So earlier today I was checking my email and found that a close friend of mine was browsing the internet or something and stumbled upon an article condemning military style bootcamps made to get regular people back into shape and sent it to me. The problem was when irresponsible trainers didn’t understand the fine line between too much and not enough. When it’s a person who hasn’t trained for about longer then I’ve been alive too much is a very quick thing to reach.

Now a lot of this could and should be avoided with common sense and logic. For one thing look at the people that go to a real military bootcamp. Then look at the type of people that buy memberships to fitness bootcamps. The former is made up of 18 year old kids who could recover from just about anything thrown at them in an effort to prepare for war. The other can be anywhere from 20 all the way up to 70 years old looking for a way to get in shape without paying $50 per session. Do you think the same approach should be taken with both of them?

Now as you know I condemn sissiness but there is more to exercise science then hard work and all the hard work in the world won’t matter if it leaves you a debilitated mess. In my kettlebell bootcamp classes safety is a priority. Injuries don’t allow progress and that is the goal of my classes. Right now I have a bride preparing for her wedding in my kettlebell boot camp class. I wouldn’t consider myself good at my job if she went limping down the aisle or if she had to skip a bunch of sessions because my irresponsible @$$ injured her.

If it doesn’t get you results and it doesn’t get you there safely…it’s a crappy program. Those are the big differences between the right and wrong ways of doing it.

Now safety isn’t the only issue facing many of these camps. I like efficacy of training. You know I take pride in bringing people results faster then the other fitness bootcamps and that is yet another reason I chose kettlebell training. A study in Russia said this.

(Voropayev)
We studied (at the Voronezhsky Farming Institute) the influence of kettlebell
lifting on the development of fundamental physical qualities over several
years. Based on the results of the first control tests: 1,000 metre
cross-country, 100 metre run, pull-ups, standing long-jump; three study
groups were formed from the students who took part two experimental (19 men)
and one control (21 men), of equivalent capabilities. We obtained the
following data. The initial mean results in the 1000 metre cross-country, was
3 min 48 sec for the experimental groups and 3 min 45 sec for the control
group. At the end of the first year of training the results were:
experimental groups 3 min 11 sec; the control group 3 min 13 sec. After two
years of training the results were: experimental groups 3 min 2 sec; the
control group 3 min 9 sec.

The pull-up results changed in the following way. The initial mean result
over a year (in the experimental groups — 6.3 times and 6.8 times in the
control group) increased to 8.8 in the experimental groups and to 8.38 in the
control group. By the end of the second year of study the experimental
group’s results increased to 9.8 times and the control group to 9.25 times.
The standing long jump dynamics were as follows. The initial mean in the
experimental groups was 204 cm and 203.7 cm in the control group. This
increased to 211.2 cm after one year of sessions in the experimental groups
and to 207.2 cm in the control group. At the end of the second year of
training these figures increased to 213.3 cm and 210.3 cm respectively.

The results of the 100 metre tests were as follows. In the experimental
groups the initial mean result was 14.4 sec; after the first year of training
it improved to 13.62 sec and after the second to 13.44 sec. Improvement in
the control group was somewhat slower. The initial result was 14.37 sec.
After the first year of training the mean result was 13.69 sec and after the
second year 13.48 sec.

The results of the experimental groups were higher than those of the control
group in all of the tests. The absolute improvements in the tests were: 100
metre run– Kettlebell lifters, 0.96 sec; control group, 0.86 sec; in the
cross-country –experimental groups, 0.46 sec and 0.36 sec in the control
group; in the standing long jump 9.3 cm and 6.6 cm respectively; in pull-ups
3.59 times for the kettlebell lifters and 2.45 times for the control group.

If you didn’t catch all of that…it’s ok. Basically the kettlebell group whooped the control group (the ones who did standard bootcamp stuff) in every single one of the tests. Now why would I waste time with other stuff if the almighty kettlebell gives faster results?

The answer is what influenced my career….The answer is “I wouldn’t”

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I am a fitness professional residing in Hopatcong, NJ, who is dedicated to making myself and my clients as strong as (or stronger than) they look and to look beyond sexy. I help my clients drop body fat quickly, gain strength quickly and I use kettlebells as my main tool and the RKC system as my main methodology. I am a personal trainer with small group personal training and fitness bootcamps in Morris and Sussex County NJ. This fitness blog is where I have become known as a straight shooter with a unique writing style and I have been known to force companies to take videos down where they teach unsafe and ineffective technique with just a couple written words. It has become an inside joke started by a guy that bends steel bars into bonsai tree shaped decorations with his hands, that I don’t wear shirts but that is mainly because I have built up my physique along the lines of a Greek statue and exhibit it proudly.