The Bootcamp Journey A customer report by TeamUp

Search engine, looking for a local Bootcamp.

Online, by searching for 'Boot Camp'.

I reached Stephanie by mail and I told her, look I'm just going to try, and I went there to try and I never stopped.

Found Shift... I think I literally went on Google and I also just went on Facebook and I did outdoor fitness, I searched something trying to find something along the same lines as what I had in Florida and that's how I found Shift. And then it was word of mouth for the British Military Fitness, as well.

When I was first looking I did do a google search to get more information about Pro Impact as a company cause everybody know what's what. To get opinions and all that, getting reviews and that sort of thing before I just signed up to a class that I didn't know anything about other than a well worded advert.

Classes took place outside where I live so approached the trainer for more info.

Neighbour and community notice board.

Location - very local to me, hoped I would meet people from my community, and looking on the facebook group it seemed like a sociable group of people.

Fun, nice approach, proximity to my place.

I liked that it was close to where I lived and wasn’t outdoors. I wanted a local community based fitness class to make friends. I also liked the classes and it is a good price. In London it’s expensive to join classes.

The location is great for me, one of the videos had someone close to my size and our message exchange was reassuringly welcoming.

I think what bootcamp did for me, as adults, I mean in joining, being close to home, it's much easier for me. It's more likely ... It was less likely to move home rather than jobs, so for me it's easier to plan around that. The classes are in the evenings or on the weekend and I can handle to make that fit around my lifestyle.

The fact that it was local and it was a bootcamp. Photographs of the types of training. It explained some of the benefits that they do.

It's also about proximity at least I live really, really close to boot camp, I'm about five minutes walk away. And there isn't a gym in probably, the nearest one's maybe 20 minutes walk? By the time I've got home from work it just really is incredibly convenient to go.

The proximity to my house, I think is crucial for me 'cause, that's whenever I've been tried to make a routine with something too far away, it always fall apart.

It's very local, it's very almost community based.

The main two things would be the fact that it was a key fit group and it was local. One of the things that might have appealed to me was the fact that it was new. It was brand new. Because I know sometimes people feel if they go to a class that's already well established they feel they are the newbie. They're coming in and they don't know what to expect, but everyone there knows the routine. They know the people to talk to. They know the exercises. They know the terminology and they already know the trainers. Whereas with this particular course, it was brand new. It actually hadn't been established so everyone was going to be joining was going to be in the exact same group.

Focus on outdoors and being local stood out at first. Quality of the sessions and friendliness of people made it even more appealing after initial trials.

It was out door training rather than in a gym, people seemed of all different abilities, friendly and approachable trainer , plenty of enthusiasm friendly class members.

I wasn't looking for any kind of exercise really but when I read the flyer I think the fact it was outdoors made me interested.

The fact that it's outdoors, I think makes a big difference. The outdoor element, I think you feel more energized going outdoors.

Definitely outdoor training helps. It toughens you up a little bit because as soon as you get into the rhythm of things, the weather in the UK as you know isn't exactly perfect, so you get used to training in all seasons. It means that if you go on to do other activities, we quite enjoy hill walking sometimes or mountain climbing, weather never bothers you because you're used to training. So you've got an extra dimension that you've got to throw into your training.

The fact that it's local, I like it being outdoors because it can be quite cold in the wintertime but actually, technically, you actually work better in the wintertime. In fact, I probably go to more winter sessions than I do summer sessions. I might go winter sessions; I might do three or four a week where summer I might only do one or two a week. Again, it's purely to do with the fact that it's outside. I've got an awful lot of energy, I get back to my house and I'm feeling nice and warm and cozy having done a session outdoors.

The age and fitness levels of all the participants was so diverse and all were welcoming and all the trainers were so motivational and the classes are always fun, different, and never the same routine.

It looked like it catered for all levels of fitness and as I was starting from a very low base this was important.

The fact that it offers you a different style and variety of training. You tend to find in the gym that you're limited with equipment, time, more confined space, more prescriptive. It's a more free flowing style of training when you do the bootcamp style training.

