Circuit Training and Bootcamp By Nicholas Waters

Bootcamp

Bootcamp was held Monday and Wednesday, from 7:30 a.m. – 8:20 a.m. This class had only

one participant, Heather. Although I tried to keep the format and style of Bootcamp, this

almost became a sort of personal training for Heather and me. My class participant dreaded

cardiovascular exercise and claimed that she usually would attend other classes to get her

cardio. I decided then to try to limit the cardiovascular exercises and focus more on strength

training through a variety of strength training exercises, yet helping her to push the intensity of

each exercise thus increasing her heart rate.

The Class Mission Statement that I decided upon was:

“Increase muscular strength and endurance through various,

high intensity and exciting exercises.”

The goals the Heather and I put together were:

1. Hold a plank for over 1 minute.

2. Increase the total number of burpees performed in one minute by 20%.

3. Have an attendance rate of 85%.

Circuit Training

The Circuit Training class, held on Tuesday and Thursday, from 11:50 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. was co-

taught by Kelsey Quezada and me. The class liked the idea of focusing more on strength

training rather than cardio intensive exercises. Therefore, the design of the class was to have a

total body workout each day in which we would assign exercises for upper body and lower

body. The class would typically run through each upper and lower body exercises twice,

followed by core and abdominal exercises.

Together, and as a class, we designed a Class Mission Statement and set 3 goals for the class to

work towards throughout the semester.

Class Mission Statement:

“To increase total body fitness through fun, high energy

exercises while reducing the risk for injury and disease.”

Goals:

1. Each participant will maintain and 80% attendance rate.

2. Increase core strength through improving plank time by 20%.

3. Increase muscular strength through improving pushups by 20%.

Circuit Training Testing Results

The graph above shows the total time in seconds how long each class participant was

able to hold a plank. The goal was to increase total plank time by 20%. Two class participants,

Matt and Stacie, had significant increases in plank time reaching the goal of 20%. Although the

other class members did not quite reach a 20% increase, those who participated in the testing

showed an increase in core strength. Sarah was not able to participate in the post testing and

thus we have no data for her.

The graph above shows the results of the participants that participated in the pre and

post push-up testing. The goal was to improve the total push-ups performed with correct form,

before fatigue, by 20%. Two of our participants, Matt and Stacie, were able to reach the goal of

increasing their push-ups by 20%. Although only Matt and Stacie reached the goal of increasing

push-ups by 20%, each class member that participated showed improvements and increases in

their total push-ups performed. Sarah was not able to participate in the post testing, thus we

have no data for her.

The graph above shows the differences in strength gains between our consistent

participants and non-consistent participants. Our consistent participants showed an average

increase of 55.5% in muscular strength and an increase of 37.5% in core strength. Our non-

consistent participants still increased their overall strength but it was not as high as the

consistent group. This group increased their muscular strength on average by 31.6% and also

increased their core strength by 20.3%. You can see by the graphs that the more our

participants attended class, the more they increased their strength.

Bootcamp Testing Results

The graph above represents the pre and post plank testing results for Heather in the

Bootcamp class. Her beginning time was 45 seconds. Her ending time was 105 seconds, a 42%

increase in total core strength.

The graph above shows the total amount of burpees performed in one minute. Our

class goal was to increase this number by 20%. Heather completed 9 burpees in the pre-testing

and 15 in the post-test, an increase of 60%.

Participant Evaluation Results Question

# Question

Strongly Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

1 Instructor Responds to

Feedback 6 2 Effective Warmup 6 3 Effective Cool-down 6 4 Good Rapport 6 5 Enthusiastic 6 6 Easy to Understand 6 7 Begins and Ends Class on Time 5 1

8 Corrects Form 5 1 9 Instructor Knowledgeable 6

10 Appropriate Intensity 5 1 11 Provides Modifiers 5 1 12 Health Tips Provided 5

1

This table shows my performance evaluation from the class participants in both the

Bootcamp class (1 participant) and the Circuit Training class (5 participants) for a total of 6

responses per question. 100% of the class Strongly Agreed with 7 of the 12 questions. There

were only four questions where I received one response of Agree and one of Neutral. The

reason for the one Neutral answer was because some weeks I forgot to send out a Health Tip of

the week. However, I followed up those weeks with two health tips so that I still accumulated

sixteen health tips for the semester, one for each week.

Conclusions/Semester Summary

Throughout the semester, I believe that I was able to maintain a high quality standard. I

always made sure that the workout program for that day’s class was organized the day before,

with modifications, the class participants, and the overall goals of the class kept in mind. I kept

the environment respectful, fun and entertaining. I feel as though my participants wanted to

come to class, instead of feeling dreadful or feeling uncomfortable.

