This wasn't my first boot camp. I was a faithful participant of a boot camp in KC. I think boot camps are a fun, easy way to combine cardio and strength training and stretching. Since I moved here, I've been hesitant to try some of the camps - it seems that the time and places never worked with my schedule.
I was sold on the location and the times/dates and the review on yelp and the reviews on citysearch and their website. I also saw that some of the pics had the same exercises that my old KC boot camp did.
I was excited about this camp. However, after attending a class, I wasn't motivated to come back. I guess part of my disappointment is that reviews don't state what goes on during boot camp. So, here's the rundown so new people can judge whether this camp is for them or not.
Here is what I experience:
warm-up - some light exercises and jogging one or two laps
strength and core training - most of these are decent but what I found lacking was there wasn't always instructions on ""modified"" versions for those of us who are beginners.
relays - I literally flashed back to bad high school gym classes. This part isn't for me because I'm not competitive with other people. I set goals for myself and I work towards those goals. But having me on a team racing in relays doesn't work for me. Oh and the losing teams have to do 10 herkels or jerkies or bursties (or whatever those exercises you see track people do..). Sometimes winning teams get a pass but other times the winning teams have to do the same exercises but less (like 5).
When relays are done, there is about 5 - 10 minutes left in class. Instead of stretching and cooling down, the class gets right back into more core and strength training. We're told that they don't do stretching and that we need to stretch on our own and drink plenty of water. I don't agree with that. First of all, not everyone knows what kind of stretching they should do. Secondly, by the time the person gets in their car and drives home, their time for stretching has passed. Even with my stretching, I was still sore for about 4 days.
Unfortunately, this was one groupon that didn't ""work out"" for me. I think from here on out, I'll see if I can watch a camp before paying for a class. I certainly won't drop $60 again on a boot camp package.
more