Bikini season is here, and that means you’re going to regret even thinking about ice-cream. Bootcamps, based on military circuit training, are here to help you get up off that couch and ready for the beach. You will get in shape fast with high-intensity workouts that kick your butt, challenge your body and make you feel powerful and strong. Here are our favourites…
Bootcamp Chennai
Keshav J, who launched Bootcamp Chennai in 2010, is a personal trainer who decided to put his know-how into kicking serious butt. His motto? “Leaner, Faster, Stronger.” That translates into High Intensity Interval Training, sandbag training, busting large tires with sledgehammers and more. Tuesdays and Thursday are off.
Tel: +91 99418 69777; Bootcampchennai.com
The Quad
If you’re in Chennai, you also have the option to join The Quad, either at NGS or Bamboola Play School, three hours a week. Founded by certified fitness trainer and nutrition coaches Arvind Ashok and Raj Ganpath, The Quad runs a mix of outdoor P90X, CrossFit, long-distance running, triathlon training, barbell strength training, Olympic lifting, kettlebell training and then some. Every class has about four trainers (and a physiotherapist too), and is limited to approximately 30 people per batch.
Tel: +91 90254 49750; Thequad.in
Fitnesolution
Run by Kiran Sawhney in Delhi, the focus of Fitnesolution is primarily one-to-one training, even with bootcamps. So if you sign up and want personal attention, you can choose to go solo. Bootcamps here are both indoors and out, depending on the weather, and involve military-style drills with fitness ladders, battle ropes and all sorts of walks, squats, lunges and planks (camel, duck, caterpillar). Think hardcore intense activity that focuses on strengthening your core.
Tel: +91 98105 30027; Fitnesolution.com
UP, The Sports and Training Facility
No machines is UP’s bootcamp philosophy. They hold outdoor sessions at Deer Park in Delhi every Saturday, and go up to three times a week when the weather cools down. Expect a lot of weight-training and lifting, body movement, kettlebells and even yoga. Run by Anurag and Pranab (both in the fitness game by way of CrossFit) and Pranab’s wife, Rumi, who teaches yoga — this is a great way to break up a couch potato weekend. All fitness levels are welcome. Pranab is also a part of the Devils’ Circuit, an annual obstacle-running series.
Tel: +91 99998 86967; Upsportsandtraining.com
CrossFit Om
A name that regularly pops up on the Mumbai fitness radar, CrossFit spaces aren’t gyms, but are called boxes, and run in Juhu, Fort and Khar Gymkhana, with more locations scheduled. Sessions run from Monday to Friday and comprise a strength and conditioning program defined by functional movement at a high intensity. It’s why CrossFit has such a huge global presence — because it works. Technique, form, balance, flexibility, reflexes all become more honed as you work towards getting your body to peak form.
Tel: +91 99204 19482; Crossfitom.wordpress.com
Fitness Fight Club
FFC started in 2012 in Bangalore, by a Singaporean venture capitalist called Austin Prakesh (who also still serves the Singapore army). Three years later they have a team of trainers who teach Brazilian jiu-jitsu, circuit force, kickboxing, MMA, mobility training and Muay Thai, as well as the spectrum of pro-sports conditioning, speed and strength training and unarmed combat. Sign up for membership and you can go as often as you like. The focus is functional training, which builds skill, technique and focus while giving you a hardcore full-body workout.
Tel: +91 80409 90028, +91 72594 34534; Fitnessfightclub.com
Photographs: Adidas/H&M
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