I was able to help the class reach most of our goals. Not all participants in the circuit

training class were able to increase their plank and total push-ups performed, but all had an

increase. The one goal that suffered though was attendance. Due to family emergencies,

sickness, work and vacations the average class attendance was only 68%. Our goal was 80%. In

Bootcamp, we were able to accomplish all three of our goals. Heather increased her plank

time, increased her amount of burpees performed and only missed two classes due to sickness.

I feel that those who came to class more often than not, depicted by the correlation

graph between attendance and strength gains, were able to accomplish their goals. Those who

came to class had a significant increase in strength compared to those whose attendance was

very spotty.

The class comments were very positive. Both Kelsey and I receive pretty high reviews

regarding the structure of the class, the type of exercises performed, our knowledge of health

and fitness, and our positive attitudes. We received a lot of comments on our friendliness and

attitudes. Almost everyone said that we were great and when asked if there was anything we

could change, there were no comments. The one semi-criticism that we received is that we

sometimes took too long demonstrating the exercises, when this class participant knew what

those exercises were. In Bootcamp, my participant Heather did not leave any comments about

me and my teaching style and the workouts. The only comment she made was that she feels

the class should be taught three days a week, instead of two.

For those who may be teaching Circuit Training in the future, I would suggest keeping it

fun. Sometimes I would look around at other classes and the participants were just going

through the motions. In my class, the participants laughed with one another, they worked hard

and motivated each other, and they built a relationship that is going to continue on past circuit

training. When participants are having fun and enjoy coming to class , I feel that they tend to

work harder, they are more willing to do the exercises planned, and they will trust you as their

fitness leader.

Here are some special notes on the participants. With Chris, he really likes machines

and will often leave the group to go work on a machine. He does not like to jump and has

lower back issues. Thus any type of stretching and lower back exercises are great for him. He is

also a fan of repetitions rather than being timed. Stacie has an issue with her joints and

sometimes those joints will cause pain. However, even with pain, Stacie works very hard and

was one of the more fit participants in the class. Sarah was spotty with her attendance and

sometimes would complain about the difficulty of the exercises. She is good friends with Stacie

and if Stacie was not in class, then Sarah for sure would not be there. Sarah did have knee

surgery last year and is working to strengthen that knee. Monica has weak wrists and anything

exercise done on the ground, such as push-ups were hard for her to do. Very sweet lady

though and soft spoken. Matt and Stephanie were both great, both pushed themselves hard

and both tried to attend as many classes as possible.

Some notes on Heather in the Bootcamp class; she has had surgery once on her right

shoulder and some exercises, such as kettle bell swings hurt her shoulder. I believe, although

she never admitted, this is why she has a limited range on her push-ups. That was a technique

that I tried to work with her on all semester and unfortunately was not able to improve.

Heather likes competition. If you try to do some exercises with her, she will try to beat you out.

She is competitive with herself and will always try to get those extra few reps in. However, she

does not like running and cardio type of exercises.

Overall, this has been a wonderful semester getting to know some great people who

want to improve their fitness. I think being able to relate and be personable is a big key to the

success that I had in my classes. Be friendly, be confident and use the training that you have

gained throughout the classes to lead these classes. Listen to the participants and make

modifications if needed. They are there to follow you, but you are there to help them with

what they need.

1. For every 1 lb. of muscle you gain, your body burns an extra 50 calories a day! This is just

one of the many benefits of resistance training. Hope you all have a great weekend!

2. ROM. No, not the old school ROM disks that you would put in your computer, but Range of Motion. Range of motion refers to the amount of movement within a

joint. When performing exercises just about everything is rotating around some type of joint - your knees, elbows, shoulders, hips and even your back has a range of

movement. It is important when exercising to get the full range of motion with the joint that is involved. Your muscles will do more work, you'll help improve your flexibility and

ultimately build more strength. So when we tell you to get low on those squats, this is why!

3. Did you know that you can strengthen your bones? We remember the milk commercials and the claim that milk builds muscles, but exercise can help too! When

you jump and use weight bearing exercises, you put stress on your bones. These stresses stimulate new bone growth to help support the area of the bone most

affected. Strong bones can help prevent the risk of injury and osteoporosis.

4. How many times a week do you step on that dreadful scale just to see that same number pop up? You say to yourself, "I've been working hard in Kelsey and Nick's class... I've been eating better... I've been drinking water... I don't get it!" One possible

reason the scale hasn't changed is because you've been replacing fat with muscle, and muscle weighs more. Try this... Instead of keeping a journal of your weight, keep a

picture journal. It's sometimes hard to see a change in yourself because you see yourself every day. But if you take a picture of yourself, from the same angles (front,

back, side) and then take another picture a month later, you can compare and see if there has been a change.