This bootcamp gives everybody regardless of their ability, the chance to improve themselves.

It's definitely different styles of training. I'd never used things like tires before as part of my training. And boxing we did, there was always good quality introductions. If you were ever struggling or your form wasn't right, there would be Steph and or someone else to make sure that you are being corrected to get the right technique. It was about the technique and focus. There was incentive to get your diet right because that's on thing the fitness industry doesn't get right. Constantly.

The fact that it's local is one thing. The variety still, the fact that it constantly evolves. You've got to give credit to Steph for keeping it imaginative. You've got to give credit to the fact that she's doing her research in the market. She's liaising, talking, learning all the time. I don't just become a fitness professional and that's it. You've got to keep yourself ahead of the curve. She brings new ideas, different styles of training.

It was an advert specifically for the accountability program, rather than just the boot camp. And it had a video of a person who'd done it the previous year and she was talking about her experiences going and she just made it sound really accessible so it wasn't intimidating. I always get put off 'cause I think it's gonna be super fit people who are like gym bunnies or insane military fitness people, I'm just not into all that kind of culture. So she was like nice and normal and she'd had really good results doing it and I just thought it sounded like something I could do. That's when I, and I'd already seen some stuff the boot camp, like I was aware it happened, I think I'd seen them working out when I'd been walking that way. So seeing this program I was like, oh they have like a structured program, that sounds really good.

I chose Steph, it's because of her experience working with people who've had injuries and she's knows a lot about pain and exercise and she talked to me about that in our first call.

Instructors call us by our names and partnered us up or put into teams. There's a strong team spirit which I really like and not just a number in the crowd. Definitely made new friends as everyone is very friendly and encouraging.

While attending my second class I made good friends with the class members and felt I was on the road to achieving my goals. Plenty of encouragement too, from fellow class members and from the trainer/trainers.

People were friendly and welcoming to my first few sessions, as were all of the trainers. I wanted a fitness community to challenge me physically and for accountability and social “friend-making” purposes and I think these people fit that for me.

The first day. Left the class thinking, oh wow we've met some neighbors, this is cool. So the social aspect surprised me. I felt good after it. I liked the fact it was all outdoors.

I think I expected to be the unfit one who couldn't really do it and it was all geared towards people who already knew what they were doing. And it's not made me feel, even though I am less fit than the ones who've been doing it for ages, it hasn't made me feel like that at all. Normally, group exercise, I think so many people have traumatic memories or P.E. at school.

Just the whole session she was paying attention to my form and encouraging me. She just made me feel really welcome and not only her but the other participants in the class or in the bootcamp, as well, are just encouraging one another and supporting and we take suffering together through our workouts. Like I said, when you're doing hard workouts, I love something that's going to challenge me. And it took me a while to find out which classes of hers, which bootcamp sessions were the most challenging for me. I know you can always ramp up or modify whatever workout she has. But some were more naturally better for or more suitable for what I was looking for. So it took me a while to figure out which ones I like the most. Like I said, just the people there were very welcoming and friendly and I feel like I've made a little group of friends there, so it's nice.

Stephanie is great at making you push yourself without it feeling like it is a chore. And it was a big bonus being part of a group of like minded people all going through the same pain as you for similar reasons.

I enjoyed my trial time, felt the result of the workout the next day.

After the taster session I felt that the hour workout had as much exercise in as any and it was a calm, relaxing atmosphere in the park.

I expected to, by improving my stamina, and doing exercise, improve also my time at work, to find a way to cope with the stressful situation that you might experience at work, almost to find a relief valve. And again, to be maybe mentally stronger. So all those typical things that you associate with exercise. And obviously getting fitter and then physically stronger as well.

Boot camp. The actual words sounded quite intimidating. So, though I was looking for workouts, boot camp sounded more like military types than what I thought, but it was ... Yeah, it was fun. So, it was more tailored to your level.

The quality of the equipment, the variety that was packed into a class. It felt like it was a hard workout. I felt like I'd done more than I'd done in any other style of group or class based training. So left and immediately booked up for the next ones that were coming and the rest is history.

