When it comes to fitness bootcamp instructors, how do you make sure to get a champ, not a chump? A fitness bootcamp instructor needs to be more than a tyrant who stands at the front and whose main attribute is a foghorn yell.
Instructors must have a broad knowledge of body systems and physiology as well as progressive exercise programs and injury prevention techniques. Even where legal requirements exist for fitness trainers, there are loopholes a mile wide, so it makes sense to do your own due diligence checks to make sure you end up with an instructor who’s a champ not a posing pouch chump!
This article will look at some ways to check that you will gel with your Instructor and learn effectively from him or her, so that you progress safely and speedily, and get the most out of your fitness bootcamp experience.
Certification and Insurance
Tip 1 – Certification via a reputable professional body together with insurance for their professional activities should be a basic prerequisite for any instructor you are considering working with. This will give you peace of mind that the individual to whom you are entrusting your body will know how it works, how to challenge, but not break it, and hand it back over to you in better shape not worse!
Tip 2 – Make sure any certification and insurance is up to date – they expire and need to be renewed mostly on an annual basis.
Fitness Bootcamp Instructors – How To Find Information and Evaluate What You Find
Tip 3 – Check the Instructor’s reviews. Type the name into Google and see what information you can find. Reviews and references will tell you a great deal about the approach and skills of a fitness bootcamp instructor and give you a good sense of whether you will appreciate their methods or whether you might prefer to run a mile in the opposite direction!
Tip 4 – Find out if anyone you know has used a particular fitness bootcamp instructor, or check with friends of friends who have experiences they can pass on. Also many bootcamps have websites, twitter feeds and Facebook pages which are useful for getting feedback on the fitness bootcamp itself and the instructors.
Tip 5 – See if there is any video footage on YouTube or the Fitness bootcamp’s own website – that can give you a sense of how they communicate and whether it will be an understandable and acceptable style for you. If you are self conscious about exercising the style a fitness instructor uses is particularly crucial and could make all the difference between motivation and humiliation. You also should avoid instructors who are only capable of spouting meaningless jargon rather than communicating their instruction in plain English. If you have to translate everything an instructor says, it will just be one more unnecessary and distracting annoyance.
Tip 6 – Try to observe an Instructor at work – this will not always be possible but it’s worth finding out if you can have a preview of the fitness bootcamp before you sign up.
Tip 7 – One last tip is to check out online communities which have fitness as their focus. There are many communities on sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook where you can filter for such variables as where you are located, what age you are, your level of fitness etc. to find your kind of people and these groups are brilliant for tracking down and finding out truthful and frank information.
What Your Instructor Needs To Know About You
If you are not asked about your health and fitness history, you should consider that a very bad sign. A fitness bootcamp instructor, in common with any gym instructor or personal trainer, needs to know how fit you are and whether you have health conditions which may affect your ability to participate safely.
In conclusion, as with any important investment, the effort you put into your long term health should be underpinned by some careful planning and research. Choosing the right bootcamp and the right fitness bootcamp instructor will ensure that you progress towards the goal of long term health and fitness by the safest and best possible route.