What about Boot Camps?

By

Vic Vogel

How successful are boot camps?  Should you consider a boot camp?  What is a boot camp?  These are questions you should answer before deciding to enroll in a boot camp. Let us begin by looking at the roots of boot camps.

Boot camp is a term used by the military for short term conditioning and training of military personnel to prepare them for combat.  The more advance military boot camps, e.g. U.S. Army Ranger Training, Special Forces Training, U.S. Navy Seal Training are designed to weed out individuals who cannot sustain, mentally, the physical duress associated with life-threatening difficult military operations in a hostile environment.  These programs not only condition the physical body, but also the mind (i.e. to resist extreme interrogation by an enemy).  From these short programs, military personnel continue their training in specialties that support their military job classification.  They also undergo ongoing physical and mental conditioning throughout their time in a special operations assignment.  Prior to attending such a program personnel are given complete physical and mental assessments to ensure they are prepared for such training.

Boot camps became popularized to change criminal and undesirable social behavior.  These programs, patterned after military boot camps, were designed to break down the mental process of its participants through a highly disciplined process of physical exertion and mental challenge.  The physical exertion acted as both a discipline tool, and a means for breaking the participants will to the point where their thoughts could be reprogrammed.  The problem is these programs had a high recidivism rate.  During their training changes were made.  Once removed from the environment participants often reverted to criminal activity, or drug abuse.  Generally, those who had a desire to change prior to the boot camp remained in boot camps.  Those who did not have a desire to change dropped out of the boot camp, “About 50% of the offenders dropped out of the boot camp and the study reports that those offenders had lower expectations about the boot camp than offenders who successfully completed the program”.[1] The success of boot camps on individuals depended on their attitude going into the boot camp.  The use of the military concept in a civilian environment has not met with success, “The authors conclude that, even when mixed with rehabilitative components [e.g. education and job training], boot camps may not be the best environment to effect change.”[2] So, why compare these boot camps to the boot camps that have become popular for weight loss and fitness development?

Let us review some aspects of the “boot camp” concept in relation to their predecessors.  First, compare the underpinning rationale of a boot camp.  Boot camps are designed to breakdown a participants mental processes and reprogram their thoughts.  The tool used to do this is physical exhaustion.  When a person has reached physical exhaustion, they are more susceptible to new thought processes.  This is a basic premise for interrogation.  Today’s popular boot camp is normally established as a one to one-and-half hour program of intense interval training.  This consist of alternating aerobic and anaerobic (resistance training) activities.  During this time, the personal trainers, like military drill instructors, push the participants to move past their exhaustion.  This intense activity over the course of a month (4-5 days per week) burns large amounts of calories and builds muscle.  During a military boot camp all aspects of the participants life is controlled to include, meals and sleep.  These are highly regulated and not left in control of the participant.  The boot camps conducted by personal trainers cannot have this type of control.  Participants are allowed to return to their lifestyle, i.e. their nutritional program is not controlled, and their sleep is not controlled (in the military known as lights out).  Military personnel begin their boot camp at 4:30 AM with physical training then move to obstacle courses once or twice a day alternated with specialized training, e.g. weapons training.  In other words, their physical activity last for about 6 hours per day six days a week over eight weeks.  They are not allowed to quit at any point without disgrace or jail time.  Personal training boot camps do not have this type of control.  A person can show to all twenty sessions over a month, or decide to show to 2-3 sessions per week.  They can revert to their previous eating habits after they leave the workout session.  The personal training boot camp participants have to turnoff their mental attitude related to the boot camp and turn it to their employment.  This is not conducive to converting mental attitudes.  Military personnel relate their boot camp to saving their lives.  Personal training boot camp participants relate their training to fitting into smaller jeans.  Again, as with the use of boot camps to convert criminal behavior the attitude a person has entering a boot camp determines the benefit they will derive from the boot camp.  If they enter into the boot camp with the idea of changing their life, they may take away more than the person who simply wants to drop 15 pounds.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of people who attend a personal training boot camp have short-term goals.  Many people I have interviewed after boot camps have regained the fat they lost from the boot camp.  The primary reason is their short-term focus.

Another primary concern is the pre-physical assessment before beginning a boot camp.  The military requires a complete medical physical before beginning any boot camp.  The boot camps I have talked to simply require a form be completed stating the clients perceived physical health prior to attending.  Since many of these classes are large (15-20 participants), the assigned number of personal trainers does not allow constant monitoring for contraindication signs that could be dangerous health signals.  Many of the people who are attending these popular boot camps would not be allowed into a military boot camp.  Most of the boot camps are low cost programs that rely on large numbers to be profitable.  You should not expect individualized attention, e.g. nutritional counseling.  These boot camps are highly structured, although they offer variety, and do not customize for the individual.  Unlike military personnel who have an assigned drill instructor to coach and counsel them, the personal trainer boot camps do not normally assign you to a specific trainer focused on you.  Another major concern is rapid weight loss.  The accepted safe weight loss per week is two pounds per week.  That means a program that last one month should result in an 8-pound weight loss.  Most people who sign up for these programs are looking for 15 – 20 pounds of weight loss.  Since nutritional programs are not monitored regularly, as a private personal trainer would do, some people starve themselves to meet the large weight loss goal.  In the short-term, they will attain weight loss.  In the long-term, they may adversely affect their fitness.

