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11 Bootcamp Ideas for Personal Trainers

Bootcamp Ideas for Personal Trainers

Creative bootcamp ideas for personal trainers can help keep clients engaged, ensuring they enjoy their sessions and keep coming back for further training. 

In this article, we’ll discuss 11 personal training bootcamp ideas that any PT can implement to provide a unique experience for their clients.

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11 Bootcamp Ideas for Personal Trainers

#1 - “Extreme” Duck, Duck, Goose Is An Unusual Yet Effective Personal Training Bootcamp Game

Starting our list of the best bootcamp ideas for personal trainers is a twist on the famous playground game, Duck, Duck, Goose.

In this “extreme” variation, players will form a circle and begin to jog on the spot, while the individual in charge of selecting the ‘goose’ will begin to jog around the circle.

Once the goose has been selected, they’ll run clockwise around the circle, whilst the player who selected them begins to run in an anti-clockwise direction. 

At the crossover point, the “goose” must try to block the player from reaching their spot in the circle. Depending on the group, you may want to enforce a ‘no physical contact’ rule or have rugby tags to signal a capture. 

To make this personal training bootcamp game more fun for everyone involved, be sure to allow every player a chance to select a ‘Goose’. In doing so, you can guarantee that everyone engages with the game.

There are various reasons why we think this is one of the best bootcamp personal training games to implement into your class. For example:

  • Requires minimal equipment (just rugby tags, if using)
  • Small and large group sizes can take part
  • Completed in all environments, such as training in the park, sports hall or gym

Another added benefit of ‘Extreme’ Duck, Duck, Goose is that bootcamp PTs can use the game at any point during the session, be it a warm-up, cool down, or mid section activity. 

Plus, since it’s based on a classic childhood game, many participants will likely want to take part for a dose of nostalgia.

#2 - How To Incorporate Under/Over Ball Pass Into Bootcamp PT Sessions 

Another example of some of the best bootcamp ideas for personal trainers is the Under/Over Ball Pass activity. 

To do this, you will need enough participants to form smaller groups each made up of 4. Note, you should strive to have at least 3 groups, as this will motivate clients through a sense of competition.

Each group forms a vertical line with players standing approximately 1 metre apart, please ensure that each participant begins in a half squat position. 

The front player will hold a medicine ball (the weight decided by the bootcamp PT) and pass it over their head or under their legs. The player behind them will receive the ball and do the opposite movement as the player in front. 

Once the ball reaches the final player, they’ll run to the front of the group and begin the sequence again. The first team to complete the sequence 3 times wins. 

This is a highly motivational game for personal training bootcamps since it adds an element of competition into the session to keep participants captivated.

The difficulty of the activity can also be altered to accommodate the different fitness levels of those in attendance. Examples of how you could do this include:

  • Increasing the weight of the medicine ball
  • Increasing the number of group repetitions
  • Adding an extra movement, such as the front player doing a burpee before passing the ball backwards

Adjusting the difficulty of the Under/Over Ball Pass is a great way of highlighting to clients just how much their fitness levels have improved. This will keep clients wanting to come back for more, as they will want to progress to the next level.

You could even keep the teams the same for your whole session to take the competition up a notch.

 

Become the Ultimate Personal Trainer

Progress your career with OriGym by enrolling on our Personal Trainer Diploma! 

 

#3 -  Plank Rolls As A Personal Training Bootcamp Activity 

If you’re after more PT bootcamp activities that attendees can do in teams, then Plank Rolls will be another great go-to.

To conduct this safely, each team must hold a plank position in a horizontal line approximately 1 metre away from each other.

With a medicine ball, players are to roll the ball from the first player down to the last. Once the ball reaches the last player, they must run to the front of the line, get into the plank position, and repeat the sequence. 

Each player must run to the first position 3 times in order to secure the win for their team. 

This is a great activity to pair with the previous game since it has similar rules yet works different areas of the body, thus offering your clients a full-body workout. 

Alternatively, if you’re searching for bootcamp ideas for personal trainers’ warm-up routines, Plank Rolls will get your client’s muscles all fired up, ready for the session ahead. 

Another reason to incorporate this workout into your bootcamp routines is that it can be conducted on a variety of surfaces. So, regardless of whether you lead classes outdoors or indoors, they shouldn’t be too strenuous for your clientele. 

If conducting on harder surfaces like concrete, consider investing in some gloves or exercise mats to reduce scrapes and cuts on the hands.

Ultimately, when it comes to bootcamp personal training, Plank Rolls is easy to organise, and can act as an effective form of strength training, ensuring that your clients gain a beneficial workout experience.

#4 - Agility Runs For Your Personal Training Bootcamp Classes

Agility Runs test your client’s agility levels through short, explosive sets of sprinting, and much like the previous two entries on this list, this activity can also be conducted in teams. 

This process is similar to the BEEP test, and begins with 4 cones being placed in a vertical line, about 3 metres apart from each other.  

Participants will stand in front of these cones to form a starting line, when the race commences they will run to the first cone, and then back to the starting position. 

