This workout is an entry to this year’s Bootcamp Ideas Competition. It has been submitted by Marie Gielens.

Push It To Max

Workout Length: 45-60 minutes depending on how many exercises you add to the workout

Equipment Needed: each camper needs 3 sets of dumbbells of 3 different weights: lighter, medium and heavy weight.

Warm Up

(and also be used as finisher)

5-10 minutes depending on the amount of participants

Have the campers put all the chosen dumbbells on a pile and line them up about 20 meters away from the pile. On start all campers can run to get a dumbbell and bring it back holding it with hands overhead. Campers can only grab 1 dumbbell at the time.

When all dumbbells are gone, count the total amount of weight of the dumbbells collected (e.g. one camper collected 4 dumbbells : 1X5 lbs, 2X 10 lbs and 1X12.5 lbs, then total is 37.5lbs), the one with the highest total wins.

Depending on how many campers you have, the game can be repeated a few times.

Main Workout

3 blocks of 7 minutes reverse ladders (10-8-6-4-2 reps).

Each block has 4 strength training and 2 cardio exercises in the following order: strength 3X, cardio, strength, cardio.

Campers need to finish all exercises for 10 reps, then 8, 6, 4 and 2 within seven minutes and try to collect as many points as possible by maxing out the last exercise before time is up.

Each rep they do during their max out gives them a point that will be added to the total they achieved during the warm up.

eg. camper finishes all reps of all 6 exercises before the seven minutes are over, then he continues doing the last cardio exercise and counts the total amount of reps he did for that exercise.

Before starting the timer, go over and demonstrate the exercises.

BLOCK 1: use the heavier dumbbells (targeting bigger muscle groups)

1. narrow rows
2. squat and press
3. push ups (hands on dumbbells)
4. squat jump while holding the dumbbells
5. hold the dumbbells on chest on come from kneeling to standing position
6. long jump forward-3 hops backward while holding the dumbbells

BLOCK 2: medium or lighter weight dumbbells

1. renegade rows
2. right lunge and side raise
3. left lunge and front raise
4. burpees (with dumbbells)
5. hammer curls
6. put dumbbells on the floor and do lateral jumps over the dumbbells (R+L jump = 1)

BLOCK 3: medium or lighter weight dumbbells

1. tricep push ups
2. kneeling tricep press
3. kneeling tricep extension
4. mountain climbers
5. kneeling overhead press
6. jumping jacks with dumbbells

When all 3 blocks are finished, calculate the total amount of reps that were completing during the ‘max out’ phase.

Finisher

Use the warm up game as a finisher to push your campers to gain extra points.

About Marie

I’m a personal trainer and group ex instructor in the Bay Area and teach classes and bootcamps at the YMCA, Bay Club, Apple and Google. I don’t my own bootcamps but I’m thinking of starting my own business soon.

Original Entry

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.