Choosing the right exercises for your boot camp workout is crucial to creating an effective workout that will challenge you without discouraging you as well. Many personal trainers struggle unnecessarily to do precisely that and end up losing clients in the process. Exercise selection must be variable, hitting all muscle groups, with quick transfer times between exercises. Which exercises should be included in boot camp workouts?
You don’t want to choose heavy exercises like bench presses or barbell squats because they are too complex to move through quick circuits. You also don’t want to choose endurance exercises like walking, jogging, or biking because they don’t give you enough bang for your buck. Instead you’ll need to be versatile and creative.
So, here are three surefire tips to help you select the right combination of exercises for the ultimate boot camp workout as recommended by a professional personal trainer.
Tip #1 for Choosing Boot Camp Exercises: Think Big!
When choosing exercises for your classes, it’s essential to consider that your clients only have so much time to work out. You want to be sure to keep them working hard and staying engaged. Think about it – most of them are getting up early and rushing like crazy to fit your workout class in three to five times a week. So, you need to respect their time and give them the most effective and efficient workout possible for their time.
That’s why you need to think BIG with your exercise selection… as in “big muscle groups.” In other words, whenever possible, try to select exercises that engage multiple large muscle groups.
My all-time favorite exercise that fits this requirement? Burpees, hands down. Burpees work out the entire body and will challenge your boot campers, but are not so complex. This brings me to my next tip…
Ultimate Boot Camp Workout Exercise Tip #2: Complexity In Small Doses…
I frequently see fitness instructors who appear to be competing for who can create the most confusing and complicated workout. I think this is probably a throwback to the aerobics craze of the eighties, although it is also a sickness perpetuated by an industry that is always trying to sell the next greatest thing. However, if your clients wanted to be confused by their workout, they’d do a step aerobics class; trust me, making your workouts more natural to understand will improve your retention drastically.
So, at all times, keep your exercise selections restricted to those movements that can be emulated with minimal demonstration and instruction. Here’s a litmus test for you – if your mom couldn’t do it after watching you demo it once, it probably doesn’t belong in your workout.
Boot Camp Workout Exercise Tip #3: Be A Multi-Maniac
“Multi-maniacs” are fitness instructors who favor exercises that engage multiple muscle groups, that are multi-joint, and involve multi-planar movement. This is how the body moves typically during your clients’ activities of daily living. Whether they’re unloading groceries from the car, picking their baby up from the floor, or doing a double-leg takedown in jiu-jitsu practice, the body moves in unison, not as separate parts.
So, leave the single-joint/single-plane exercises to the gym trainers. As I said previously, if your clients wanted to be at the gym doing those exercises, they would be. So, give them functional exercises, and that adds some fun and variety to their workouts. In almost every instance, the “multi-maniac” approach will fit the bill.
Final Thoughts
A well-designed boot camp workout isn’t about cramming in every exercise you know or pushing people to exhaustion for the sake of it — it’s about smart choices. From a personal trainer’s perspective, the best boot camp workouts rely on compound movements that deliver the most return in the least amount of time, flow smoothly from one exercise to the next, and challenge the entire body without requiring heavy equipment or a long setup.
When participants only have 45 minutes or less, efficiency matters. The goal is to help people move better, get stronger, and leave feeling accomplished — not overwhelmed or injured. When the exercises are chosen with purpose, a boot camp workout becomes more than just a tough session; it becomes a sustainable, effective way for real people to stay consistent and fit in a busy life.
Read more: The 5 Best Boot Camp Exercises Part 1 | Project Swole
