This is the first of a regular ‘Fun-damentals Friday’ article I have been wanting to add to the Bootcamp Ideas schedule.
Fun – because hopefully they will be enjoyable to you – and also fundamental – because, with the help of yourself, I will tackle a specific fundamental issue relating to bootcamps most Fridays.
It could be about business, marketing, motivation, client retention, workout planning or anything else that is useful to you running a bootcamp.
Let’s get started on today’s topic, business names.
Naming your bootcamp can be agonizing.
I spent ages thinking over the name to my first bootcamp.
In the end I called it FITCAMP because I didn’t want it to sound like a bootcamp. At the time I just wanted to get people moving more and doing some exercise. I was really just making things up as I went along – which by the way is an awesome way to do things – and so I made up a name too.
After that fell through I sought out someone to help me and found a small studio called See Change PT (where the tag line was: Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes). We ended up starting a bootcamp there which creatively we called See Change Bootcamp.
Just 3 years later after a lot of learning and experimenting the bootcamp was doing awesome with 10 sessions a week and 80+ attendees.
I included that part not to show off, but for those of you who while reading this have started thinking ‘Oh no! I need to change my bootcamp name!’. You don’t need to change it, it’s fine the way it is. You can grow a big bootcamp with the silliest of names.
Idea generation
For those of you who are going through this process, I decided to reach out to some other trainers for their stories to help you get some ideas. I got a huge response so I just picked out a few favourites.
If you are trying to think of your bootcamp name, these will really help you think outside the box when coming up with a business name that reflects your personality.
Special Meaning Bootcamp Names
“Our original bootcamp was called Sound Fitness. The reason behind it: Plymouth is near the sea & the water surrounding the city is called ‘Plymouth Sound’. And of course sound means safe, in good health etc…. so it has double meaning! Now I run The Superwoman Project for women who are juggling multiple roles as mum, wife, employee/business owner etc..”
– Hanni Melnicenko, The Superwoman Project
“Inside Out Fitness…it’s not just how you ‘look’ on the outside but more importantly how you ‘feel’ on the inside.”
– Melissa Vizza Iannucci, Inside Out Fitness
“One:Seven Training – my favorite Bible verse is 2 Tim 1:7 (we weren’t given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self discipline)”
– Ann Greenley Brown, One:Seven Training
“I previously had ‘iron ass class’ but after a few years I changed it to ‘outdoor fitness fun’ it incorporates everything I want it to. It’s outdoors (all year) and it’s fun.. I really wanted to stay away from the word Bootcamp as that can come across negative and scary for the everyday soul. Outdoor Fitness Fun is also a little more serious and professional sounding than.. Iron Ass Class”
– Lori Watson, Outdoor Fitness Fun
“”Fit With You” with tag line “the fitness group that can Fit With You and your lifestyle”. Idea is that you’re getting fit with others (and potentially your child)and it fits your normal person life juggling kids and work.”
– Maree Lloyd, Fit With You
“Booticamp Babes – named as we are an all women fitness group working our Bootis off to look HOT!”
– Sarah Whitehead, Booticamp Babes
“Mine is PhitKit, it’s about providing a holistic approach to achieving optimal functioning (of living systems). A ‘kit’ (of tools) covering; exercise, nutrition and emotional health for optimal wellbeing. This is my long term vision! I’m still working on a clear and catchy tagline that encapsulates my message…”
– Jennifer Blackfort, PhitKit
“Mine is My Fitness Shed, I started working out in my shed and getting fit and then got my qualifications and friends started coming around and just went from there. Its just stuck.”
– Wayne Wills, My Fitness Shed
“Boot Camp Strong – one of my Boot Campers was a graphic artist and told me I really needed a brand. (At that time, I didn’t know what she was talking about). As we were brainstorming on a name, she said ‘I like strong, because that is how Boot Camp makes me feel’. The name stuck and so did her Logo. The more I use it the more I love it and it seems to fit perfectly. Our yell when things get quiet because they are working hard, ” I say Boot Camp, you say”.. and they all yell out “Strong”. Third time it is ringing in the gym and they work a little harder.”
– Pamila Ball, Boot Camp Strong
“Bodyworks PT…..I was throwing a large amount of names around but all the ones I loved were already registered. My Husband suggested Bodyworks and I scoffed and said, as if that won’t already be taken. To my surprise it wasn’t!!! So I snapped it up Bodyworks PT – when you work, your body works!”
– Danielle Appi, Bodyworks PT
Funny Story Bootcamp Names
“My business name of Krunchies Health & Fitness came from an old nickname of mine where, in another life time ago I had long hair…. my mates called me Krunchie the Clown after a Simpsons episode where one of the characters had a lisp and couldn’t say Krusty the Clown…”
– Greg Porter, Krunchies Health & Fitness
“Mine is Bumpt: originally a joke when I first started outdoor groups as I would “bum pat” everyone during and after sessions. When I was searching for a name my Kiwi mate Modz dared me to call it Bum Pat PT. Was funny at the time but now I wish I put a bit more thought into it. After a while I “turned” it into an acronym Being.United.Motivating.People to Train. But now it’s just Bumpt with a story.”
