Bootcamps. They are everywhere now, on every street corner & every blade of grass. I walked by a hotel and there were 4 people exercising in the alcove of the restaurant doorway. I walked another 200 metres and there were 5 people exercising in a car park, this time with music blasting from the instructor’s bag!
So, what makes one different from another? Are they actually all the same, with the same exercises just put into a different order? I question the positioning of some of these sessions. Have appropriate licences been attained for their location for example? As some of you may already know, I was interviewed on Radio 4 recently regarding council park charges. I agree that instructors should contribute to the local councils as it’s a business after all. I did however, disagree about the fairness of the charges. A class size of 6-7 people as opposed to 20-25 people and it’s the same charge. Maybe a pro rata fee would be a better way of controlling this.
I know some excellent bootcamp instructors, competitors yes but they are very good at what they do. Having witnessed some of these aforementioned sessions however, I’m beginning to think that anybody can get together a group of people, take them to a public location and tell them to do a few exercises. I doubt they have paid to use these locations and this frustrates me somewhat. I feel that there should be more regulation with bootcamps. If I have permission to use a council park for example, why should another guy be using it at the same time but not paying for it? It’s not right.
So, are bootcamps still appealing? They are certainly still popular but do the people get real results from them? Are the results sustainable? I still take classes and my main aim for my customers is to get them life changing results. I know what I do works as I’ve been teaching for over 17 years. I think bootcamps may still be appealing to some people but I’m now finding people want a lifestyle change and that involves support in other areas such as healthy eating, stress management, online videos and so on. That is where I am heading in my business. I want to help as many people as I can to improve their health and fitness and tackle the ever-increasing obesity crisis. To do this, it will take more than just holding a bootcamp class.