(Seth Wenig/AP) Tread through any urban green space during the dawn or dusk hours and you're bound to come across groups of people doing circuits of squats, crunches and lunges under the guidance of a trainer. In the past few years, fitness boot camps have sprung up across Canada, enticing recruits with the promise of a fun workout, firm body and increased self-esteem through cross-training programs that combine cardio and resistance training. But there are also issues that new participants need to be aware of before signing up.

"When we started doing boot camps about eight years ago in [Vancouver's] Stanley Park, there were only two or three other boot camps going on there," says Pepe Picco, a personal trainer and co-founder of Vancouver's Precision Athletics.

As the years went on, Picco says more trainers started adopting the concept. "It's become a fad, I guess you could say."

Though the recent spike in participation might be a fad, the benefits of good fitness boot camps are anything but whimsical. A true boot camp that offers a good hour-long cross-training workout two to five days per week can kick-start a couch potato's fitness regime, mix up the drudgery of a gym rat's program or help with toning for swimsuit season.

'Boot camps are great for people who can't afford a one-on-one session with a personal trainer or who might need the motivation of the group to really push themselves.'— Pepe Picco, fitness trainer

"Boot camps are great for people who can't afford a one-on-one session with a personal trainer or who might need the motivation of the group to really push themselves," says Picco.

Kristin Kent, a Toronto-based fitness buff, has attended many boot camps, and says that the best programs she's attended offer a lot of military-style exercises. "You're looking for something with a lot of drills, with push-ups, jumping jacks, something that's going to give you a killer workout," she says.

But Kent has also attended boot camps that didn't offer the level of intensity she expected. "It seems a lot of them are geared toward people, especially women, who aren't very active to begin with. They're attracted to a boot camp because it's a catchy word," she says.

Pitfalls

Despite the blanket term, not every boot camp is created equal and recruits need to do some research before selecting the boot camp that's right for them.

It's something Anna Della Rocca, 36, wishes she had done before she signed up for a boot camp this past spring.

A competent, experienced trainer is the key to a safe and productive boot camp fitness workout. (Sherry Brown/AP) After looking at a few boot camps offered in the Toronto area, she settled on one she found online, which offered classes twice a week after work. Della Rocca says the website showed a video of a group of women exercising in a pavilion under the guidance of three instructors.

But instead of a peaceful pavilion, Della Rocca says the boot camp actually met in a park near Toronto's Rogers Centre, home of the Blue Jays. "There were kids smoking pot and rough-looking people roaming around the park. It wasn't exactly a place you felt comfortable leaving your stuff to go for a run."

Della Rocca says she could have overlooked the poorly chosen location if not for the fact that the instruction was also lacking. "Our trainer was pitiful. She didn't tell you how many repetitions to do, or count them out."

Maureen Connolly, a kinesiology professor at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., says boot camps, like any other workout program, must follow basic training principles to be effective.

"A workout program should have progression, individualization and specificity," she says.

This means that the program should start things out slowly and increase in intensity. As well, the program should be modified for people of varying fitness levels, to provide a reasonable challenge for all participants.

"If a boot camp is proposing a shock into fitness, it isn't promoting good training principles," Connolly says.

Things to look for

Kent, who is a certified trainer with Can-Fit-Pro, adds that certification is important when looking for a trainer. According to Kent, her certification is the most basic level that boot campers should accept in a trainer — ideally, they should look for someone with qualifications that go beyond general fitness-trainer certification, such as experience with specialized fitness programs or bona fide army drills. "Someone who has a background in military training is going to give you a great workout."

In Kent's experience, trainers with certification in programs such as Twist Conditioning and Crossfit offer effective workouts in a boot-camp setting that give participants results. And both Kent and Picco tout trainers with kinesiology degrees as well.

"You know they're going to have a good background in exercise application," says Picco.

Most reputable boot camps will allow you to observe and sometimes even participate in a class before joining. That's something Della Rocca wishes she had done.

"My boot camp was completely misrepresented on the website," she says.

When observing, one important aspect to take note of is the instructor-to-camper ratio. Fred Masse, co-founder of Survivor Bootcamp, a franchise operation that offers programs in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, recommends finding a camp with smaller, rather than larger numbers. "You want to be in a class of between 15 and 20 people," says Masse.

"You don't want to be in a class that's too large, because you want the instructor to watch you and give you tips," Picco adds. "You can risk injury if you do an exercise incorrectly."

'A boot camp might be too intense for someone who hasn't been regularly active.'— Kristin Kent, fitness trainer

In fact, before partaking in some of Picco's classes, participants are required to complete a few one-on-one sessions with a personal trainer to ensure they have learned the correct method and form for all the exercises.

Kent also believes that although a boot camp can produce great results, it's not for everyone.

"A boot camp might be too intense for someone who hasn't been regularly active," she says. "It really depends on how badly you want it. I've noticed people are intense at the beginning but give up halfway through because it's too hard."

Dropping out is a trend that Connolly says plagues all fitness programs, not just boot camps. "We in the fitness industry try to find different and new ways for people to get active." She notes research since the 1970s indicates that up to 80 per cent of people fail to stick with a program.

"Only about 20 per cent of people are going to see it through," she adds of any fitness program.

Kent says that before signing up for a boot camp, people should do an honest self-assessment and make sure an intense workout is something that will fit into their daily routine. "I'm a huge believer in adapting your fitness routine to your lifestyle, and if you don't enjoy hard workouts, you're going to give up and end up wasting your money."

Despite the potential pitfalls of boot camps, the programs can be great for motivating people to push their fitness boundaries. And by selecting a good camp, participants will find they can derive a lot of health benefits from the program.

"If they're executed properly they can be very beneficial, because you're going to get cross training-style program," says Picco. (The author is a Canadian freelance writer.)