The Boom in Boot Camps

Legions of enthusiasts are signing on as never before
Marta Gold , The Edmonton Journal

With the start of a new year comes the perennial search for a fitness boost, or a fitness boot. As in boot camp.

The intensive, group fitness programs -- usually held up to five times a week, often before the crack of dawn -- are spreading through Edmonton and across the country like an invading army.

They first infiltrated locally back in 2004, when Soldiers of Fitness started its boot camp led by real army reservists. But the past year has seen rival platoons joining the war on sloth, taking the boot-camp model farther from its military roots.

The newcomers seem to be faring well, too, proof of the booming interest in boot-camp-style programs. While styles, approaches and techniques vary, most boot camps offer three or five classes a week for between four and six weeks.

The "boot camp" concept appeals to people because it's intense and effective, says lifestyle and fitness coach Allan Fine, who runs the Adventure Boot Camps in Calgary. It's cheaper than hiring a personal trainer and is less intimidating for many people than one-on-one training. And with regular workouts three or five times a week, people see results, he adds.

Fitness boot camps are becoming the newest rage in fitness, encouraging participants toexercise upwards of five times a week, often before dawn.

"When you have a (boot camp) trainer working with you, there's no guesswork involved," says Fine. Many people don't know where to begin if left to work out on their own. Nor do they have the motivation to continue without the support of others.

That camaraderie makes the experience fun and social, says Conroy. "I think a lot of people are just getting really bored of going to the gym," she adds.

Tanya Berry, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta specializing in exercise psychology, says the group experience is key in making such programs a success. "With anything that brings the group together for a shared experience, and in this case, it sounds like shared pain, everybody's going to bond and you get to know people and you're more likely to come back."

Berry says the novelty of the program has likely attracted people too, especially those who have tired of their usual exercise routine.

Copyright 2008