Obviously it's very early to say it's one of those things for longer term goals but already I feel like it so far exceeds my expectations, that I just, I'm really surprised by how much I'm enjoying it for one thing. Normally I just enjoy exercise classes but I'm really enjoying it. It's just been so much fun and it's really has exceeded my expectations.

I really surprised myself even within the first week of how much I could do of it because I thought I'd really lost most of my fitness. Obviously I have still got a ways to go but it's just boosted my confidence in what I'm capable of doing I think, quite quickly.

I think it was right at the end of the first session, as I walked home, I was just buzzing and now I feel like it's not quite as good as the first one but as soon as it's finished, I just feel really, really good which is such an incentive to keep going because I know I'm gonna feel good afterwards. So I think that moment, I was like, it was kind of the realization that I can actually do it and actually it makes me feel really great and it's so close.

The real incentive to go back to bootcamp, and to keep going back, is the fact that you don't ache as much. After that first session, I was in agony for a week and that was only from a beginner type level of exercise. Then the more often you go, then you're only in pain until the next session and then eventually, if you keep going often enough without any major breaks, you're never aching a day or two after a session.

It's really a case of surprising myself on my achievements. So I've never found myself to be a runner, I still don't even though I do the weekly runs. But, there was one evening where it clicked for me. Cause a lot of times what we do is, where we workout there's a large hill and typically when we do any running portion of our training, we run around the hill, cause it's about 220 meters or so. So in the early days and for the longest time I couldn't run it all the way, where I'd have to stop and walk or whatever and there was this one day where I realized I didn't have to stop and walk, it was kinda like, “Oh, okay maybe I didn't feel the difference, maybe it's not a weight thing or whatever.” But it was just that light bulb moment that said, “Oh okay, something has definitely changing because I couldn't do that before, and now I can.”

Steph couldn't have been more supportive or more helpful, and really helped to create a community in our area through Bootcamp. I could just see/feel it was something special that I wanted to be a part of.

When Steph sent me info and asked me to prepare a health form. That responsible accountability really gave me comfort. Next was in the class when everyone was joking, it eased the stress of doing the class.

I don't live near Canterwater and being a newer person, I just had my Google maps out and was trying to find it. But Steph had told me that even Uber messes up trying to find where this place is so she's always on the lookout, which is really great, if she knows someone new is coming. So it was really helpful so when I walked up she recognized a new face and said "Hey, are you Kristen?", so it made me feel comfortable from the off, she was looking for me and waiting for me.

Having all round fitness - the mixture of aerobic and anaerobic training whilst being outdoors has to be one of the best ways to maintain good fitness.

Rather than change it has helped me maintain my fitness and strength after having children.

Run a far greater distance than I've ever been able to before I need to catch my breath.

Better on land given previously my main fitness focus was swimming and some running so muscle group balance. I will have attended sessions for 2 years come April.

My knees don't hurt like they used to and i can also run much further than before. My overall stamina has improved.

I ran a marathon! Enough said!

Train in the cold. My strength & endurance is at a better level. Of course there is the age impact but at least in my age range I am much more fit than many.

How being fit and having more stamina help you on a practical situation, again I think it helps me at work or at home to be calmer and to be more balanced in my reaction potentially.

Definitely, a bit more upper body strength. I did manage to climb a rope. I wasn't able to do before.

I ran a marathon. I would never have even considered that before becoming a bootcamper so, that was out of my realm of possibility but after a couple of years of bootcamp, off I went. Did it, no problem, no injuries, nothing. It doesn't get any more results focused than that. Steph's tried to help me with diet along the way. Not her fault that I haven't been good sometimes because I'm just useless at that sometimes, which is bazar. So, those are the results. If you want results, I did a marathon and I know that some have gone on to do half irons, triathlons, these kind of things. These are people that would never have done this if they weren't at bootcamp and that's absolute fact for them.

