During a boot camp class at Three Rivers Athletic Club (TRAC) in Longview, Wash., members do pushups, lunges, flip tires and more, all at the behest of an instructor, who’s giving out a dose of tough love, to whip TRAC’s members into tip-top shape.
According to Tracee Hansen, the owner of TRAC, offering boot camps has transformed the club’s atmosphere, helping with retention and fostering a positive environment. “The club has always had a great membership base,” said Hansen. “However, the boot camps have brought a lot more camaraderie into the club, and brought people together. It has definitely helped with retention. For one, people are getting results, which always helps keep members.”
The class has become so popular, that 200 members are currently enrolled in the boot camp program, and TRAC gains participants each month.
Advantages of Boot Camps
One member, Joelle Wilson, joined TRAC weighing in at 250 pounds. “I didn’t like who I was,” she said. Determined to take action, she started working out on her own, but didn’t see the results she desired. Expressing her concerns to a friend at the club, that friend convinced her to take the beginner boot camp class offered at TRAC. Intrigued, she signed up and hasn’t looked back. After a year of intense training and week after week of boot camp classes, she has lost 110 pounds. “I feel good about myself now,” she said. “I lost weight, but gained strength and confidence.”
Wilson’s story was just one example of how boot camps could transform an individual, both physically and mentally. Typically short and sweet, boot camps operate between 30-45 minutes and are intense in nature, allowing members to achieve results faster — perfect for members who may be more impatient when it comes to reaching their fitness goals. “Boot camps have the added advantage of being particularly efficient — they are shorter in duration and generate just as much intensity,” explained Allyson Donnelly, the director of programming for Cityfitness, a fitness chain in New Zealand.
Results being the primary concern, TRAC offers two boot camps — a five-week beginner class, where members learn basics, such as how to squat and lunge properly, and a four-month advanced boot camp that members attend after they’ve graduated from the beginner class. “Unlike a lot of gyms, our boot camps are education driven,” explained Hansen.
The first 45-50 minutes of each boot camp at TRAC includes a mixture of cardio and strength training, and during the last 10 minutes, TRAC instructors educate participants on topics such as nutrition and weight management. All participants are required to attend, and keep a food log during the course of the class. “It’s pretty regimented in terms of what to expect,” explained Hansen. “With the education part, the interaction and support people give each other in terms of helping with weight loss and encouraging one another is just incredible.”
For Wilson, the combination of exercise, education and encouragement was what helped her succeed. “Boot camp was the whole package — food logging, cardio, strength training, advice,” she said. “TRAC boot camp teaches you the correct principles, and the instructors encourage you to stick by them.”
According to Hansen, the success members such as Joelle Wilson have experienced through the program spilled over into the club, fostering excitement about the boot camp program and member retention. “It’s a draw for people who aren’t attracted to a traditional group setting,” said Hansen.
According to Donna Cyrus, the senior vice president of programming for Crunch Fitness, this is a typical benefit to boot camps. “As far as retention goes, boot camps are great,” she explained. “There’s a high level of competition among the participants, and competition is great for retention.”
At Crunch Fitness, the club uses boot camps’ competitive atmosphere to appeal to male members, who typically aren’t the main target for Group X classes. “There is a sense of competition that’s very strong,” said Cyrus. “The competitive edge is what really drives people. It’s really good for the male population. Boot camps absolutely bring in male members.”
Boot Camp Classes
According to Cyrus, there are two different styles of boot camp classes that clubs can offer. The first is categorized as “military” — members take the class not knowing what to expect each day. They only know they’re going to get an intense workout that combines cardio and strength training. “Military-style boot camps are good for changing muscle memory,” explained Cyrus. “In regular group fitness classes, the instructor sometimes doesn’t change the routine up enough.”
The other style of boot camp is “goal-oriented” classes. In these, the incentive is to work towards a specific goal, such as in Crunch’s “Beach Body” class, where members exercise in preparation for summer weather. “It’s a little bit more structured than military-style boot camps,” said Cyrus. “Each week you tackle a different part of the body. There’s a specific goal, and you know each week what you’re going to be doing.”
At Crunch Fitness, both styles are offered to appeal to a wide range of members, using a variety of different tools and workouts. Military-style classes that Crunch Fitness offers include BodyWeb Bootcamp with TRX®, aimed at body sculpting and muscle toning; Cross Train Challenge, a combination of cardio and strength training; Delirium, a body-weight focused boot camp, and more. Goal-oriented boot camps offered by Crunch, in addition to Beach Body, include BodyTrain, a mixture of cardio and strength training.
Another style of boot camp that has carved a niche of its own has been CrossFit. Created in 2003, the CrossFit craze skyrocketed a few years ago and has showed no sign of slowing down. Characterized by the “Workout of the Day,” or “WOD,” CrossFit has been held in a variety of different spaces that have ranged from garages, backyards and local parks, to rented buildings and gyms.
To cater to the CrossFit demographic, Cityfitness in New Zealand began offering CrossFit through a CrossFit affiliation at its Nelson, New Zealand location. Members and non-members could take the CrossFit class, with members receiving a discounted fee. “It’s been a great synergy so far,” explained Donnelly. “We’ve had some non-gym people come in just to do CrossFit classes and have had some gym people cross over and utilize the affiliate.”
Although some have criticized CrossFit, Cityfitness’ decision to offer CrossFit appealed to the many CrossFit enthusiasts located around the globe. “There is a very high interest level in the program,” explained Donnelly. “As of now, [our] CrossFit class at the Nelson location is the only affiliate in the area. Anything that moves someone from a couch into a workout is great for fitness and for health clubs. Whether you’re a CrossFit fan or not, there’s no denying that it has done a tremendous job of opening the doors to fitness to a new group of people, while building some close knit communities in the process.”
To find out how your club can become a CrossFit affiliate, visit www.crossfit.com/cf-affiliates/affiliation.shtml.
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For Tracee Hansen, offering boot camps at her facility became a way to transform TRAC’s atmosphere. She said the boot camps have a cult-like following, in the best sense of the term. “The spillover from boot camp into the club itself has been bigger than I thought it would be,” said Hansen.
TRAC boot camp turned out to be the push that TRAC member Joelle Wilson needed to reach her fitness goals. “You meet people with the same goals and expectations, and sometimes the same struggles, and you’re able to support each other,” said Wilson. “Everybody feeds off one another. I just think boot camp is an amazing experience. I’m going to do it as long as I can.”
Does your club offer boot camps? If not, talk to your group fitness director about different options, and what types of classes (military or goal-oriented) you’d like to consider offering. There are a plethora of options to choose from. Doing so may be the thing your club is missing when it comes to retention and member results.
By Rachel Zabonick