Now let us turn our attention to the positive aspects of boot camps.  First, the training principals they use are excellent.  Interval training (a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercises) is the best method for developing overall fitness.  These programs will not sculpt the body, but will develop overall fitness.  They are normally inexpensive ($200-$300 for 20 sessions).  Personal trainer boot camps have provided many people the kick-start they need to begin a fitness program, “Can fitness boot camp really do all that – and transform you in a matter of weeks?  Yes, says Dr. William Roberts, former president of the American College of Sports Medicine – but it’s going to hurt a little.  ‘You can get in pretty good shape in four to six weeks,’ says Roberts, who holds out the military as an example -it expects its recruits to be whipped into shape in a very short amount of time.  With the consistent, sustained exercise the boot camp promises, you can also expect to lose weight – you may not go from 190 to 165, but a 5- to 10-pound weight loss may be realistic.”[3] Boot camps offer variety that helps stimulate the desire to workout.  A simple internet search for “boot camps” yields 3,350,000 sites.  This should tell you about the popularity of boot camps.  So, as a source to stimulate fitness they definitely are having an impact.  Their success at sustaining fitness and changing lifestyles is yet to be determined and needs further research.

In summary, the best approach to developing and sustaining total fitness is through a committed lifestyle change orchestrated in concert with a professional fitness consultant or personal trainer that will coach, educate, and motivate you to an ongoing fitness lifestyle change.  Unfortunately, more people in today’s society are looking for a short-term fix to their fitness problem.  These hardly ever have a lasting affect.  Yet, boot camps offer an opportunity for these individuals to reach a fitness goal.  This is definitely better than the alternative, which is to do nothing.  I hope that people who choose to enroll in a boot camp will become motivated to sustain their fitness by then moving to a personal trainer who can provide them the personal attention that can help change their lifestyle.

Lastly, if you choose to enroll in a boot camp I high highly recommend a thorough physical before your first session.  Assuming you will not overexert yourself is a bad thought.  When you get involved with a boot camp, the team motivation may cause you to exert beyond your safe level of exercise.  There are competitive processes at work in a team versus a personal training one-on-one environment.  All boot camp instructors are concerned about your safety first.  The dilemma is the number of trainers per person does not always allow for constant evaluation of YOUR workout.  Here are a few questions to ask before you jump into the whirlwind environment of boot camps.

1. Do I already know what to do, but simply don’t do it?  If you need the boot camp for discipline and motivation, you should be prepared to spend a lot of money over the next few years.  Is the boot camp a crutch for your lack of discipline?
2. Am I ready to commit to the nutritional discipline to compliment the boot camp?
3. Is this a lifestyle change commitment, or simply a short-term fix?  If it is a short-term fix, you can expect to regain your weight, and/or lose your fitness level in the future.
4. Am I physically ready for this activity?  Have I had a physical recently?  You will be exercising with a variety of people; the trainers cannot conduct the class to the slowest participant.

In selecting a boot camp, you should realize you are not hiring a personal trainer.  These trainers, however experienced, will not have the time to provide individualized personal training to each participant.  Make sure you enjoy working in groups.  Teams can be very motivating and socially supporting if you enjoy working in teams.  Boot camps can be very motivating and exciting if you are enrolling for the right reasons.

Vic Vogel is an internationally NFPT certified personal trainer /fitness consultant, author, and sports nutritionist.  He provides fitness consulting to individuals and businesses.  Vic served in the Army’s Special Forces.  He received his Masters Degree from the University of Oklahoma, and a Bachelors Degree from the University of West Florida.  He has two black belt certifications in two different martial art styles.  Vic has conducted fitness lectures in both businesses and non-profit organizations.  He is the Principal and owner of Strategy for Fitness, StrategyForFitness.com, and CEO of Victor L. Vogel & Associates, Inc.  Vic’s two books Building a Strategy for Fitness: A Model to Reach and Sustain Total Fitness & Health, and Strategy for Fitness: Nutritional Manual can be found at www.strategyforfitness.com and Amazon.com.  Vic resides and practices in Oklahoma City, and travels for fitness consulting.

[2] Morash, Merry and Lila Rucker, “ A Critical Look at the Idea of Boot Camp as a Correctional Reform” Crime and Delinquency, Vol 36 No. 2, pp. 204-222, April 1990

[3] Burkholder, Amy. “Surviving fitness boot camp”. CNN. 12-31-2009 <http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/category/weight-loss/page/2/>.