There is a boot camp workout offered at multiple locations near me (within five miles of my home, so no excuse about traffic or anything), at multiple times a week (mornings and evenings). It sounds pretty popular and sounds extremely hard - as in, the sort of thing I would expect to pay a trainer to help me with - lack of motivation and not pushing myself hard enough in the gym. I do have a gym membership and I do go, but not nearly as often as I should to lose the 50lbs I want to shed.

Boot camp is $150 per month, unlimited sessions - if you were crazy or fit enough, you could do 68 workouts a week! Of course, being rational, it's more likely to be five per week at the most - Monday through Friday.

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? I would assume paying that money up front would be the motivation to go, plus the thought of what might happen to my fitness level after a month of this sort of thing. But I'm balking at the idea of paying $150 a month on top of my $30 gym membership - having said that, if I paid a personal trainer at my gym, it would be $65 per session, which is more than boot camp would be.

I can't make a decision! Can you tell?

I began a bootcamp workout two years ago and have now lost 65 pounds along with being able to deadlift 185 pounds and curl 35 pounds with multiple reps , regular pushups......
A bootcamp is really as good as the trainer -so take the time to listen to the people in the class and see how successful they have been.
My trainer has a wonderful following even though he gives a brutally hard hour and half workout!

Wow, that's quite the endorsement! Thank you for sharing your experience. My only concern is that I will be the biggest person in the group - but realisitically, will anyone other than the trainer give a crap about what I'm doing? Probably not... so I shouldn't let that stop me. The bootcamp has a Facebook group and all the comments on there are very positive - scary as heck, explaining what the workouts are like, but definitely worth it. I think I'll try and get along to one of the groups and watch a workout - at least then I won't be completely terrified if I do sign up!

I do one at my local gym once a week for one hour and is pretty intense. The instructor is great and she is so fit and toned, she is in her late 40. I admire her.

There's different shapes and ages in our class and no one is looking down at each other, everyone is so exhausted and focus that I guess there's no energy for silly stuff like that. My first day I was shor of breath during the warming up routine and I fell jumping the obstacles (pretty pathetic) but I continued and know I can do better than before. My suggestions is for you to make it at your own pace, that way you avoid getting hurt or frustrated.

Exito!

Renacer - thanks for your input. Unfortunately, my gym doesn't offer a class like that - another location does, which is great, but it's 5:30pm on Wednesdays. Needless to say, even in quieter work periods, that's going to be mighty hard to get to. Maybe I'll suggest they offer one on the weekend and see if they can get enough interest.

I love my bootcamp--but it's 5 min from my house at 5:30am, 3 morning a week AND $20 for the 8 week session!!! I know, I'm lucky. The support is wonderful.

Julesp- I too have been interested in trying a boot camp class. My gym offers one at 5:30am, I haven't been able to convince myself to get up that early though!! This thread has motivated me to try it. I definitely need an intense work out to put a fire under me. (more than anything, I think it will be an eye opener as to how out of shape I am!!)

Thanks for stating the thread!

And, Thanks Nada, Renacer, and Momof4boys for the input!!!

I have been doing a fitness boot camp since June. I have firmed up a lot in that time. The one I go to has many sessions, but there are no beginner classes.... however the instructor will tell level 1 how to modify, level 2, and then level 3. I love it!

I wish there were a boot camp class at the gym that I could actually get to. As I mentioned earlier, there is one at 5:30pm on Wednesdays. I work til around 6 most days, unless it's busy season - like now - when I'm lucky to see my home by 9pm. Therefore, I work out at 5:30am - sort of by choice, but also that's the only time I'll do it!

Nada - that is a heck of a deal! I don't mind the money - it's worth spending it on ME and my health - but I would be more inclined if the morning session was closer (the nearest one is about 3 miles, the morning one more like 10 miles).

Slai - I would be so happy if my gym offered it at 5:30am! The only classes they do that early are spinning. Not my thing... at least not yet.

Ladyrider - this one says it's for all levels, which I assume means they suggest modifications for those who, like me, are not up to insane fitness standards! The website says, to paraphrase, go at your own pace - all we ask is that you give it your all. Which I think is a great thing.

I am leaning towards putting this on my calendar for April, as busy season is over at the end of March and I will return to 9-10 hour days instead of 12-14 hour days. I suspect going gung-ho on a boot camp will require a large amount of energy and I'm not sure I can add 90 minutes a day to my current schedule (an hour of workout plus a 30 minute round trip). But keep the input coming - the more I hear about people loving it, the more I'm encouraged to do it!