Answers to commonly asked questions from the experts on Thumbtack.
What is a boot camp class?
Fitness boot camps are a heart-pounding way to boost your fitness level. Boot camps are led by a fitness instructor and are based on the concept of military boot camps — intensive workout programs to get new recruits into shape, quickly. Fitness boot camps encourage camaraderie, and the group momentum helps participants get through fast-paced intervals of cardio, isometric training, strength training and endurance drills. Classes may range anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes, and usually meet multiple days per week. Boot camps often run a specific duration of time, say four to six weeks, which creates a team-like environment for class members. Other boot camps run year-round and students purchase package pricing for classes, similar to subscriptions that allow them a set amount of classes per week or per month.
Boot camps can be held indoors at a gym, outdoors in a park or on a beach, in a backyard — anywhere there’s room for running, jumping and sweating. Some instructors also provide DVD and online boot camps. You can also find boot camps tailored to your heart’s desire, such as bikini boot camp, or boot camps for new mothers. Boot camps offer an intense workout and are usually led by energetic instructors pushing you to do your best, but unlike military boot camp drill sergeants, fitness boot camp instructors typically don’t use intimidation or punishment to spur you on. Check with your doctor before starting a boot camp if you have health concerns, and always let your instructor know ahead of time if you have injuries.
How much is a boot camp?
The cost of fitness boot camps depends on how often you go, the package you are purchasing (or if you are paying a drop-in fee), the location of the bootcamp, the equipment the instructors provide, and the background and reputation of the instructor. Smaller towns and areas with a lower cost of living typically have lower rates for boot camp services than big cities and regions with a higher cost of living. If you’re paying per class on a drop-in basis, expect to pay anywhere from $12 to $25 or more, depending on the region and the instructor. When you purchase a package of classes, typically the more you buy at one time, the cheaper each class is. The same boot camp class might be $20 for a drop-in student, $15 for a student who pays for 10 classes per month, and $10 for a student who pays for 30 classes a month. Studio space can also affect costs, so if your boot camp takes place in a high-end gym with top-of-the-line equipment, the prices will likely be higher than a class that meets in an outdoor space with limited or no equipment. Shop around to find the right type of boot camp class and the right instructor for you.
Reviews for Sherman Oaks fitness personal trainers
Kendall M.
I've only done a few sessions with Melody so far, but I'm already SO happy that I found her:
I've always had a thin/athletic frame, but got really sick a few years ago and lost a scary amount of weight. In the years since, I've struggled to weigh more than 105lbs and hated feeling so weak and out-of-shape, even while my friends and family say that I should feel "so lucky" to not have the opposite problem. Even after shelling out hundreds on equipment, apps, and gym memberships over the years, I always fell back into my feelings of embarrassment for not knowing who to ask for how to get strong and toned, and the shame involved with feeling like I don't have a right to want to work out when I'm already conventionally thin - so I continued to procrastinate or quit each and every thing.
With Melody's personalfitness journey and extensive knowledge/experience, I've finally found a rhythm that I'm comfortable with. She listens to what I want/need, but doesn't let me make excuses or bail. She already seems to know what I'm capable of and pushes me to try my hardest so that I can achieve my fitness goals (without making me feel bad that I can only do 3-5lb weights or barely 10 push-ups LOL).
So thank you Melody for helping me work to be the best version of myself, and if you're looking for a personaltrainer and reading this now - I would 100% recommend hitting up Melody and seeing for yourself!!
VDH FEMALE BODY SPECIALIST TRAINING+MEALPLAN
Max H.
I've been working with Gabriel at DeVine Physiques for a little over 2 months now. Having been senior editor for a personal-training and group-fitnesstraining magazine in years passed, I had some definite criteria in mind when looking for someone to help me overcome my difficulties with diet-plan adherence and learning quintessential moves that I was afraid to try due to injury potential if performed incorrectly.
Upon meeting Gabriel for our free consultation, we reviewed my history with diet, exercise and past injuries, as well as my current goals vs. efforts I'd tried on my own to reach them. He asked the right questions, but more importantly he let me talk about these topics in-depth when needed and actively listened. He did not have a cookie-cutter approach in mind... he was looking for ways to optimize a plan to promote diet/exercise-program adherence and injury prevention relative to my goals with a conscious consideration as to my physical characteristics and limitations at that time (flexibility limits, minor chiropractic concerns, native structural particulars such as being bow-legged, flat-footed, etc.).
