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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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.

One way on how to market a boot camp business is by building a website. People nowadays use the internet to search about anything and everything so this is one great channel for people to find out about your business. This won’t be easy because if you do not know how to build and design your own site then you will need people doing this for you and it’s not cheap. You have to spend a good amount of money to have a rocking website but the benefits will definitely outweigh the cost.

If you can’t build a website because you cannot afford it yet, one cheap way on how to market a boot camp business is thru “Word of Mouth”. I personally think that this is one of the most effective promotional methods that has been tried and tested already. Tell your friend or your relative and then tell them to tell their friends and before you know it, you already built your clientele! There are a lot of social networking sites like myspace and facebook and you can search for people who live in the same area and invite them to join your group. This is free and yet very effective to get the word out.

If you have a little bit of money to spare then you can definitely invest on radio and print advertisements. Advertise thru your local paper or classified ads and your local radio station. This works effectively and it’s definitely worth your money. You can also pay for online classified ads if you want. Learn how to create your slogan or taglines or whatever it is that will make people get interested in your boot camp.