Weight Loss Boot Camps
Weight Loss Boot Camps
A weight loss boot camp is a group physical training program organized by gyms and military veterans. Boot camps replicate a military style fitness training which includes cardiovascular exercises, weight training and a number of calisthenics. People are expected to push themselves more to achieve their weight loss goals.
Boot camps can last anywhere from two days to a month. They include a lot of exercise and controlled dieting. Participants sleep in bunk beds in traditional hostels and use communal bathrooms. Even with all this, boot camps are seeing an influx of people wanting to join and benefit from the program.
For starters, boot camps help you stay focused and disciplined. Not a lot of us have the emotional restraint to stick to diets and exercise routines.
Special bridal boot camps have grown in popularity too. They usually last for two weeks and help soon to be brides reach their target weight before their big day!
Military Style Training
How many of us have access to military fitness training? Maybe people with family members in the military do but that is a rare possibility. Even if we did, the grueling schedule of military fitness training would have us calling it quits on the first day.
At a weight loss boot camp, people of the same weight ranges are put in one group, allowing fitness trainers to create training plans that work for a particular weight range. Boot camp fitness training includes a lot of army style exercises – early morning power walks, hour long pushups and squats, real life army drills, and much more for as long as ten hours a day. Sounds impossible? It isn’t! You are pushed by your instructor to complete tasks and exercise routines.
Since military style training does not require fancy gym equipment, you can even continue doing these after boot camp is over. Essential exercises like pushups and leg presses are great for maintaining a toned body.
This is a small preview of life at a boot camp. You are exercising in one form or the other throughout the day but it is perfectly safe and doable. The plans are created and supervised by military veterans. See how strong people in the military are? That should be motivation enough for you.
Healthy Eating
When you decide to lose weight, the first step is to banish all the junk food from your diet. You can keep up with it for a week but on the weekend, you would want a break from all the healthy eating. Who decides what is healthy and what is not? We all cheat when dieting but at a boot camp, this is not an option that you have.
Meals are controlled and you have to eat what is laid out on the table, much like in the army. Your trainer decides the portions you can eat and you have to listen to them. You can’t cheat and you can’t quit till the boot camp is officially over.
An optimistic way of looking at it is by thinking about how disciplined it will make you in terms of portion and diet control. By knowing exactly how much food your body needs, you can curb overeating and maintain a healthy weight throughout your life.
Social Support
Boot camp organizers understand that this method of losing weight can be emotionally and physically difficult for anyone to handle. This is why weight loss boot camps are organized in groups so you have the emotional support of new friends who have the same weight loss goals as yours. Seeing people around you lose weight and living in the same conditions can boost your morale, allowing you to stay focused on your personal weight loss goals.
The camaraderie of your group will help you overcome tough phases in the boot camp but also help in taking away important lessons from the camp, which you can apply to your life outside camp.
Designed to Suit your Schedule
All weight loss boot camps are designed to suit their client’s needs and requirements. Whether you have only two days to spend or a month, you will find a program that matches your needs perfectly.
Lose weight in picturesque exotic locations around the world, participate in weekend boot camps or join a local fitness camp chapter.
Boot Camps vs. Fat Camps
Contrary to what the general public opinion is, not all boot camps are fat camps. Yes, fat camps exist but they are ideal for obese people who need a combination of diet and exercise to reduce a lot of weight. Fat camps also last for a longer duration than boot camps.
It is difficult to say which is better. Both cater to a different set of people with different requirements.
Boot Camps are Safe
If you think that excessive physical activity will result in injury, you don’t have anything to fear at a weight loss boot camp. All sessions are conducted by licensed trainers and meals are planned by staff who have extensive experience in conducting fitness camps.
Several people have voiced concerns about the safety of boot camps since participants lose weight very fast. This fast weight loss occurs due to the increase in physical activity. Honestly, how many of us exercise for ten hours a day? Boot camps have high activity days followed by low activity days, giving you enough time for your body to rest and recuperate.
Boot camp can make you feel confident about your body. After all, if you can fit into your favorite pair of jeans at the end of two weeks, it is well worth it.