Following this, they will run to the second cone and back to the starting position, before repeating the same sequence for the third and fourth cone. In order for a team to win, each player must complete the entire sequence at least once. 

Agility is one of the key components of physical fitness and is tested by one’s ability to perform quick movements efficiently, all while maintaining proper posture. Someone with good agility can accelerate, decelerate, and reorient themselves quickly and safely. 

As the name of the workout implies, Agility Runs can help a client improve agility, allowing clients to improve their posture and performance levels. 

Furthermore, another added benefit of this workout is that it can be performed in a variety of environments with minimal equipment, as you only need cones or distinguishing markers. 

This makes Agility Runs accessible to the masses, ensuring that everyone can do them regardless of their working budget. 

#5 - Using Tag As A Personal Training Bootcamp Game 

An often overlooked game that can be easily incorporated into your bootcamp PT sessions is tag, the playground game many of us were introduced to as children.

Doing 5-10 minutes of tag could function as a great warm-up or final push activity to end the class on a high note. The game can also be a great form of cardiovascular exercise, that will get your clients hearts pumping. 

There are a few variations of tag that you could implement into your class to keep things interesting. 

  1. Have 1 person as the chaser and each person they tag also becomes a chaser until all players are tagged.
  2. Have 2 teams, 1 of chasers and the others as runners and apply the same rules as above, ensuring that the runners must all be tagged. 
  3. Have 3 chasers and each time that they tag a player, they are frozen until another non-chaser frees them. 

There are numerous reasons as to why you should incorporate tag into your bootcamp PT sessions, such as:

  • It doesn’t require any equipment
  • It’s suitable for small and large groups
  • Helps new clients get to know others in a fun way
  • Tests fitness, agility, and coordination

Tag is also an activity that can be played in all environments, meaning that regardless of where your bootcamp is hosted, you will still be able to host the game.

So, whether you want to use tag as a warm-up, final push activity, or as a bigger task in your class, it’s a great way to burn calories and improve cardiovascular fitness while having fun.

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If these Bootcamp Ideas for Personal Trainers has you feeling inspired, we’d recommend checking out these other OriGym articles:

#6 - How To Incorporate Mexican Waves Into Your Personal Training Bootcamp Routine 

Another one of our favourite bootcamp ideas for personal trainers is a modified Mexican Wave. This activity is easy to set up and can easily adapt to include as much or as little equipment as you wish. 

To successfully do a Mexican Wave, split the group into two teams, and stand them in parallel lines facing their opponents. If you have an odd number of clients, you could double up players.

Personal trainers should then shout an exercise that each team member should perform one by one. Players cannot begin the exercise until the person before them has completed it. 

The first team to finish wins a point and the team with the most points at the end of 10 exercises wins. 

Here are some examples of non-equipment bootcamp ideas for a personal trainer’s mexican wave workouts.:

  • 3 x burpees
  • 10 x high knees
  • 5 x squat jumps
  • 5 x broad jumps
  • 20 x mountain climbers

As previously mentioned, this is a highly versatile exercise routine that can be customised to suit whatever class you’re teaching. For those of you who wish to incorporate equipment into your mexican wave, here are some example: 

  • 20 x high knee with skipping rope
  • 10 x weighted hula hoop rotations
  • 10 x swinging squats with low weight

If you want to use free weights for this activity, consider going for light ones to prevent injury, and guarantee that everyone can actually lift them.

We think that Mexican Wave is a great activity for personal training bootcamps as it allows your clients to experience some healthy competition while burning calories in a fun and invigorating way. 

 

Become the Ultimate Personal Trainer

Progress your career with OriGym by enrolling on our Personal Trainer Diploma! 

#7 - Fitness Dice Activities Can Help Inspire Bootcamp Ideas For Personal Trainers 

A simple and straightforward way to get some bootcamp personal training ideas, is to use fitness dice. 

Whilst somewhat of a novelty gift for personal trainers, these dice will typically be sold in packs of 2. 

One will have different exercises written on each face, which will indicate what the client will actually perform, whilst the other dice will have numbers to show the number of reps needed to perform. 

There are various ways that you could use your fitness dice in your personal training bootcamp sessions, for example: 

  • Warm-Up: Have each participant roll the dice once and everyone has to perform the exercises together.
  • Main Activity: Split the class into two teams, each person in both teams rolls the dice twice and everyone must perform each exercise - The team that finishes first wins. 

  • Final Push: The PT rolls the dice 5 times and everyone is to perform the exercises as one final push. 
  • Cool-Down: Use yoga fitness blocks to stretch out the muscles yet in a fun and exciting way. 

These are just a handful of ways that you could use fitness dice as a bootcamp PT. You can get as creative as possible and find your own unique way to incorporate the activities into your sessions. 

#8 - What Is 'Amazeballs' And How Can You Work It Into Bootcamps as a PT

Amazeballs is yet another one of our favourite bootcamp ideas for personal trainers that can be performed at various points throughout a session. 

