Touch Grass and Kick Ass With an Outdoor Bootcamp

The first warm Saturday in months hits, and the desire to be crammed in a gym under fluorescent lights pretty much evaporates. But the real ones will take their workouts outdoors instead of skipping them. These are the clients who show up with sunglasses on and energy levels you haven't seen since January, which is your cue to move bootcamp outside. This is when you'll need gear that turns a parking lot, park, or driveway into a full strength and conditioning session.

Outdoor bootcamps build community, sneak in some vitamin D, and add some novelty that keeps clients showing up. They also let you stack ballistics, carries, jumps, and sled drags without battling for floor space. Here's the REP gear that'll help you run a wicked bootcamp, plus some moves to plug into your next class.

Why Take Bootcamp Outdoors

Training outside has a ton of benefits.

• More energy and better mood
• Less feelings of stress compared to indoors
• More enjoyable workouts
• More motivation to come back and hit it again
• Feeling socially connected
• Variety in programming (room to throw, slam, sprint, and drag without worrying about ceiling height or a treadmill queue)
• A visible class in a public park or driveway is some of the best free advertising you'll ever get
• Trainers who run a strong summer outdoor program tend to roll the new clients straight into fall.

What Makes Gear Bootcamp Ready

Outdoor gear has to survive grass, gravel, dew, and the occasional drop on concrete, so steel-and-foam-only setups are a hard pass. The best bootcamp tools are portable enough to load up in under five minutes, weatherproof enough to shrug off a wet field, and durable enough to handle clients of every fitness level beating them up. They also need to scale (one client crushing reps while another builds base strength) and pull double or triple duty. If a piece of gear only does one job, it doesn't earn its spot in the truck.

The Best REP Gear for Outdoor Bootcamps

These are the workhorses for outdoor classes, plus the moves to program into your camps.

Slam Balls and Med Balls

Nothing beats a soft ball for outdoor training. They throw, slam, hug, and twist without rolling away on uneven ground. REP® Slam Balls take the abuse of being smashed into concrete and dirt all class, while REP® Medicine Balls hold up to halos, chest passes, and rotational chops. Both are cheap on a per-station basis and turn any flat patch of ground into a power and conditioning zone.

Drop a slam, a halo slam, and a bear hug squat into rotation to hit posterior chain power, shoulders, and quads. Rotational chops and Russian twists will hit the obliques, and a lying chest pass with a partner is a sneaky way to train upper-body power without anyone needing a bench.

Kettlebells and Dumbbells

Kettlebells are built for ballistic moves like swings, snatches, and goblet squats, which are gold for classes going hard for forty-five minutes. Swing training improves vertical jump and max strength about as well as jump squat power training, so you can still build plenty of power in clients without dragging a barbell across the grass. REP® Kettlebells come in kg or lb markings and survive being dropped on anything.

Dumbbells are also a good idea for the strength side. REP® Rubber Hex Dumbbells won't roll on uneven turf and handle endless presses, rows, lunges, and curls. Drop a kettlebell swing and a dumbbell shoulder press into an upper-lower superset that runs for half a class.

Sandbags

REP® Sandbags are the great equalizer of bootcamp gear. The shifting load makes everything harder than the equivalent dumbbell or barbell move, which is kind of the point for a bootcamp. A shoulder squat with a 50 lb sandbag will gas someone faster than a 50 lb barbell because the bag fights back the entire rep, and the awkward shape forces clients to brace like crazy.

Use sandbags for shoulder squats, cleans, presses, and bear hug carries. A simple finisher (clean to shoulder, squat, press for 5 reps, then carry 20 yards) makes a pretty brutal (and memorable) closer for any class. Carries also build mad grip and trunk strength most clients don't get from using machines, which carries over to everything from kid-wrangling to deadlifts.

Plyo Boxes

The REP® Soft Plyo Boxes might be the most useful outdoor tool on this list. Since they're soft, clients won't get hurt if they miss a jump, and the three height options help with scaling the challenge. Plus, they double as a bench for step-ups, decline pushups, dips, and Bulgarian split squats. Plyometric box training boosts vertical jump performance, so your athletes will be particularly happy to make use of this toy.

Set up a power station with box jumps, depth jumps to a broad jump, and lateral step-ups, then transition to a strength station using the same box for split squats and incline pushups. 

Sleds, Speed Ropes, and Mats

A REP® Push-Pull Sled loaded with a plate or two is the best finisher in the game for outdoor classes. Heavy sled work builds horizontal force production, which translates directly to faster sprints and stronger acceleration for athletic clients. Forward push, reverse drag, and lateral pull cover most of what general fitness clients need for lower-body strength and conditioning, and the sled just feels bad ass (and makes for great social media pics). 

A REP® Competition Speed Rope is the cheapest, lightest conditioning tool ever, and it fits a hundred reps into a one-minute station. REP® Premium Yoga Mats are also a good idea for the warm-up and cooldown work that keeps your class injury-free. 

Sample Outdoor Bootcamp Workout

Set up four stations and rotate every five minutes. Two full rounds total. Aim for ten clients max per station to keep traffic moving.

Station 1, Power. Slam ball slam x 8, then box jump x 5. Rest 30 seconds and repeat for the full five-minute block.

Station 2, Strength. Sandbag clean to shoulder x 5 each side, then dumbbell push press x 8. Rest 30 seconds and repeat.

Station 3, Conditioning. Kettlebell swing x 15, then speed rope x 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds and repeat.

Station 4, Carry and Drag. Sled push x 20 yards, then sandbag bear hug carry x 20 yards. Rest 30 seconds and repeat.

Warm up with a yoga mat flow (cat-cows, hip openers, world's greatest stretch) and cool down the same way once everyone's heart rate is back to baseline.

Takeaway

Summer is the easiest time of year to grow your bootcamp or class roster, and the right outdoor gear makes the move from gym to grass painless. Soft balls, sandbags, kettlebells, dumbbells, plyo boxes, sleds, and ropes will have you covered and then some for strength, power, and conditioning and they all survive the dirt and concrete that come with the territory. 

FAQs

What equipment do you need for an outdoor bootcamp?

A solid outdoor bootcamp kit covers strength, power, conditioning, and floor work. So basically, a few kettlebells, a set of rubber hex dumbbells, two or three sandbags, a soft plyo box, slam balls, a speed rope, and yoga mats. A sled is a bonus if you have a smooth surface to drag on. Most of this fits in the back of an SUV.

Are outdoor workouts better than indoor ones?

Outdoor workouts won't automatically make a session harder, but people who train outside report more enjoyment, better mood, and lower perceived effort than people doing the same workout indoors. That alone makes outdoor training more sustainable for most clients, which is what matters long term.

How do I program an outdoor bootcamp class?

Pick one strength move, one power move, one conditioning piece, and one carry or finisher, then build stations around them. Rotate clients every three to five minutes and use the same piece of gear in multiple ways to keep the load light. A 45 minute class with a warm-up, two rounds of stations, and a cooldown hits everything most clients need.

What is the best summer fitness equipment for trainers?

The best summer gear is portable, durable, and versatile. Slam balls, sandbags, kettlebells, dumbbells, soft plyo boxes, and sleds give you the most programming options per pound of gear hauled. Speed ropes and yoga mats round out the kit and add almost no weight to your load.