http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/213103/Are-boot-camps-harmful-
Whilst written by a conscientious fitness professional, the article expresses the concerns of users and potential users of outdoor bootcamps. I completely agree and empathise with the points and questions raised and am taking the opportunity to answer the questions on behalf of our Outfit (www.outfit-uk.com) model but also impartially.
(I'm shortening the questions due to me having limited time
1. Is there screening or individual assessment?
Aside of this being a legal requirement, it would be suicidal for any fitness professional to coach anyone without knowing their medical history, state of fitness and goals as a bare minimum. We of course screen every member and provide an optional full body MOT to all members.
2. Is there insurance?
Again a legal requirement and completely necessary. We ensure that all groups have at least £5 million Liability cover.
3. Is there a free trial session offered?
As a consumer, it is important to try something like this without having to commit with it being a unique service. Furthermore, we feel that contracts can be far too binding and we have a flexible month by month rolling membership to our groups.
4. What are the qualifications and experience of the instructors?
As someone extremely passionate about quality, this is one of my biggest problems with large areas of the fitness industry. People delivering in areas that they are clearly unqualified in. We see it all the time and certainly military bootcamps are particularly bad for this. As a training provider through skills active, quality assurance is paramount to maintain the quality of the values that we started with. All our coaches are fully qualified personal trainers, group coaches, trained on whatever equipment used, first aid trained and have at least 2 years industry experience.
5. How many members are there to every coach?
I've seen classes where 1 instructor is working with 30+ people. In my opinion, this is both unprofessional and negligent. There is no way that even the best coach on the planet can account for that many people ensuring they follow instructions safely and effectively. We operate predominantly on a dual coaching basis giving 2 coaches to every group but even in the event of only one coach being available, we limit the class size heavily. Dual coaching allows us to lead and provide continual coaching on form and technique.
6. Are there weights involved and are the instructors qualified?
This is so important and an area that is potentially more dangerous than just bodyweight exercises. I've seen some awful examples of coaches stepping into areas they aren't trained for. We run a kettlebell instructor course and on numerous occassions, we've had trainers start the course confessing to have used them with clients and by evidence of their technique, they have no idea of how to use them properly. We ensure that all our coaches are fully trained and confident on equipment.
7. Are there alternative exercises for varying fitness levels?
Thinking that one size fits all as a coach is a common mistake and I've seen countless examples where group members are being asked to perform exercises that they shouldn't be attempting.
When classes are run, we always demonstrate with both progressions and regressions allowing members to select the most appropriate level.
8. Are new members able to speak with existing members before joining?
Whilst I've never thought about this before, we always encourage guests to speak with the members on their free taster session. This is something that we'll certainly encourage a lot more proactively as it'll allow members to ask more openly without the fear of being sold at which on today's commercially driven world, is a refreshing opportunity.
- Posted whilst adventurising using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Wellington St,Leeds,United Kingdom
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