'Boot camp' workouts grow in popularity for their intensity and serious results!

'Boot camp' workouts grow in popularity for their intensity and serious results

Allan Fine tells his campers as they dive to the floor for push-ups. They jump up, glide across the floor and pounds a punching bag as if her life depends on it. They punche, kicks and dive to the hardwood floor again at a frenzied pace, sweat dripping from thier brow.

It's Tuesday at 530 am and instructor Allan Fine barks out commands, "No messing around! Let's go! One. What? Two. What?"

The class is filled with women and men who are serious about getting into shape. Among them are Tina Flinn, who intends to lose weight , and Tanya who will wed on , has taken the Alberta boot camp Body by Allan Fine.


"I love it," says tanya. She also works out to fitness DVDs twice a week. "It's probably one of the highest intensity workouts you can do."

Though spring had seemingly forgotten to arrive in Calgary, it's finally showing its face. Now people realize that in a few weeks they will no longer be able to disguise their flab.

Like other men and the other women, they are taking serious notes on body imperfections such as jiggly upper arms, love handles and thunder thighs, and they panic, saying, "Oh-my-gosh, it's going to be warm soon. I've got to get into shape."

A boot camp might be the ticket to a summer-ready body. Popularity for boot camps has soared since television shows such as VH1's "Celebrity Fit Club" and NBC's "The Biggest Loser" hit airwaves, says Graham Melstrand, vice president of operations for the American Council on Exercise. Ditching cutesy routines and treadmills, an increasing number of people are opting for traditional exercises, such as sit-ups, push-ups, running and jumping.

In fact, boot camps are America's hottest fitness trend for 2008, according to an American Council on Exercise survey released in January.

"It takes fitness outside of the traditional gym setting," Melstrand says. "The workouts are more athletic and don't require specific choreography. They are more like physical education classes."

If you're ready to get in serious shape, a new crop of high-intensity boot camps start this month.

"They are so much fun because we use park equipment, benches, the trails," says Allan Fine, owner of ABC Fitness, who runs all-outdoor boot camps in Calgary Albderta starting this month. "I bring medicine balls, buckets of water, jumping ropes. You'll never attend a class and be like, 'Oh, we did that last week. This is boring.' "

You can reach Allan Fine at (403) 246-7386 or support@albertabbotcamp.com.