Military-style boot camp workouts showed up on the radar of the American Council on Exercise, or ACE, in 1998; by 2009, they were on the ACE list of top fitness trends. Boot-camp calisthenics offer definite benefits--if you survive. But for exercisers with a goal to meet, a time-tested workout format that delivers real results is hard to resist.
Description
According to ACE, boot-camp workouts include the kind of calisthenics used to whip new military recruits into shape. Examples include push-ups, squat thrusts, jumping jacks, kicks, punches and mountain climbers. The term "boot camp" also can mean any program that focuses on basic principles for a short, intense period. For example, there are yoga boot camps, Pilates boot camps and dance boot camps, although they do not resemble military workouts in anything but intensity and duration.
A Team Effort
One of the most compelling aspects of a boot-camp environment is that, for the duration of the class, you and your classmates become a team. Although boot-camp fitness classes won't prepare you for the life-or-death situations you might encounter in the military, the intimate class size, intense environment and shared experiences give you enough of a taste to imagine what the real thing might be like.
Immediacy
It's natural to want to lose weight or gain strength as quickly as possible. Fad diets often cause quick, unsustainable weight loss that comes right back on once you're off the diet because the weight-loss techniques were unsustainable themselves. Boot camps provide a healthier kick-start to your weight-loss or weight-training routine. Although you might not be able to sustain the boot-camp intensity beyond the initial period, you learn simple, replicable techniques and principles that you can apply, if at a less-intense level, for the remainder of your fitness journey.
Measurable Benefits
The bottom line is that boot camps work, according to a 2008 ACE study that found that exercisers burned an average of 9.8 calories per minute during boot-camp workouts; that's almost 600 calories per hour. At the same time, you're developing full-body muscular strength and endurance. Exercisers in the study averaged moderate intensity throughout the workout, with peaks as high as 91 percent of heart-rate max.
Types
There are a wide variety of boot-camp formats, adapted to emphasize certain aspects of the workout experience. Examples include outdoor boot-camp workouts and boot camps that incorporate fitness gear such as dumbbells, light barbells and aerobics moves that you might not expect in a setting modeled after the military experience.
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