Fitness basics (21)
- Fitness programs: 6 steps to guide your selection
- Fitness for less: 4 low-cost ways to shape up
- Golf injuries: Why it pays to play it safe
- see all in Fitness basics
Stretching and flexibility (3)
- Stretching: Focus on flexibility
- How fit are you? See how you measure up
- Hamstring injury
Aerobic exercise (12)
- Walking: How to start a walking group
- Exercise intensity: Why it matters, how it's measured
- Aerobic exercise: How to warm up and cool down
- see all in Aerobic exercise
Strength training (9)
- Weight training: Improve your muscular fitness
- Strength training: How-to video collection
- Core exercises: Why you should strengthen your core muscles
- see all in Strength training
Sports nutrition (3)
- Performance-enhancing drugs: Know the risks
- Eating and exercise: 5 tips to maximize your workouts
- Water: How much should you drink every day?
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Boot camp workout: Is it right for you?
Fitness boot camps offer an opportunity to build your strength and endurance. But make sure you know what to expect before marching into boot camp.
By Mayo Clinic staffJust as the armed forces are experimenting with changes to boot camp, such as adding yoga and Pilates, fitness buffs are signing up for book camp workouts modeled on old-school military training. What's the appeal of a boot camp workout? Building strength, endurance and agility to conquer your daily routine. But are you up to the challenge?
Just what is a boot camp workout?
Boot camp workouts can vary but generally include a fairly intense mix of strength training and aerobic elements. One boot camp workout might stress calisthenics while another stresses military-style drills. Some even incorporate martial arts moves.
In pretty much all cases, however, you can expect to do calisthenics, such as pull-ups, push-ups, lunges and crunches, as well as drills and sprints. In essence, a boot camp workout is a type of interval training — bursts of intense activity alternated with intervals of lighter activity.
What are the benefits of a boot camp workout?
The goal of a fitness boot camp is to provide a whole-body workout that builds strength and endurance. Boot camp workouts also attract many people because they:
- Offer a more challenging and varied workout
- Require little or no special equipment
- Create a sense of camaraderie among the participants
(1 of 2)
- Army revises training to deal with unfit recruits. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/us/31soldier.html?_r=1&ref=us. Accessed Aug. 31, 2010.
- Flach A, et al. The Official Five Star Fitness Boot Camp Workout. Long Island City, N.Y.: Hatherleigh Company, Ltd.; 2007:3.
- Porcari J, et al. Drop and give me 20! American Council on Exercise. http://www.acefitness.org/cp/pdfs/FitnessMatters/Sept08.pdf. Accessed Aug. 31, 2010.
- Laskowski ER (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 9, 2010.
- 2008 physical activity guidelines for Americans. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/pdf/paguide.pdf. Accessed Sept. 8, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on