Fit to Print Volume 23 Issue 2: June 2014 | Page 20

N e w Pr o g r a m s

Bootcamp, Evolved.
Our Newest Program is Killin’IT. Literally.

Tough Sledder: Matt Anderson Killin’ IT

T

he trainers and instructors at
Fitness Incentive proudly stand in
the ranks of the fitness industry's
best educated and most experienced
professionals. They are also among the
most creative. Whether developing
exciting new programs "from scratch" or
applying their expertise to the
refinement and advancement of
established exercise concepts, FI staff
brings to our members a constantly
evolving menu of training options. They
also keep it fun and interesting.
One traditional training option that has
seen a revival of late was originally a
sub-species of group exercise classes
labeled "Bootcamp" or more broadly,
"bootcamp-style." The earliest of these
were closely modelled on what newlyrecruited soldiers (or "boots" to use the
slang) experienced once they'd begun
basic training. Often taught (as was an
early incarnation at FI) by actual
veterans (or wannabes), they were
designed to be no-frills, hardcore and
old-school. Like most things in fitness,
“Bootcamp” had its run as the fad of the
moment, and then blended back into the
background. But the last decade has seen
these programs come back with a
vengeance, including several variants
home-grown at FI. Inspired by the old
bootcamp workouts, but updated with
new concepts such as paleo fitness and

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functional movements, these modern
programs often don't reference the
term “boot”, but often appear
decidedly retro in terms of equipment
and activities. Appearances, at least at
Fitness Incentive, are deceiving. Many
of FI's “bootcamp-style” programs
incorporate newfangled apparatus and
scientific exercise concepts that no
paleo ancestor of ours ever dreamed
of. Despite that, they all embrace the
back-to-basics model, incorporating
the best of traditional routines and
devices that Charles Atlas would have
recognized and appreciated. In FI's
modern take on “bootcamp”, “retro”
does not equal “primitive,”—if
anything, it means evolved, with an
appreciation for tradition enhanced by
an increased knowledge and awareness
of how to make the movements more
effective and safe. The evolved
bootcamp model is no longer defined
merely by the "what" - a specific set of
actions or exercises. It is the "why" and
the "how" that now take a more
central role in the model, defining the
purpose, form and sequencing of the
exercises. While these evolved
programs have the outward
appearance of a traditional bootcamp,
beneath their rugged exterior the
"whys" and "hows" have changed and
grown more sophisticated and
scientific. We have a much greater
understanding these days of why an
activity needs to be performed a
specific way, in a specific sequence
and how the quality of movement—
your form—affects the quality of the
result, than the drill sergeants of old
ever dreamed of. And to be honest,
their goal was different than ours.
Where the military is equally if not
more concerned with building
discipline and mental toughness, most
of us taking these bootcamp classes
are more interested in getting in great
shape. Athletes of a certain age will
remember when football coaches
withheld water from the thirsty as a