MOTIVATION BOOTCAMP STYLE

Fitness Boot Camps are growing in popularity with the help of TV shows like Th e Biggest Loser. Whilst we all know that exercise is good for us, so many of us find it so hard to keep motivated and this is where boot camps rise to the occasion.

People from all walks of life are embracing boot camp style fitness, due mainly to the motivation the boot camps provide. The motivation keeps individuals focused on achieving the health and fitness goals they desire.

Let’s look at the five main reasons why boot camps provide such great motivation:

1 The Desire to Belong

The desire to belong is inherent in all individuals regardless of culture or gender. In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, aft er food, water and safety, the next human need is to belong – to feel an affiliation with others.

A fitness boot camp meets this need. People enjoy the feeling of belonging to a group, especially when that group of like-minded people help them meet their goals.

Tamati Rangi, Program Director for Health Guru Boot Camp explains, “People enjoy social group togetherness. I believe humans have a pack mentality. After food, water and shelter, the next thing for a human is to be socially accepted.”

It’s this desire to belong that motivates people to attend each boot camp session, because they don’t want to let their trainer or the other members of the boot camp down.

2 Friendship Factor

A busy work life and modern technology is tending to isolate us and limit our ability to make connections with each other. Boot Camps provide the opportunity to develop friendship with people who share the same desire to be fit and healthy. These friendships can become a powerful motivator for people to continue with exercise.

“I’ve got really friendly with the girls at boot camp, it’s quite motivating to know that they will be there every time” says Clasen. Women especially find that friendship is a powerful motivating factor to exercise. Knowing that their friends will be there, and they can exercise together makes exercise more enjoyable and more motivating. It is a regular opportunity to connect.

”I love the companionship of the other women. It is really good to exercise with women who are like-minded, have the same goals and aims. We have fun and a giggle,” says Jayne Dawes, who has been attending a women’s only boot camp for three years and has lost over 15 kilos.

3 The Competitive Factor

We are competitive by nature and boot camps use this – as a way for the ‘campers’ to achieve more than they thought they could. You push yourself harder when other people are around you inspiring you – they’re people similar to you, working in a group dynamic.

Stuart Walter, Australia’s #1 Sports Hypnotherapist has said that it’s important to be surrounded by other people who have confidence, “The group dynamic in a boot camp creates confi dence, and it also creates the situation where you don’t have the ability to make excuses because there is someone always pushing you. To what level people would normally go, without being pushed, might be something like 70 per cent but that extra impact of having someone there pushing you gives you motivation to take ownership, so you start getting towards your 100 per cent potential.”

Maggie Nutter (who has been a member of a boot camp for over a year) feels she achieves more when she is partnered up with someone who is fitter than her. “It is really motivating to partner with someone who is fitter and stronger than you. I find it motivates me and encourages me – I feel like I have to measure up to them. I feel I have to push myself because the person I am running with is better and I want to keep up with them. “

In the boot camps that I run, some ‘campers’ don’t think they can do an exercise (like a box jump) until they see others doing them. Once they give it a try, they can really surprise themselves with what they can achieve.

With his years of experience in teaching boot camps, Rangi has noticed that boot camp “allows you to benchmark your fitness against others as well as yourself. What I have noticed in the camps is some people don’t really know what their goals are. When they come to camp and see those individuals who are successful, then all of a sudden they create their own goals against others. We are naturally competitive. Being able to register your goals by watching those around you getting fitter and stronger, enhances motivation in the group environment.”

“The motivation keeps individuals focused on achieving the health and fitness goals they desire.”

“People from all walks of life are embracing boot camp style fitness, due mainly to the motivation the boot camps provide.”

4 The Encouragement Factor

Whilst some boot camps favour a military style approach, the more recent style of fitness boot camps favours motivation through praise and encouragement.

By being positive and encouraging, you motivate people to achieve. This encouragement helps to reinforce positive behaviour and in turn motivates the person to repeat this positive behaviour.

Paul McMah, who has taught boot camps in Canada as well as Australia, has found that one of the best ways to motivate is through positive encouragement, “Everyone likes to hear good things about themselves. It is important to let people know how good of a job they are doing.

“ We all like to hear good things about ourselves. Most adults go through the day only hearing the negative things that they are not achieving. To come to a fitness boot camp, to do something positive for their health and then to be praised for it, really enhances the likelihood of that motivation continuing

5 The Fun Factor

I know what you are thinking, boot camps fun? Aren’t boot camps where you pay to get tortured? Not true!!!!! Yes, you do work hard at boot camp but they are a lot of fun too. “People join boot camps because they enjoy the fun aspect of it – the games and the challenges. People repeat things that they fi nd enjoyable. They release endorphins and at the end of a session people feel good and want to repeat it” says Rangi.

If you exercise and you don’t enjoy doing it, it will not last long term and the motivation to exercise will decline. What boot camps do really well is to take advantage of and use the team motivation aspect, playing games and challenges. Instead of focusing on the exercise, people focus on the challenge and by working together as a team, it brings out the best in each of them. And a lot of laughs too!