa helps her clients understand that all aspects of their health are equally important.
Leave a Reply