The plan I brought to the table was "burn and build": start with a goal of losing 25 pounds (cutting), per the suggestion of my physician ... and then shift gears to building muscle on top of that new leaner frame (bulking) --- with cycles of both going forward from there. Gabriel worked with me to develop that idea into action. He advised me re: the importance of tracking calories and made suggestions as to apps that could be leveraged to aide in that often-tedious endeavor. He set me up with his customized trainer/client app and I connected MyFitnessPal to it to funnel data re: my daily nutritional and hydration tracking to him. We've started with two 50-minute workout sessions per week for now.
Our goal has been to keep me below 2,000 calories per day... and his strong suggestion (not mandate, mind you... very important) to track everything has opened my eyes as to the caloric and nutritional content of everything I *was* eating (holy crap!) and have currently shifted to eating (oh thank God!).
Coupled with drinking at least 96 oz. of water per day (also tracked) to help keep the body hydrated and aide with hunger as my body adjusted to the caloric reduction, my prior junk-food habit/addiction has gone away --- which, as I write this, had not fully hit me re: how big of a deal that really is. I haven't thought of a soda or French fries, etc., in quite some time... instead, I've been trying to figure out just how many ounces of chicken breast are on my plate at XYZ restaurant so I can get an accurate calorie figure for my tracking. ;-)
The physical results have been *much* more than I initially expected. In roughly 2 months I've gone from 225 pounds at 5'11" to 204, and now we're looking at what to do once I hit my 200-pound goal. The current verdict is to go for another 10 pounds and see where I land and how I feel before shifting gears to more-intense focus on building/bulking. My cardio efficiency has increased greatly, as I no longer feel like I'm going to fall over going up and down flights of stairs.
And whereas I was wearing XL shirts when I walked in the door, I recently shifted to L for the first time in a very long while. I've actually started to look forward to shopping for new clothes and don't dread going into fitting rooms and facing the mirror --- even the ones with horrible lighting. LOL
For me, the key to success has been a combination of really wanting to do this coupled with Gabriel's friendly, positive reinforcement. He always points out when I've broken through barriers in my workouts with him, and has schooled me in very understandable terms re: basic anatomy, form, how things such as sitting and driving affect our flexibility and posture over time, etc.
Gabriel's never mandated I do anything... instead, he's *encouraged* food tracking, hydration, caloric reduction, showing up for all our sessions, etc., couching those actions as being the bedrock for achieving the goals that *I* walked in the door with. The responsibility lies with *me* to do the work in the exercise programming he sets up for each session as well as the between-sessions work (which is actually *more* important in the long run). His welcoming, friendly, encouraging advisement regarding form and function as we work together in those sessions helps me keep moving forward progressively, efficiently and safely.
We developed an easy rapport quite quickly, but Gabriel's very good about keeping us on task ... all while allowing me to catch my breath and regroup between sets or cardio sprints. There is no militaristic aggressive "go go go!!!" kind of atmosphere, but rather a "when you're ready... you've got this... you can and will because you are" approach to gently psyching me up when I might be feeling a bit of a dip in my gas tank.
And when I'm actually lifting -- particularly if we're escalating weight to a new level -- he knows when to turn on a little-bit-more-"cheerleader" type of encouragement to help me push through... again, though, all centered on the idea that this is *me* working through *this moment* aiming for completion of *this movement* while being able to trust that he's there to help me make adjustments for optimal safe execution and spot me should I run into an exertion failure --- which is pretty rare, given his method of having rebuilt and reinforced the infrastructure of my core, lower back and legs with moves that I always wanted to try but was scared to do (deadlifts, in particular). He's walked me through those learning curves and longstanding hesitation to the other side where I'm much more confident and actually making marked progress in form + how much weight I can lift. I'm doing things at 43 years of age that I'd always been scared to do.
If this has been my experience at the 2-month mark of working with Gabriel, I can't imagine where we'll be at the 4-month mark... or the 6-month mark! This has definitely been one of the most important and positive investments I've made in myself, and definitely the most physical-fitness progress I've made all around since having worked with a personal-trainer roommate who schooled me on basics in my mid-20s. The body usually changes quickly in your 20s, and I was afraid that I'd have a slow tedious climb in my 40s... but Gabriel's coaching (and my diligence; very important factor) have made that climb much faster and fulfilling than I thought would be possible.
I look better. I feel better. I eat better. I move better. I *am* better. Other people have noticed ... and *I* have noticed -- not just on the surface, but inside as well -- and I want to keep moving forward to see what working with Gabriel holds in store around the bend.
DeVine Physiques
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