Drive around on any Saturday or Sunday morning and you’ll likely see more ladies than men out jogging, walking or doing some other aerobic type exercise. So, the question begs, where are all the men?
It’s been my experience after 12 years in the fitness industry that men tend to focus on getting bigger and stronger by using weights and machines at a gym. Women on the other hand, tend to look for aerobic activities either outdoors such as running or walking, or indoors such as aerobic classes or the stair climber and elliptical machines.
Which type of exercise is best?
The types of aerobic exercises you usually typically see ladies doing does go a long way towards improving your cardiovascular fitness. This is great if you want to keep your heart healthy and your abs trim, but aerobic exercise isn’t enough by itself to maintain overall fitness. Neglect resistance training long enough and you could develop osteoporosis and lose important functional muscle strength that is needed in daily life.
Men tend to be on the opposite extreme.
The workouts that men tend to gravitate toward are all about strength training , building muscle and putting on weight. Unfortunately, those workouts tend to lack any real focus on cardiovascular fitness. Which, if neglected long enough, can lead to heart disease, obesity and other cardiovascular issues.
Ultimately the problem is that focusing on either aerobic exercise or strength training is not enough.
Bootcamp – breaking the gender stereotypes
Our goal at fitness boot camp is something like trying to get cats and dogs to get along…we strive to get women off the treadmill and guys off the weight!
Our typical boot camp classes are designed to combine cardio and strength training, so you get the best of both worlds. If you decide to try one out, you’ll see women doing pushups (right alongside the guys) and you’ll see guys doing jumping jacks (right alongside the women).
Sounds a bit different? It is – but it works.
These exercises are not just created to mix things up, although it does help to greatly reduce exercise boredom. Each class is specifically designed to create what we call “overall fitness” meaning you exercise all aspects of wellness. For us, that means providing training programs that help you build strength, develop core stability and improve flexibility, all while increasing your aerobic capacity.
So if you believe that cats and dogs can actually get along, or you are simply tired of the same old gym routine (with the same old results), than we invite you to come and see what bootcamp is like and find out for yourself what being really fit feels like!
