I recently discovered there is a Burn Boot Camp 10 minutes away from my house. I might have even squealed a little bit as I drove by and noticed the sign on the building. When you have taught group fitness classes and are also a personal trainer/nutrition coach this is what gets you giddy. I immediately came home, went online, and discovered they were offering a 30 day Groupon for $33. With the Groupon purchased I made plans to redeem my voucher the following week.

Burn Boot Camp had been on my radar for years thanks to Julie from Peanut Butter Fingers and also friends in Tennessee who are members. The location that is so close to my house opened last year and once I started my Groupon discovered that several of my friends are members. I am pretty sure this never came up in conversation because I had just had my third baby and exercising was the furthest thing from my mind.

I am on the last days of my Groupon and ready to give my honest review on Burn Boot Camp.

THE WORKOUTS

Burn Boot Camp is a fun and friendly community style gym that offers multiple camp times throughout the week! No workout is ever the same and all fitness levels will easily feel welcomed and encouraged. To give you an idea on what times the classes are held here is the schedule for the Burn Boot Camp I attended in Gilbert, AZ during the duration of my Groupon.

Monday-Friday: 5am, 5:30am, 6:15am, 8:30am, 9:30am, 4:15pm, 5:30pm (COED), 6:15pm (COED)

Saturday: 7am, 8am (COED), 9am (COED)

The majority of the camps are female only but they do offer several class times that are open to men as well. All classes are 45 minutes long except for 5am which is 30 minutes.

Each week the workout schedule rotates so that you are always surprised and challenged. For example here is what two different weeks looked like during my Groupon.

The workouts are either focusing on specific muscle groups or style of workout and paired with one of the numerous protocols or formats that Burn Boot Camp uses. For example, let’s say you show up and it is leg day. The protocol could be anything from a partner workout to self-paced, timed or rep-based, and either circuit, dropset, HITT, or tabata. There is always a warm-up before and finisher after your workout.

Here are a two of the workouts that I have done over the last 30 days. The first workout shown is a Cardio/Speed/Agility Protocol and was self paced. The next one is a Deadlift/Pull-up/Burpee Dropset Workout that was partner based and we rotated through each set until we had both finished before moving on to the next exercise.

WHAT MAKES BURN BOOT CAMP UNIQUE

Community is a huge part of what makes Burn unique. High fives are encouraged during the workout as you are sweating next to your neighbor. I really love the gym rules that are posted on the walls.

Focus Meetings entail you and a trainer sitting down talking about your goals and nutrition. These 15 minute meetings can be scheduled weekly with one of the trainers . I am not really sure how in detail the focus meetings get because I only had two and I am already very mindful of they types of food I put into my body. I think it is a great addition to their membership but can’t speak on the specifics of this feature. At each focus meeting I was weighed and my BMI and measurements were taken. In case you are curious, over the course of the 30 days my weight stayed the same but my BMI went down slightly.

They sell their own brand of protein, which I do not use, but have sampled their energy balls which were amazing! For reference in case you are curious I use this, this, and this brand. Even my kids liked them! The trainers provide the recipes on a white board for members and also post on Instagram and Facebook.

Speaking of the kids, Burn Boot Camp does include childcare with it’s membership. Childcare is only offered for specific classes and you do not need to sign up your child in advance. The childcare room is a separate space off the main workout area. I didn’t get any pictures but it was clean, the environment was safe, and there were plenty of toys. My kids came with me several times and didn’t complain at all. They also knew several of the other kids in the childcare room so that helped.

There are a few things that make Burn Boot Camp special in my opinion. The floor. I know this seems like a weird thing to like but Burn Boot Camp has a floating floor made up of 4 ¼ inches of foam. I really did feel that the floor made a huge difference on how much impact my joints were taking on during the more higher intensity exercise. They also do an amazing job at building a positive and encouraging community. Even a newbie to exercising would feel welcome here! The staff does a phenomenal job encouraging and motivating during the workouts and praising you for your efforts. The variety of workouts and equipment makes coming here fun and the 45 minutes are over before you know it. It would be hard to become bored here.

MY THOUGHTS FROM A PERSONAL TRAINERS PERSPECTIVE

As a personal trainer there are just a few things that I want to provide as constructive feedback and also what to be mindful of if you are thinking about trying out Burn Boot Camp. Having had three babies I would personally not recommend trying out Burn until you are 6 months postpartum. Here is one of the core conditioning workouts that I did.

Exercises like the ones shown above will create more internal pressure on your abdominal wall which can cause you to still look pregnant even months or years after given birth. I would recommend making sure that you are fully healed before resuming any exercise program. Abdominal separation can be reduced regardless of how long it has been since you have given birth. You can read my review on the program I used HERE.

During the course of my 30 days they started a FREE month long transformation program to celebrate new ownership, which is awesome! I love when gym’s do this! The class size went from 5-10 to upwards of 25. Again this is great! The only problem I noticed was sometimes the class size was larger then what was conducive to how the warm up, workout, or finisher was designed. In the scheme of things this is not a big deal just something I know I had to take into consideration when teaching larger size classes.

This last one is totally my own preference. I have the TRX Suspension Trainer certification and while the suspension trainers at Burn are made by a different company the height they are mounted at feels so off to me. The floating floor shortens the distance from where the suspension trainer is mounted to your feet and doesn’t put your body in a position that allows for a natural progression of the exercises to be made easier or more challenging. I observed so many girls doing the suspension trainer exercises incorrectly. It took everything within me not to want to go and make suggestions on how to correct.

HOW TO TRY BURN BOOT CAMP AND MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

Overall I had a very positive experience at the Gilbert Burn Boot Camp and would recommend it if you are looking for motivation and a variety of workouts. I would not recommend if you are in the last trimester of pregnancy or are not at least 6 months postpartum. Be sure to speak up and ask for modifications if you need them because they will be given. With a larger size camp it might be hard for the trainer to spot you right away if an exercise isn’t working for your body so be sure to call them over.

If you are interested in trying Burn Boot Camp here are several ways to get started inexpensively. Right now you can sign up for 30 days for $30. Which is an amazing deal! I am not sure how much longer that deal will be going on so you may want to act fast! If you are a new client there is a FREE 14 day trial that is always available and the childcare is included in the trial. Or you could go the route I did and sign up for the Groupon.

There is a 6 month, 12 month, or 18 month option when signing up for a membership contract. The price ranges from $145 to $125 a month depending on the length of your contract. The longer your contract the less you pay monthly. Burn Boot Camp offers FREE Saturday Camps at 8am and 9am every week and also has a $15 drop in if you want to catch a class once your trial is over. If you have a membership you can go to any Burn Boot Camp nationwide.

There is currently a Burn Boot Camp in Gilbert with locations coming soon in South Chandler and Surprise, AZ. Thanks for reading! Have you ever tried Burn Boot Camp?