A Really Simple Bootcamp Workout

Lately I’ve been answering a few emails about workout design. Unless you are taking a group of elite clients whom you personally have been training a long time, keep it simple (stupid)! Even in that case you could still keep it simple and get great results.

The workout below is an example of just how simple you can go. I picked 6 exercises/drills and we did them in a circuit three times. With breaks, that took around 35 minutes which is plenty for the conditioning part of the workout. Try out the one below or create your own.

The K.I.S.S. Workout

Goal: Strength/Conditioning

Time: 60 minutes

Equipment: Cones, Mats, Tyres, Ropes, KBs

Warm Up

Grab a bunch of cones, I used red, yellow and green. Give each cone colour an exercise.

• Yellow = 10x Star Jumps (Jumping Jacks)
• Green = 10x Frog Jumps – touch the ground at the bottom of the jump, keep arms down as you leap into the air
• Red = Supers – 10x star jumps AND 10x frog jumps

I scattered the red, yellow and green cones on the ground and then I split the campers into 5 teams. One person from each team ran into the cones and brought one back to their team. The team then did the exercise that the cone corresponded to before sending off another person to grab the next cone.

I kept the game going until all the cones were gone. We played through two rounds.

The Main Bit

After the warm up I drew my clients attention to the equipment I had set up. We had 6 stations ready, in teams of three or four they were to do each station before moving onto the next one.

Every 10 minutes I stopped the entire group for a 1-2 minute drink break. Challenge teams to get through three rounds.

Note: I used tyres for this workout because they are cheap (free) for their weight. Feel free to use medicine balls, dumbbells or kettlebells instead.

Station 1

Attach a KB to the end of the rope. Clients have to pull the rope in hand over hand letting rope coil on the ground between their legs. Once they drag it all the way in in they should pick up the end of the rope with the KB and run it back out so the rope is straight again. They will probably need to take this in turns, have each team member do this twice.

Station 2

Double tyre farmer’s walk across 40 metres (20m out and back). Our girls used 8kg car tyres and our boys used 18kg 4WD tyres.

Station 3

Walking lunge for 40 metres.

Station 4

Tyre squat to overhead press x25. Note: You can sub DBs or MBs here.

Station 5

5 second plank hold, then 5 crunches. Clients should do this 5 times.

Station 6

As-low-as-possible squats x50. Ass-to-grass for your fitter, more mobile clients.

Cooldown

Stretch and chit chat. We sit in a circle, I like to go around the group and ask my clients what they are having for breakfast.

Image: smartmindfuel

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This workout has since appeared in The Little Bootcamp Book of Tyres and Ropes. A collection of the most awesome tyres and ropes exercises, drills and workouts.

For more ideas like this one, check it out.

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Kyle Wood

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.