It’s not politically correct for me to point out the short-comings of my competition, but I’ll do it anyway because I don’t like seeing honest consumers wasting their hard-earned money on poor quality exercise programs.

The reason why practically 100% of personal trainers think boot camp programs are a joke is because nearly 100% of boot camp programs are currently being run by uncertified instructors who have no business teaching people about fitness.

The franchised boot camp company promotes their program as producing “accelerated results”. Great, but accelerated results towards what, exactly? Certainly not fat loss. Here’s what they claim you will be doing during their program:

• Strength Training
• Drills
• Agility Training
• Calisthenics
• Obstacle Courses
• Yoga
• Pilates
• Circuit Training
• Ultimate
• Jogging
• Power Walking

That’s a big list, with lots of activities that have absolutely no business being in a program marketed as producing “accelerated results”, unless the result is mastery of random activities that will NOT produce fat loss.

I’ll revise the list, eliminating the activities that aren’t very conducive towards fat loss:

• Strength Training
• Calisthenics
• Circuit Training

Add high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to the list, and you have yourself an accelerated fat loss program.

Do your homework before you spend a dime on a boot camp program in Vancouver. Most programs are a complete waste of your time, effort, and money; and many of them will put your safety at risk by sticking you in a ridiculously large group (30 to 40+ people per class) led by an uncertified and unqualified instructor.

For more tips on how to avoid being taken to the cleaners by a boot camp company that’s only interested in your wallet, sign up for my free report on the top six questions you should ask before handing over any of your hard-earned cash.

Yesterday, as I ran my accelerated fat-burning Vancouver boot camp workout at Coopers Park, I noticed one of the franchised boot camp companies at the park running a workout that included a goofy looking obstacle course of mini-hurdles and agility ladders. Agility training is almost completely worthless as a fat loss tool, and is only worthwhile for athletes looking to improve their agility.

If you signed up for a boot camp hoping to lose fat and tone your muscles, and your instructor is incorporating agility training into your workout, you are wasting your time and money on that boot camp program because agility training is not remotely productive towards fat loss.

There’s a great write-up about my Vancouver boot camp program in this week’s issue of Westender newspaper. With a feature headline of “Getting fit in the great outdoors” prominently displayed on the front page, the full article can be found on page 34. Here’s an excerpt:

Word got out about his high-intensity bootcamps, and they are now the primary focus of his business. There’s a reason why he’s so popular: Focusing on high bursts of anaerobic activity versus aerobic components (leading to higher rates of fat-burning), Roulston’s bootcamps show results, and fast.

Most of my June boot camps are full, but a there are a few spots available in my 7AM programs, as well as my Tuesday/Thursday 6AM program. If you’re interested in joining me for next month’s program, I am currently accepting registrations on my website. Classes fill up fast, so sign up today to avoid missing out.

Lately I’ve been experiencing the stresses of dealing with a competitor who seems to have an extreme dislike of direct competition.

My first day running my boot camp in Coopers Park, I was approached by the owner of a franchised boot camp company in Vancouver, who politely told me to take my group to another park because he was there first (not a valid argument). I asked him how many people he had there, and he proudly proclaimed “40”. I responded by telling him about the Vancouver Parks Board guidelines on outdoor boot camps, which states that no company should have more then 20 to 25 people exercising in a park at one time (which he seemed to have no prior knowledge of), and that I would be keeping my small group of 5-10 people in that park.

One of the reasons that the Vancouver Parks Board has the policy on class sizes is so that one company can’t monopolize an entire park, which would ultimately be a very bad thing for consumers. Less competition means higher prices, and often a lower quality of service. Everyone loses except the company with the monopoly, who ends up laughing all the way to the bank.

All along, I’ve only wanted to share the park with the company in question, but the owner of said company seems hell bent on being the only boot camp company at that park. I can only imagine how many previous companies he has shouldered out of that park, as it seems like I’m the first person who has stood his ground and understands the rules (i.e. that I’m allowed to be there, and he isn’t supposed to have 40 people there).

This situation has slowly escalated into an almost daily bickering match with this guy as I attempt to keep a small group of people exercising in a public park that he otherwise has a complete monopoly on (and on most days way more people than he’s supposed to have in one park).

If there has been a bright spot in all of this, it appears that my presence in the park has greatly improved the quality of workouts being offered by the other boot camp company. I’ve noticed that during the time I’ve been in the park, he has completely changed the format of his workouts to what looks to be an almost exact replication of the style of workouts I’ve been running there.

Those franchised boot camp companies are well known for running aerobics workouts in a “follow the leader” format, where everyone sets up with their exercise mat and light weights, and the instructor leads them through the workout.