– Daniel Chin, Bumpt
‘I was lucky enough to be born with an awesome name’ Bootcamp Names
“A friend in college always wrote me notes addressed to MLE (sounds like Emily when said quickly). My business name is MPowered Health & Fitness to both incorporate my name and the feeling being healthy gives you. And my tagline is Building Strength for Life (obviously because you’re building strength for everyday life, but also for the entirety of your time here on Earth.)”
– Emily Schroeder Salmon, MPowered Health & Fitness Training
“My business name is I AM Personal Training and Fitness. I AM is meant to be empowering (my tag line is “become who you’re meant to be”) and also representative of my initials (Angie Martin/ AM).”
– Angie Martin, I AM Personal Training and Fitness
“KickStart Fitness, was born out of my business partner’s and mine initials K & S – whether you need to Kick it up or are just getting Started, we’ve got you covered!”
– Kimberly Palik Winsor, KickStart Fitness
“”TNT Fitness Solutions”. The TNT comes from me and my wife’s names, Troy and Tanya. Tag line we sometimes use is “explode into fitness”. We also have a plyometric jump box with TNT stenciled on it giving the affect of a explosive storage box.”
– Troy Evans, TNT Fitness Solutions
“Black2Basic Fitness After applying unsuccessfully for several business names I decided to use my surname as a play on words but also to define our training principles.”
– Graeme Black, Black2Basic Fitness
Acronym Bootcamp Names
“NV Personal Training , say NV quickly and you get envy, may tag line is NV your body.”
– Clair Williams, NV Personal Training
“3.5 years ago I started a not for profit organisation (with dgr status) – Australian Indigenous Youth Academy (AIYA). We run a mentoring program for indigenous high school students. We wanted to inspire these youths to achieve higher educational outcomes and teach them about health at the same time via a traineeship in fitness. Allowing them the opportunity to break generational cycles of low education and poor health. Our FIT Club is our public fitness program – FIT stands for Fit Indigenous Trainers – and is a program where our trainees can gain hands on experience and acts as a potential employment pathway post their traineeship and school. In the process building a database of indigenous PTs. A bit long winded but just doing our bit to improve peoples lives!”
– Deon Bird, AIYA Fit Club
‘Don’t want to use the word bootcamp’ Bootcamp Names
“My business name is Rainbow Fitness – I wanted to show my sessions are friendly and fun, as I know some people can be turned away by tough ‘Bootcamps’. The majority of my clients are mums and we get a serious workout done every time but we also have heaps of fun.”
– Katie Baylis, Rainbow Fitness
“My business name is just my name, Pahla B Personal Training, but my boot camp is called Sweat Camp ( to make it less intimidating than bootcamp). I call the ladies who work out with me my Killer Bs!”
– Pahla Cragg Bowers, Pahla B Personal Training
‘My city’ Bootcamp Names
“Mine is hardly creative. I live train Bootcamps and live in WA and the city is Burlington so its Bootcamp Burlington WA. Lol. But my moto is bad ass. It’s train with a friend a personable not just personal trainer.”
– Stephanie Beaudin, Bootcamp Burlington WA
“My bootcamp is called Denny Bootcamp, because we’re based in Denny but believe it or not I chose the name so I could create a person account on here rather than a page!! This would ensure I could send friend requests to people rather than pulling then onto a page and hoping they would ‘like’ it. My actually business though is called 2nd Chance Fitness because I want to inspire people to get off the couch bd exercise, giving them a second chance regardless of there current size, shape or fitness levels.”
– Craig Brown, 2nd Chance Fitness
What to do now
As you can see there is a huge array of bootcamp and business names there with many different meanings.
Now the ideas are flowing, follow these steps to get your name registered.
- Come up with 3 or 4 names that you like. There will always be a favourite but get a couple others just in case someone has already registered your favourite.
- Now check if you can register is as a business name, sometimes your name will already be registered. In Australia one can check on ASIC.
- Once you find one that is available go ahead and register it. In Australia you will need an ABN or ACN. Again head to ASIC for this. You will need to pay a fee and will then need to wait several weeks for the application process to complete.
Trade marks
I honestly don’t know a whole lot about trademarks other than it requires a separate application and it can be an expensive process. For the uses of your small bootcamp though, you probably don’t need one.
If you want to go down this path I would recommend getting help from a solicitor.
Before we go, for those of you who have already been through this process, what is your bootcamp name? And how did you come up with it?
Leave your answer in the comments below.
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Next week on Fundamental Fridays I am tackling the topic of reaching your first group of 10 clients. I think even if you are past that point you will find it useful. To not miss out join our free email list.
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Image: NatalieMaynor (CC)
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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