The sense of accomplishment that you've, you could've just sat on your sofa for another hour and instead you went out and did something and you're constantly testing yourself so you're never allowed to just rest with a number of reps like you could do, it's always timed, do more and more and more. And you kind of think when you're doing it "I can't do anymore" then you find another ten reps or something and it's really satisfying that you've pushed beyond where your body's telling you, well we could just give up now and yeah. So a sense of accomplishment I think. And just like the physical effects, where you just physically feel really good, tired obviously but in a good way.

In simple terms, obviously I think things like, even something simple as sleeping is obviously a lot better. Once you physically exercise just general day to day physical activities levels... you're a lot more incentivized to include some of the physical activity in your normal day to day.

My husband has been saying "You seem happier", he actually said that last night "Are you happier?". And I feel like I am because I have a lot of stress at the job that I do. And the transition over her to the UK and all my family's back home, there's just a lot of things I can be stressing about and before I found this outdoor community I was finding other ways to deal with my stress. I.E. eating. So that's how weight was put on, but now that I have Pro Impact to go to I can get stress out that way. Even at the end of the day I might be tired but I can go there, sweat it out, come home and then overall it's good for my health. I'm not snacking as much, I'm making better food choices because of her goal setting program that she setup for me. It's good. Overall I just feel like I have more energy and I feel more confident and better in my clothes.

There are definitely mental health benefits for me, going. Yeah just the exertion and the effort helps me reframe it and clears my mind. If I'm having a bad day you know sometimes exhausting your body to match up with the kind of stressed or exhausted mind works. It works for me anyway and it works for other people too. When I don't feel like doing the physical effort is that you know, go through the hour and after that hour session my mind is in a different place and for the better. In a better place. So that's definitely a secondary benefit.

Bootcamp allows you to find your strengths and weaknesses and grow them as opposed to having to keep up with the front of the pack.

Stay motivated. I still miss some of the sessions that I initially sign up for each week, but I blame that on my adjustment to the UK germs here. Most sessions I’ve missed have been due to illness, not for lack of wanting to be there. The community provides fun and accountability as we “suffer together.” I love it.

Physically, I'm stronger. The biggest thing is I've found an exercise format that keeps me engaged and motivated, so I keep it up.

Enjoy exercise and prioritise doing it. I don’t say ‘I cant’ so much out loud or in my head now.

Definitely happier. I think like just always looking forward to the next sessions. Kind of being part of a tight group. Yeah, convincing other people to actually go out and do some running or some exercises. Generally, a lot more positive.

Without bootcamp and Steph, that would never have been possible. I don't know how I would have done it unless I went down a very expensive personal training route. But you learned more about fitness, health and fitness from doing that, than what you would have done if you were just a regular gym user, turning up to do some weights and the odd classes. You would have a clue how to embark on a marathon without that specialist knowledge being there for you.

Because you see yourself progressing so much and you begin to realize what your body is act capable of and week in, week out, different styles of training. You can feel and see yourself getting fitter. You knew that once you signed up for that marathon, that Steph would be there to support you. They style of training that she can incorporate into her workouts form part of the marathon training as and should you need it as well.

I work for an agency so I'm temporary and floating around to different places. So I can make friends at my workplace but I don't know how long lasting that will be because I'm not going to be there long term, it's just a temporary fill. Whereas this Pro Impact community I'm going to attend, I've been a monthly member basically since 10 day 10 pound deal that she had going on. It's just been a great place to make friends. Just the community.

Want to take part in events i.e. touch mudder, spartan.

Face all workout types without fear. Also create a focus on my everyday life that allows me to be better and managing my business, leading my teams, being a good puppy dad, and the best partner I can be. ====

It's quite soon to sort of say it's impacted my life, because I'll see, I could end up giving up, like this week but hopefully I won't. But so far it's been the easiest kind of January routine that I've had previously, to stick to because partly because I'm on the accountability program, I just have to go otherwise I lose my money. So it's really good for making me put my trainers on and get out the door when I think normally I would talk myself out of it, or I'd let myself have a rest if I was tired or whatever whereas I just have to go. I really love that aspect of it, the accountability aspect, brilliant.