When you are staring at that blank word document or scrap of paper waiting for a brand new bootcamp workout to materialise on in front of you, it can be hard to work out where on earth you should start.
Let’s start with rule #1.
Rule Number One
Traditional bootcamp workouts have come a long way since the days of circuits and shuttle runs. We are now catering to a huge range of people, from hardcore lifetime exercisers to weight loss clients to general fitness maintainers to women-only bootcamps to sporting teams and even to our aging population.
Quite often you will have a complete mix of the above groups in one class. Therefore your workouts need to be flexible enough that you can swap out an exercise or drill on the spot if need be. Creating a rigid or overcomplicated routine can leave you in a really tough spot.
So rule number one is to keep 9 out of 10 workouts you deliver as simple as possible. Reserve that more complicated workout for when you are training long time clients or running a special event.
5 Tips To Get Your Ideas Flowing
When I get out my bootcamp notebook to brainstorm ideas or flush out existing ideas into full workouts, there are a few places I turn to if I’m struggling to find inspiration.
My PT Sessions
If you do personal training as well as your bootcamps, can you think of some ways that you could convert part of a PT workout into a bootcamp session? Perhaps bring along some equipment to your bootcamp for a one-off dumbbell or medicine ball workout.
I like to do ‘finishers’ at the end of my PT sessions. Often these are some sort of pyramid/ladder drill that I can later simplify and sub in bodyweight exercises and include in a bootcamp workout.
Previous Workouts
Some of your previous bootcamp workouts can be a good source of inspiration when you are really stuck for ideas. It’s also a great reason to keep a record of your bootcamp workouts in the first place.
When I do this I try to go back at least 12 months and pick out a workout that I remember being popular. Then I will either change the timing of the workout or the exercises or both to provide something new.
This is not something I recommend doing very often though as you want to always keep your bootcamp workouts fresh and new. Always try to move forward and become more creative over time.
The Internet
One of the great developments on Bootcamp Ideas has been the community of trainers. There is a thriving Facebook group that you can join where trainers from around the world share their ideas..
This means that I too, get exposed to a variety of workouts that I could not think up by myself.
There are a few other sites out there which also share bootcamp workouts. Be sure to check out Kaizen Outdoor Fitness and Unique Bootcamp Workouts for bootcamp tips. And of course, don’t forget about YouTube.
Games
Think of a game that you played recently or one that your child told you about playing at school.
How can you turn that into a workout?
This kind of thinking created the workouts like Big Spender (in manual), Bootcamp Monopoly, Bootcamp Hopscotch, Rock Paper Scissors Sprint and What’s Under There? (also in manual).
eBooks
I won’t get into the numerous bootcamp ebooks out there, but needless to say they can be quite useful when you are stuck for ideas.
You can view a list of books I recommend here.
Extra tips to make life easier
You are a trainer, you work your butt off to help others work their butts off. That’s a lot of butt working going on, so here are a couple more tips that weren’t covered above to help simplify and make things easier in your day to day work.
1. Only plan the minimum number of workouts per week that you need to.
If you run 2 sessions on the same day, run the same workout twice. If someone is crazy enough to come to them both well they are just going to have to do the same thing twice.
I would even consider doing the same workout 2 days in a row. In the long term, the less workouts you have to create, the less likely you are to burn out of ideas so ultimately the more variety your clients will get.
2. Have your assistants plan some of the workouts.
If you have staff working for you, either assisting you or running another location. Have them type up and email their workouts to you. This also doubles as a way to make sure they are planning their workouts in advance.
Get Three Indoor Workouts
Today’s article is actually an excerpt from The Little Bootcamp Book of Workouts.
I’m bringing a new updated version out November 24th, 2014. I’m adding more workouts, including a book of just indoor workouts, a separate section for warm ups and another for finishers.
As well as including an updated detailed guide to how to plan and come up with your own workouts which is what today’s post came out of.
To get free three of the new indoor workouts emailed to you now and notified when the new version is out, pop your email in below.
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Image: Simple Lego | elPadawan,
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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