I love using bands for strength work occasionally because of the resistance that they give for the entire move.  I decided it would be fun to use them for one of my Boot Camp Classes.  

Warm-Up:  light jogging/cardio and stretching (arms & legs)

1st Series: 
     Bent Over Row – 8 arms together (T), 8 right (R), 8 left (L), 8T
     Squats – 3 x 8
     Side Bends – 3 x 8 each side
Cardio – cross punches in plie – 2 minutes

2nd Series:
     Shoulder Press – 8T, 8R, 8L, 8T
     Leg Abduction – 3 x 8 each leg
     Bicycles – 3 x 8
Cardio – Step back to kick – 1 minute each leg

3rd Series:
     Bicep Curls – 8T, 8R, 8L, 8T
     Quadricep extension – lift knee, extend leg, bring leg in, tap toe – 3 x 8 each leg
     Plank with leg lift – 2 x 8 each leg
Cardio – Front knee lift with hop (twist elbows to knee) – 2 minutes

4th Series:
     Triceps Extensions – 8T (overhead), 8R (kickbacks), 8L (kickbacks), 8T (overhead)
     Donkey Raises –  3 x 8 each leg
     Superman with band pull – 3 x 8
Cardio – Skaters – 2 minutes

Challenge Move:   
      Frog jump front – single leg plank (right) – frog jump back – single leg plank (left)
          Try for 6 total – 3 planks with each leg – if you can do more go for it!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp69qquAF9M’]

Cool Down:  Walk until heart rate comes down.  Full body stretch

I love HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts!!!  I decided that a Tabata style workout would be great for my Boot Camp.  This was a fantastic way to really get the heart rate up!!!

 Even though the entire workout takes about 45 minutes, breaking it down into 4 minute intervals makes the time fly by.  

Make sure that the rest you take between each Tabata group is enough to catch your breath but not enough to completely drop your heart rate!!!

This workout is actually from Athena at Fitness & Feta.  I had to make a few changes because the location I used was different from hers.  I added in the challenge move at the end because I like to end every workout with a bonus challenge.  Make sure that you head over and check out Athena’s original workout!

The nice thing about this set-up, by the time you get to round 4 and only have to repeat it 2 times, it seems a lot easier!!!

I love workouts that involve number games – keeps my mind engaged as much as my body!

The nice thing about this workout – once you finish a move you are done with it for the day!!!  The “hard” part – you  work each muscle group to failure.  Part of the way to make sure you get to the failure point is to use weights that are heavy enough.

As always, make sure you are warmed up and stretched before you start the workout.

By the end of this workout you should have some shaky muscles!!  If you don’t, increase your weights the next time!

This was my kick-off boot camp.  I decided to plan a workout that didn’t require any equipment  since I didn’t know how many people to expect.

I think all boot camp type workouts should be a total body workout – cardio and toning of all the major muscle groups.

I like to vary the warm-up every workout but as long as you do something you do a warm-up it doesn’t matter exactly how you do it – start with light cardio and after your body is warm and moving get a good stretch!  For a cool down, make sure that you allow your heart rate to come down to a safe area and then get plenty of stretching!

This workout is designed to be done with minimal breaks – 10 exercise for a minute each repeated 3x.

This was a fun workout to get the summer Boot Camp started!!

Here is a little demo of a ManMaker.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmcosP5QWo0′]