For this game, you will need a marker pen, and collection of small balls, ideally something along the lines of wiffle or tennis balls. 

Prior to the beginning of the bootcamp, use the marker pen to write different exercises and rep numbers on each ball. To play, all the balls should be scattered across a large area, the clients will then run around and pick them up.

Once a ball has been collected, the students will read what exercise and number of reps are written on the ball. They will then complete this workout as instructed, proceeding to throw the ball to another area for someone else to find. 

Examples of exercises to write on these balls include:

  • 20 x star jumps
  • 20 x high knees
  • 10 x broad jumps
  • 10 x burpees

When incorporating this game into your personal training bootcamp routines, be sure to have more tennis/wiffle balls than participants. This will not only ensure that they’re relatively easy to find, but it will guarantee that participants always have something to do. 

When hosting personal training bootcamp sessions, some environments will work better for playing Amazeballs. For example, in grassy areas the balls won’t roll away, remaining in place and making it easy for participants to find them.

Areas with laminate flooring won’t be suitable for Amazeballs, as the balls will roll away once they make contact with the ground.

#9 - Cone Flip Is One of The Most Adaptable Games for Personal Training Sessions 

Another one of our favourite bootcamp ideas for personal trainers is Cone Flip. 

For this activity, you need to have a set of at least 30 cones. This equipment will be set up in a large open space, with half the cones laying face down and the others facing upward.

Split your clients into two teams, one half will then try to turn the cone upwards, and the others will try to flip them downward. Each team will have 90 seconds to try to flip as many cones as possible in order to win the game.

Cone Flip is considered to be one of the best personal training bootcamp games because:

  • Everyone can get involved regardless of fitness level/experience 
  • Requires minimal equipment 
  • Can be conducted in a variety of different environments - Parks, Gyms, Beaches, and Halls.

As with many of the games discussed so far, Cone Flip can be played as a warm-up, extra burn, or cool-down activity - it’s a highly versatile bootcamp idea that can work for a variety of trainers and clients alike.

For example, if you have larger groups, you could choose to incorporate more than just 30 cones to make things a little more challenging. 

#10 - The Throw and Go Race Is a Multi-Purpose Activity To Include In Your Bootcamp As a PT

When on the search for creative bootcamp ideas for personal trainers, the Throw and Go Race is a great multi-purpose activity that can get everyone involved in a friendly competitive environment. 

Throw and Go involves dividing the bootcamp group into 2 teams with each group having a medicine ball.

When the personal trainer shouts ‘Go’, the first player must chest-press the medicine ball forward, then run to pick it up, before throwing it again until they reach the finish line.

They must then pick up the ball and sprint back to the start point and hand the ball to the next team member. The first team to get all members across the finish line will win the game. 

This is a fantastic full-body activity that will guarantee to improve your client’s upper body strength and fitness while burning copious calories. 

It also provides a great opportunity for team collaboration and is therefore ideal for new clients who are keen to meet like-minded people in your class. 

 

Become the Ultimate Personal Trainer

Progress your career with OriGym by enrolling on our Personal Trainer Diploma! 

#11 - Hoarder Can Make Your Bootcamp PT Sessions Feel Competitive

Finishing up our list of the best bootcamp ideas for personal trainers is Hoarder. To play, participants must stand in a large circle and be at equal distance to a bucket of tennis balls in the centre. 

The personal trainer will choose an exercise and rep number that each player is to perform. They will then select a number of players who they believe performed the best, to run into the circle and collect one ball from the bucket. 

The game will continue until the bucket is empty, the player who retrieves the last ball will announce the end of the game to the rest of the group.

Once all the balls are collected, the player with the most tennis balls will be declared the game’s winner. 

Here are some examples of exercises that you could have your clients perform whilst playing Hoarder: 

  • 10 x push-ups
  • 10 x squats
  • 5 x jumping squats
  • 20 x high knees
  • 20 x star jumps

Hoarder is an invigorating and heart-pumping activity and one we think your clients will thoroughly enjoy. It fuses healthy competition and a good calorie burn in one. 

Before You Go!

These bootcamp ideas for personal trainers should help to keep your sessions fun and engaging for all those in attendance, and we’d encourage you to incorporate multiple examples into your sessions in order to find what works. 

Remember, in order to run sessions centred around specialist topics, you will need to get some qualifications! The best way to get started is with our Personal Trainer Diploma, where you'll qualify as both a gym instructor & personal trainer in just 4 weeks, depending on your method of study.

Alternatively, download our FREE prospectus in order to learn about every course OriGym has to offer. 

Written by Emily Evans

Content Writer & Fitness Enthusiast

Emily studied English Language and Literature at the University of Sheffield, graduating in 2021 with a 2:1 BA honours degree. Alongside her degree, she also gained experience in student publication as Forge Press’ Lifestyle Editor and Deputy Editor for Post-Production. This is where her love for content writing stemmed from, which also led her to OriGym. Outside of her work, Emily will either be found on a long hike, at the gym or making a mess trying new healthy recipes in her kitchen!

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