Everyone is strapped for time, and when we’ve got to cut an activity, oftentimes, it’s the workout that is the first to go.
At Custom Fitness Concepts, our boot camp program is specifically designed to target your entire body by the end of the week. Therefore missing days is not recommended, however, we also know that life can and will get in the way and so the question often comes up, “what should I do if I can’t make class”. Let’s discuss:
What Do I Do If I Can’t Get to Boot Camp?
Simple: run and/or stretch.
It’s obviously less than ideal for you to miss a day of boot camp, but that doesn’t mean you get a free day! Running then stretching (or just stretching) can be one of the fastest ways to help you recover from a great boot camp workout.
Running improves the cardiovascular system, which is great for obvious reasons, especially between – or even in place of – normal exercise days. Cardio (here, running) is great because it targets your cardiovascular system which in turn, burns tons of calories.
In addition, it helps you undo some of the (good) damage that you’ve done during regular exercise. That is, it helps the body flush out the systems and replenish vital nutrients to those damaged tissues allowing for faster growth and recovery.
Stretching has a similar effect on the muscles and also helps get the “sludge” out of those energy systems. In addition, stretching will (a) promote better blood flow which will assist in the recovery process, (b) make muscles more flexible, which is important for the prevention of injuries and (c) widen your range of motion which will also help in injury prevention.
All of these things will help you when you do make it back to Boot Camp.
Which Day of the Week Should You Try to Make?
If your schedule is so busy you can only come certain days, just come, and don’t worry about it too much. Get what you can out of your time with us and realize that you’ll get a great workout and know that any exercise is better than nothing.
3 Day Per Week Classes
Our trainers in charge of our three days/week locations should be providing a full body workout during each class (unless those days are back to back like Monday/Tuesday), which usually means upper body, plus lower body and cardio. At the 5 day per week sites, we focus on just a one or two muscle groups on alternating days. We will also add in additional cardio to mix it up.
5 Day Per Week Classes
If you are enrolled in a 5 day per week class but are only able to attend 2-3 times each week, it’s better to do Monday / Tuesday rather than Monday / Wednesday (if at all possible), mostly because our workouts are designed to alternate their focus. For instance, Monday and Wednesday might both be upper body focused, with Tuesday/ Thursday being lower body. So, attending Monday / Tuesday would allow you to alternate upper body on Monday and lower body on Tuesday.
Let’s me be clear, we want you here whenever it’s convenient for you! Don’t stress so much about the days you attend but if you can manage your schedule, the above suggestion would be best. Regardless of which days you can attend, you can be sure you’ll get a great workout that will challenge you no matter what day you attend!
One last option you have: Ask for “Boot Camp on the Road”. This is a weeks worth of workouts created by Tom to keep you moving while you are gone. Your trainer can let you borrow a band and you can pack it in your suitcase and use it to follow along with the routine!