5. Eat more! Now when we say eat more, I don't necessarily mean to eat more amounts of food, but more often. A typical diet includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. But studies

have shown that if you eat 5 smaller meals, then your metabolism continues to burn throughout the day. Wake up to a good breakfast, have a snack a few hours later,

lunch, snack and then dinner.

6. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM); an adult should try to achieve 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise to prevent weight gain and to reduce chronic disease risk factors. That is the equivalent of 30 minutes per day, five

days a week. That's only about 2% of your day! Have a wonderful week!

7. Have you ever wondered how you should structure your workout? Weight training or cardio first? Experts say that weight training should be done first in the workout

because it is a higher intensity than cardio and puts more stress on the body. The body is better able to handle the stress that comes along with weight training earlier in the

workout because it has stored energy to expire.

8. Research has shown that exercise can slow or help prevent heart disease, stroke, high

blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, loss of muscle mass, and may

also help ease some aspects of the aging process.

9. Ever wonder how much water you should be drinking a day? The Mayo Clinic suggests

roughly 13 cups (3 L) for men and 9 cups (2.2 L) for women per day. If you are exercising

or doing any type of activity that makes you sweat, you need to drink extra water to

compensate for the fluid loss. An extra 1.5 to 2.5 cups (400 to 600 mL) of water is

appropriate for moderate activity.

10. Use the Buddy System! Sometimes it can be easy to talk yourself out of exercising for the day. If you tend to do this, find someone that also is working towards a healthy

lifestyle and keep each other accountable. Support each other. Exercise together. Motivate one another and use this time to build your relationship with that person.

11. Getting bored with exercising? Stuck in the same routine? Then mix it up! Spice things up a little by trying new exercises and new programs. Find a couple of activities that you

enjoy (swimming, biking, weight training, running, hiking, group exercise classes, etc.) and mix up your routine.

12. Do you seem to never have time to exercise? As we’ve mentioned before, you only need 30 minutes a day to exercise. So, pick a time! Do you have more energy in the

morning? Do you perk up more as the day goes on? Find what time of the day works better for you to exercise and set aside 30 minutes of exercise time, and then stick to it!

Create a habit out of it.

13. To carb or not to carb? Carbohydrates. Some people love them some people hate them. What are carbs? Carbohydrates are the energy source for your body. Your liver

turns carbohydrates into energy. You need this energy to live and to exercise. However, too many carbohydrates in your system end up turning into fat. There are

good carbs and bad carbs. Good carbs – whole wheat breads and pastas, brown rice, yams/sweet potatoes, oatmeal, fruits and vegetables. Bad carbs – Processed white

flour, white bread, white potatoes, pasta, donuts. So an hour before your about to exercise grab some fruit or crackers and cheese.

14. Let's take a step back and rest. Feel like you're ready to collapse or that you are completely exhausted from the day. Rest up. Your body needs rest to repair those

worn down muscles and rejuvenate your mind. Without adequate rest, you risk injury and your immune system becomes weakened, increasing your chances of getting

sick. Try - believe me it's hard especially studying for finals - to get 8 hours of sleep each

night. You'll feel better!

15. Make goals and track your progress. We mentioned earlier about losing the scale and taking pictures. But also make some goals for yourself. Realistic goals. If your ultimate

goal is to run a Marathon, set some process goals to help you reach your dream. Start by setting a goal to run 3 miles. Then 7 or 8 miles, then 13 miles, and so on. Do not try

to overload yourself and don’t set yourself up to fail. You can do it! Stay strong and work hard!

16. This week’s tip of the week is related to our heart. Obviously when we exercise, our

heart rate increases and at times, we may feel as though our heart is going to beat out of our chest! So how hard do we want to push ourselves when exercising? A few weeks ago we mentioned vigorous intensity. What is considered “vigorous?” As each of us are different and have different fitness levels, we will each have our own interpretation of intensity. A good way to figure out how hard you should exercise is through the Karvonen Formula. This is a mathematical formula that helps you determine your target heart rate (HR). This formula uses a max HR and resting HR to estimate your individual

training heart rate zone. First, find your resting HR. This can be done first thing in the morning when you wake up. Sit up out of bed, and take your pulse for 1 minute (or 30 sec. and multiply by 2). Next, find your max HR by taking 220 – (your age). When you find your max HR (also called your Age Predicted Heart Rate - APHR), subtract your

resting HR (RHR). You’ll come up with a number which is called your Heart Rate Reserve (HRR). Multiply that number by the percentage of intensity you wish to workout at. Then add in your RHR and the final number is where you should try to get your HR at.