Just about every fitness center and gym seems to offer a version of the trendy boot camp workout these days. Some go with a pseudo-militaristic theme, complete with camouflage gear. Others refer to standard circuit classes as boot camps.

Deciding what type of boot camp workout you want to teach determines where you’ll hold it, what equipment you’ll need, what exercises you’ll introduce to clients and, most importantly, who your target clientele will be.

Choosing a target clientele

If your strength as a trainer lies in postpartum fitness, consider designing a boot camp for new mums. Or perhaps you have athletic experience and are good with team sports. Why not target participants who enjoy higher-intensity, athletic training? Stick with your strengths, and your creativity will follow.

Liability issues

Before starting your boot camp classes, check with your professional liability insurance carrier to make sure that you are covered to teach in a group or outdoor setting and also that the exercises you present are covered under your policy. Know what your class is capable of and monitor class participants closely to minimize the chance of injury.

Boot Camp programming

Design a program that gradually increases in intensity over the length of the course. For example, you wouldn’t teach plyometrics on day one, but you shouldn’t have to instruct proper crunch form on day 15 either.

Class design

Begin each class as if you were teaching an aerobics class: do light cardiovascular movements, such as running, skipping rope, squat thrusts, etc. Follow the cardiovascular exercise with graduated stretches of the body parts that you plan to train more intensely during that session.

For the rest of the class, I like to alternate intermediate cardio with calisthenics and core conditioning. For instance, my clients do a ¼-mile run in their best effort without completely exhausting them followed by lunges and standing hip abductions before doing martial arts-style abdominal work in a standing position (e.g., hip/torso flexion). They rest for upwards of 90 seconds and then transition back into 2-5 additional minutes of cardio, followed by drills like pushups, medicine ball tosses and seated abdominal chops. Whatever exercises you decide to teach, keep your programming simple and fun!

Jim Labadie is the owner/operator of Sun Fitness Personal Training Studio in Tampa , Florida. To discover the four things you MUST know about running profitable fitness boot camps please visit: http://www.howtoprofitwithbootcamps.com

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Fitness is a major factor in living a healthy life. Fitness means different things to different people, for some it is the ability of an individual to participate in sports and activities while for some it is all about feeling and looking good. People are getting health conscious nowadays and you can see them following diet patterns, exercise routines and holistic approaches towards body fitness. Fitness business is one of the popular branches of business, which is currently in great demand due to health conscious consumers. You can tap into this growing trend by starting a business of health and fitness.

Here are some tips to start your own fitness business and attract the clients that you need. Starting a business of fitness demands research and careful planning. There are different aspects of a fitness business that need to be considered before taking the first step:

1) First, you need to have sound understanding about your client base for your fitness business. Before starting a business such as a fitness center, you should know who your ideal client is, where they live, what they listen to, read, and watch, what they need and how much they earn. Having this information before starting a fitness business will help you to direct your marketing efforts to attract more clients. You need to narrow down your marketing efforts and make tailor made advertisements specifically targeting these clients. Once you get clients, they are likely to stay with you for a long period of time.

You can advertise your fitness business through different mediums and gain the attention of your prospective clients.

2) After you have information about your targeted clients, you should decide on a location that is nearby and accessible to your targeted clients. The different aspects of location which should be considered are:

o Where will be your fitness center located?

o How much area will you need?

o How much it is going to cost you?

o Does the location have good visibility and accessibility?

o Does it offer enough parking space?

3) After you decide on the location of your new fitness business, you need to look towards putting other things in place such as equipment, staff and money required for starting a business like a health center.

Equipment: You need to have the right equipment for business.

Purchasing good quality equipment when initially starting a business is a wise decision because you won’t have to face the repair immediately, that is, within a year. Purchasing used equipment for a fitness business can be dangerous, causing many problems.

Staff: In the fitness business, it is advisable to recruit well-trained and experienced staff. You need to have a knowledgeable staff to answer customer questions. The staff should be well acquainted with the use of different equipment and their benefits while exercising.

Financing options: You need to have enough financing to start your business as planned. You cannot compromise on staff or equipment for lack of financing.

It has been proven that starting a fitness business can turn out to be a profitable exercise in long run, if well planned. Anyone, starting a business related to health and fitness can get significant returns.

For more information visit http://AchieveFitnessUSA.com/ and http://AchieveFitCoaches.com/.

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You need to be a certified fitness trainer before you can start a boot camp otherwise you need to hire one to manage the team. There’s no way that you can start a fitness boot camp if there’s no professional trainer to handle the class. It’s like starting a pharmacy without a registered pharmacist, if that makes any sense. Whichever area you live, this is a common mandatory requirement that you have to take care of. Also, your clients will be asking for some proof that you are indeed qualified to run a boot camp. When you have a certificate to show, we can assume that you have the skills and the expertise.

The next important thing on what is needed to start a fitness boot camp is insurance. Don’t forget to check with your insurance carrier what your policy states about your job as a fitness boot camp instructor. Go over the details of your policy and make sure that outdoor training is covered as well as the exercise routines you are performing. Insurance is also a way on how you can protect yourself from personal claims from your clients just in case they get injured while training. Always be cautious and keep an eye on your class. Knowing what the group is capable of will allow you to pattern the workout routines from there. Don’t expect them to be as agile as you are.

Business permit or license is also one of the crucial things on what is needed to start a fitness boot camp. It doesn’t matter how small your class is, you still need to get a permit. Find out about the rules and regulations in your area especially if you are going to use public facilities.