Best Equipment for Bootcamp Instructors:

Hi guys! It’s Jono here today. Did I tell you why I’m super happy because Roger Federer won the tennis? I couldn’t care less about tennis., but I love teasing my friends (I’m a bit of a troll). I’ve got this friend (Rocco Lucca) who thinks he knows everything about sports and back in 2008 when Federer was having a rough patch he told me that Roger Federer was ‘past his prime’ and would never make another grand slam final again. So the past 10 years I’ve been able to troll this guy on his Facebook wall at least once or twice a year.

Anyways. Since our current special is Suspension Essentials for PT’s and Bootcamp (10CECs). What I want to talk about today is “Suspension Training”.

Now Suspension Trainers are actually my favourite Outdoor Training tool (especially for Bootcamp) and it’s actually a funny story about how I stumbled across it. I was running Outdoor Bootcamps and they were really successful. But the major reason they were successful was because I was really good at group dynamics. I was really good at getting my group to bond, welcome the newbies, have an awesome time at training, before training, after training, etc, etc. It was heaps of fun and my retention was through the roof. However, I wanted to improve my training rapporteur. I was scared that my rapporteur was limited and before long we’d just be repeating workouts.

Also what I noticed was Trainers who had a ‘speciality’ were able to run sessions way more effectively than an ‘all rounder’ Trainer. Use Travis as an example. He just knows so many different Kettlebell exercises and workouts, knows to teach them, knows how to progress and regress them, knows what weights to use, etc.

He can still use all other bits of equipment too, but because of this speciality when you put him against any other trainer without a speciality, he’ll win because he can do everything they can do PLUS he’s an expert on the Kettlebells! Let’s put it in an example. Let’s say a client has used Kettlebells with another Trainer before or in Group Fitness Classes. The chances are they’ve only done the basics and they’ll think they know what they are doing, but after doing one of Travis’ classes, they’ll walk out thinking “wow! I’ve been training for years and I’ve never done that workout before” or “wow! I’ve been using kettlebells for years and didn’t know I was doing it wrong, I feel like I got so much more out of that workout”. And in their minds, Travis is a God! He’s already superior in their mind to the other trainers they’ve been with because he’s done stuff they haven’t previously done.

So, I wanted to master a piece of equipment myself and do the same thing. At that stage I was sold on Outdoor Bootcamps. My goal was to be the best Bootcamp Instructor in the world and I didn’t want to open up a studio, I didn’t want to work in a gym. All I wanted to do was run 1 Bootcamp a day and be the best in the world at it.

I was looking at different equipment I could master. It had to be something transportable so any big machinery was out of it (e.g. I could never be a ‘spin’ expert or ‘rowing’ expert). I looked at different bits of functional equipment. The popular ones at the time were Kettlebells, Medballs, Battleropes and Powerbags and I had some issues with these.

a) What size weights do I get? I’m going to need to get like 2-3 different sizes / weights, and I’m probably going to need to get 2-3 of each weight otherwise what’s the point, and then if my clients get stronger I’m going to need to do get more.

b) How am I going to be able to fit all that weight in my 2 door 1998 Honda Civic?

c) I’m not the biggest, strongest guy in the world. So I’m going to feel like a bit of a fraud if I call myself a “Medball Expert”, but I can’t lift heavy med balls.

I decided I was going to specialise on Suspension Training (e.g. TRX’s) I figured

a) I didn’t need to worry about getting different weights and sizes. Every single person uses the exact same strap, my grandmother uses the same strap as me.

b) They are very portable, I bought 6 straps online (for about $30) and I keep them in a backpack in my car. They take up hardly any space or weight in my car.

c) I don’t need to lift heavy weights to prove myself on this.

So for the next little while I dedicated myself to mastering Suspension Training (used them in my workouts, completed courses in them, studied online, went to classes, taught classes,etc).

It’s hard to explain but once I mastered Suspension Training it become SO MUCH EASIER to program my workouts! I had so much more variety in my workouts (without having to bring down a heap of equipment and without really having to think too much) and I was able to teach my clients how to perform the movements efficiently.

For this reason I strongly recommend that every Trainer specialise in one piece of equipment! You don’t need to limit yourself to that equipment but just pick something that you can be REALLY REALLY good at and differentiate yourself from the pack! I personally recommend Suspension Trainers if you’re an Outdoor Trainer but each to their own – anything is fine :)!

If you are keen to make Suspension your speciality, then I strongly recommend taking a look at todays special Suspension Essentials for PTs.

Leave me your comments down below and let me know what you think. Also remember to check our 5 Tips to Grow your Bootcamp here.