In the first month that I was at the park, I never once seen them run a workout consisting of anything other than a follow the leader aerobics workout. The fact that they charge upwards of $20 per session for such a low quality workout is appalling (some days it looks like they bring people to the park and charge them to jog). In the second month I was at the park, they started running their workouts in a circuit training style, which was a huge step up in quality for them. It was one of my own boot camp clients, who used to do the other company’s workout and had recently joined my boot camp program, that mentioned to me that in all the months she had been with the other company, she never once did a workout other than their standard follow the leader format, and certainly no workouts even remotely resembling the circuit that they had setup the day she remarked about it to me.

I’m glad that they are improving their quality, as that’s the wonderful thing about competition. I welcome more boot camp companies to join us in the park, as it will only help push me to continue to step up quality of my own workouts. But in order for competition to exist in the outdoor boot camp business, we can’t have one company monopolizing an entire park, and trying to shoulder out any new competition.

I will continue to run my outdoor boot camps at Coopers Park, and I will continue to stand my ground there as I have every right to be there based on the Vancouver Parks Board guidelines that I went over in detail before ever running a single outdoor exercise class. Although it can get a bit awkward bickering in public with the other boot camp guy (who seems to believe that those rules don’t apply to him), ultimately everyone benefits because clearly my presence there is pushing him to no longer rest on his laurels, and to start offering a higher-quality workout that’s a bit closer to being worth the money he’s charging.

Mode Athletics offers various corporate fitness programs to companies in Vancouver. We offer a variety of programs to suit every size company. From corporate boot camp programs, to corporate personal training packages, to corporate fitness bundles, we have something for every company.

Companies of all shapes and sizes are striving to make physical fitness part of their employees’ lives. Ample information and research supports the notion that individuals who lead a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle are less susceptible to illness, injury, stress-related afflictions, and absenteeism. A growing body of evidence concludes that employers who support employee efforts to achieve a healthy, balanced lifestyle through corporate fitness programs see an increase in morale, job satisfaction, effective teamwork, and productivity. Bottom line: corporate fitness programs save the company money.

Contact us today to inquire about program information, including availability and pricing.

We had a great turnout tonight at the Nike Boot Camp. Fifteen motivated men and women braved the bad weather and came down to the Coal Harbour seawall for an intense total-body circuit training workout. We finished up with an abs and core circuit that my boxing instructor would be proud of.

My June Vancouver boot camp programs started this week in Yaletown. There are still a few spots available in the 7AM classes (6AM and 6PM classes are full), so register today if you’re interested in participating in the most intense and effective boot camp in Vancouver.

I believe so much in the quality and value of my Vancouver boot camp programs that they come with a no risk, no questions asked, money back guarantee. If for any reason, you aren’t thrilled and satisfied with my boot camp, just let me know and I’ll refund 100% of your purchase price. No hard feelings.

My Vancouver boot camp workouts are very unique from other Vancouver boot camp programs, for a number of reasons. The intensity is on a completely different level compared to every other Vancouver boot camp class I’ve seen. Most boot camps are aerobic (you exercise the entire class without taking a rest) and my class is very much anaerobic (you exercise for bursts of maximum intensity, followed by rest/recovery periods). This type of training is the most proven effective way to burn fat and increase your metabolism, which is the goal of the vast majority of my clients.

I provide all of the equipment (medicine balls, dumbbells, resistance bands, gymnastics rings, jump ropes, kick shields, etc) used during my Vancouver boot camp classes. Most (if not all) other Vancouver boot camp programs require their participants to bring their own equipment (mat and light dumbbells), and it’s very difficult to have an intense results focussed workout when only working out with light dumbbells.

I run my classes in a circuit training style where I setup stations, and each person has a partner, and they pick a station to start at, and then rotate around the circuit. Other boot camp programs are run such that everyone just gets in a circle with their light dumbbells and they all do the same exercises for 60 minutes.

My classes are much smaller than other boot camp programs. I cap my classes at 10 people. Many other boot camp companies in Vancouver run classes with 20 to 40+ people in one class. Having less people per class means that the participants get more attention from me, and I can keep a closer eye on them to make sure everyone is working hard, doing their best, and most importantly exercising safely.

Most boot camp programs are 3 or 5 days per week. Mine is 2 or 3 days per week. This is because the intensity of my workouts is very high, and 2 or 3 days per week is all that is needed to see great results. Actually, doing my workout program more then 3 days per week would result in overtraining and would do more harm than good.

I’m a certified personal trainer, which is very much a rare thing to find in a boot camp instructor. Most boot camp instructors are uncertified, or possess a “boot camp instructor” certification from the company they work for, which isn’t a credible certification (when the employer certifies their own employees, that’s not an objective process). If you are exercising with an uncertified trainer, you are unlikely to see very much results from your efforts, and you may very well be putting your safety at risk.