The Men's Health Blog

Late last week I accepted an offer to instruct a fitness boot camp at the local university. The university, a private Christian institution, offers active fitness classes such as pilates, martial arts, dance, etc., free of charge to students (well, nothing is free, I'm sure they're paying for it with tuition dollars).

Next semester, they want to add a fitness boot camp. I wish that sort of thing existed when I was in college.

Any way, a friend of mine instructs the pilates class there, and recommended me to the program coordinator. He contacted me last Thursday, and I accepted without hesitation.

Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked.

While I have yet to take a fitness boot camp class personally, I suppose going through actual Marine Corps boot camp and knowing a little something about personal fitness are all the credentials I need to instruct one.

My university course will be 5-weeks in length, from February 2 through March 6, taking place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 7-8AM. Ideally, I prefer the class to begin at 6AM. However, I have to remember that we're dealing with college students here. Heck, I'll be amazed if they just show up on a consistent basis.

I'll be spending a good chunk of time in January researching other programs, and building a 5-week course of my own. Of course a lot will depend on the students (i.e. fitness level, motivation, etc.), but I need to at least lay out the basics. I want to really challenge participants, as well as make it fun enough that they crave the next session. The premise of my course will be the same as others -- to keep students moving the entire time. But I'll try to lace the course with flare from my own background, without getting too militant, of course.

If you've ever taken a boot camp course, I'd be more than interested to hear about your experience -- specifically your most and least favorite exercises. Do you have any online resources I should take into consideration?

Even if you haven't taken a boot camp course, what exercises do you think I should incorporate?

Help me build a killer course!