How To Inject Life and Fun Back Into Your Bootcamp Sessions

I had only been a trainer for about 6 months and I was taking any and all training work that I could get my hands on. That led to me running 5 bootcamp sessions, working for a Mums and Bubs fitness company 3 times a week and running group workouts twice a week in a PT studio.

I was having to come up with at least 7 new group workout ideas every single week. And there was absolutely nothing useful on the internet to help me.

That’s when Bootcamp Ideas was born. Because there comes a point, as trainers, where we are constantly coming up with new session after session and we just get burnt out of fresh ideas.

Your brain turns to fuzz, your workouts start becoming more cookie cutter and the rest of your business suffers as you spend all your spare time trying to trawl YouTube and Facebook for new ideas.

This is when we start to make some mistakes.

Mistakes We Start Making When The Ideas Run Out

We start to do things like falling back on our ‘default’ workouts.

For me, that tends to mean circuits and timed interval drills.

Bleh! Boring!

Sure, intervals and circuits have their place in our training, but when we are using them every single session it gets boring for both us and our clients.

Another thing that happens to me, is that because planning sessions is now so tedious, I just want to get it over and done with. So I start taking shortcuts. The extra care factor I normally put in like scaling my sessions for different levels disappears. I’m so burnt out I just want it done.

All this leads to stale workouts and a massive loss of momentum in our business. If something doesn’t change your bootcamp numbers will slowly dwindle, and with it your enthusiasm for your business.

But there is hope!

When I am stuck in a slump like this, I have a set of habits that I re-engage to help bring some energy and fun back into my workouts.

Injecting Life Back Into Your Workouts

Once you get ‘brain fuzz’, it’s hard to shake it clear. My tactic is to avoid getting it in the first place. That serves me and my bootcamp best.

Here are some of the things I employ to avoid or get out of ‘brain fuzz’ mode.

• Planning my workouts in advance. Don’t expect to be gifted with inspiration at 9pm the night before you are running your session. Plan your sessions in batches – even when you don’t feel like it. You can always add to them or modify them later.
• Going for a walk. Changing your environment is an awesome way to get some inspiration. Walk around a park, go for a hike, walk to a cafe and just sit. Lose the music and phone too. Just be where you are.
• Taking time out to play a game. Gamifying your workouts is a great way to make them stand out. Pull out a board game, get out a deck of cards, boot up the PlayStation. Observe the mechanics of the game, how can you emulate that in a workout?
• Following this tried and true template. When you are having some serious brain fuzz, fall back on this template. Create all the parts individually and then just assemble them together.
  • Warm Up – Get the heart rate up, warm up joints and mobilize.
  • Game – Have some fun and build camaraderie.
  • Main Drill – Spend 15-30 minutes working your clients hard. Focus on technique and effort here.
  • Finisher – Give your clients that feeling they crave from your bootcamp. If the Main Drill is for you, the Finisher is for them.
  • Cooldown – Bring your clients’ heart rates back down and finish with some stretching or Yoga.
• Get my Game Face on. Bring energy to your sessions! Read more about this here.
• Going bigger! Try something new and crazy with your clients. Put on a special 3 hour bootcamp challenge on the weekend. Do something fun and exciting.
• Remembering why I’m are doing this. Why did you start this group fitness thing in the first place? Is it still achieving what you want it to? Clarity and purpose in what you are doing is a total game changer in creating an awesome group fitness business.
• Looking to others for ideas. You do not have to do this all by yourself. I know the feeling, as a solo business owner you enjoy being able to do things by yourself. But you still need help, not in the way that a boss helps and employee, but the way that two peers help each other. Invest in yourself and your business with a workshop or training resources.

Start doing these things and you will notice a huge injection of life back into your group fitness sessions.

Fresh sessions. More energy. Good times.

Help With Creating Your Fresh Workouts

If you are a trainer who struggles with coming up with fresh ideas for your sessions week after week then I have something that can help.

Even with the habits above in place you still need access to new workout ideas, fun exercises, help with the whole business side of your fitness biz and new ways to keep your clients engaged and interested.

I’m really excited to announce that I’ve teamed up with Leon and Hanni Melnicenko of Unique Bootcamp Workouts to pool many of our resources into one EPIC workout and business bundle. We’re also teaming up with Nadinne from AMP Fitness Boxing (you should follow her) to bring you amazing boxing class ideas.

The bundle is coming on Wednesday (US time) and due to it’s excellent value it will only be available for 72 hours. Make sure you are on the Bootcamp Ideas mailing list so you don’t miss out. You will really, really will kick yourself if you do.

### It’s Here! ###

Click here to find out what’s included and grab your copy.

In the mean time, I’d love to know what you currently do to come up with ideas.

Share with us in the comments below your favourite cure for when you have ‘brain fuzz’.

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.