But when you see the real thing, it just shines like a light bulb and hits a different chord – a different level of success –

That’s what I’m always trying to emphasize too, and why I take my time with my projects and things I jump into – even though my bootcamp experiment was conceived and executed quickly, I know that I’M ready, which is the difference –

You want to be able to back up and really be able to devote yourself to whatever you’re doing next – to man-up to it – (or woman up to it too, of course!)

I personally fall into the “care more about quality instruction than training a ton of people at once” category. I simply will not sacrifice providing top-notch service and instruction for the sake of making more money per hour. I am one of those trainers who thrives on providing “more than expected” service to my clients EVERY time. I have never wanted to be average. Over the years i’ve met and worked with trainers who roll out of bed, fix their coffee, and sleepily start their day of training clients half-heartedly and without preparation. This sickens me. Also, i’ve never been a sheep who follows the herd. I have never been one of those “slave to the system” types. I prefer to create my own path. When I fail, it’s most often because i’ve chosen to ignore this aspect of my personality. That’s where i’m coming from.

(Oh, and I tend to be extremely verbose at times)

First off, I can’t stand the term “bootcamp.” It’s overplayed, but it works. I did a few of my bootcamps (ugh) through a gym, and they basically gave me free reign to organize everything…but they wanted to call it “bootcamp.” For the sake of this post, i’ll stick with the bootcamp term.

If I had the marketing know-how that Ellis does, and the ability to dip my fingers in numerous pools, i’d be a gazillionaire by now! I have become conditioned to ignore most of the fitness marketers out there, and it’s interesting to me that he isn’t one of the “big names” that gets thrown around. Maybe it’s because he’s got an MBA and knows how to work it with subtle, classy tactics? Kudos to him, and hey, even if i’m not a bootcamp fan, I can’t fault him for putting together a system that obviously works.

I have done bootcamps in the past. My clients got great results and I received awesome feedback. I learned a lot about myself as a fitness professional through those experiences. The main thing I learned was that I am definitely not cut out to be a group instructor. I feel there’s a fine line between bootcamp-style training and “group exercise” classes in terms of attention given to each participant. Most people who participate in group exercise classes know this. I saw way too many examples of sloppy form going on in aerobics/kickboxing/you name it classes back when I worked for gyms. Personal training, to me, is miles ahead of this in that the one-on-one attention guarantees the client has nothing but incredible instruction and service IF and ONLY IF the trainer is top-notch. I felt waaaaaaay more at ease with my smaller bootcamps. The largest group I ever had was 17 women, and the smallest I did was a group of 4. The group of 17 was at 5:30am and many mornings I dreaded (and I hated that feeling) having to get up to meet them because the whole shebang stressed me out! I felt I had to over-simplify everything for the sake of making the workouts work, and they did, but I knew in my heart that’s not the level of training I wanted to provide. To me, it seemed like organized chaos. Too many things going on at once. Yeah, I made a lot of money off those big groups, but it honestly wasn’t worth it to me. The smaller groups were more tight-knit, had more fun, and I got more rest at night knowing I was able to spend more time “training” them.

Where am I going with all this? I feel there’s more long-term benefit for those who participate in one-on-one and small group (no more than 4) training. I feel there’s a place for bootcamps, and the recession most definitely makes them a more feasible option for people wanting to get in shape. I’m just not part of the bandwagon.

I’ve got opinions on this subject – good part about having this blog is I don’t need to cram my feelings into one comment that might be viewed as incendiary – if you’re a reader, you’ve got a good understanding of my overall stance on this –

You know Rivak in the time you’ve been on this blog I’ve seen your stance on this profession (time, work, revenue) evolve no doubt because of the marketing movement in fitness – I know you don’t agree with a lot of their work and are too sharp for any overt marketing techniques, but you have to give a little credit for the influence it’s had on your practice -

That’s one of the main benefits of the work of the guys you took to the shed – many serious trainers from across the country have had their eyes opened and have created well received, high quality ventures of all types because of their work – that’s why you’ll see they maintain a tremendous amount of good-will in this field.

To reiterate, I have the greatest respect for JS Ellis and Brian Grasso. Why? because they both are the first innovators and masterminds of
something unique. They DIDN”T create their niche’s as a way to evade a bad economy. I have been following the two of them way before the recession.
I chose to get involved in Youth Fitness, because of the strong medical component it adds to my business. Dr. Kwame Brown who is a brilliant neuroscientist and associate of Brian Grasso impressed upon me the importance of neuroplasticity through skill sets. Its not the $ which drives me.
This whole scenario reminds me of the inception of the Lasix industry. Since 1982 every Ophthalmologist in the US dissed any thought or idea of refractive surgery. Cutting or ablating a cornea was and is considering Barbaric. Major research and clinical studies began sprouting up in the US, showing time and time again the long term adverse effects, and are still very much ongoing.The American Academy of Ophthalmology even went as far as to strip medical license’s of any Ophthalmologist who were caught traveling to Moscow Russia to learn/study refractive from the famous Dr Fedorov.

Then, one day in 1986, the shit hit the fan with insurance companies in the US, and reimbursement fees for cataract extractions where dropped from $3200 per eye to $800 per eye. Many Ophthalmologists freaked out! They would no longer live in the lap of luxury. They would have to perform 4X as many ocular surgeries to make the equivalent salary! Thus the inception of refractive surgery, to compensate for a big drop in surgical revenue.
As of April 2008 the PERK and SUMMER studies have demonstrated time and time again the negative and long term effects of refractive surgery. The FDA Administration Ophthalmic Devices Panel , has scrutinized the safety and efficacy of Lasik and is vehemently opposed to the surgery. What does this say about doctor’s who took a Hippocratic oath which says “I WILL FOLLOW that method of treatment which according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patient and abstain from whatever is harmful or mischievous”

Point being will you foresake your clients for your own interest in heart, or will you give them your UNDIVIDED attention as a fitness professional

I whole heartedly disagree with the post above about bootcamps and find it strage that the post would attack me and my colleagues while JSE has done more to advance the growth of fitness bootcamps than all of us combined (which is a great thing).

And while I suspect thanks isn’t forthcoming based on the fitness professional from San Diego’s post, being inspired to share the opportunity for young people to beneift from fitness coaching in a setting that provides social support, motivation and positive reinforcement in a group setting that is affordable to those other than the affluent seems like a good thing.

But perhaps I’m wrong…maybe only the wealthy should have access to professional fitness coaches…

Kaiser – thank you once again for your excellent resource.