What’s In A Name?

The Bible talk about a good name being more desirable than great riches – it is something to be treasured and preserved.

Our name, Get Fit NH Bootcamp is pretty plain Jane – I admit. Not very flashy, probably not going to win any “business name of the year” awards.

However you have to go a bit below the surface to understand it – it’s not quite as simple as it looks.

Here’s what each word in our name signifies:

Get: Achieve, Earn, Acquire as a result of Action or Effort. You want it? You have to work for it!

Fit: Fitness is many things to many different people.

Fit to do what?

For some people it is competing in triathlons, for others it is squatting 500 pounds, for others it is taking 3 flights of stairs without getting winded. You know what – that’s ok. Not everyone has to “fit” into a neat little box.

Fitness from a physical preparation standpoint can be defined in many different ways. In his book “Foundations of Physical Preparation” Ian King teaches the four dominant physical qualities: Flexibility, Strength, Speed and Endurance, each of which can be broken down in multiple ways. To those four qualities can be added additional skills, among them coordination, agility and balance.

An interesting thought is that “fitness” and “wellness” are not the same thing. You have probably heard stories of very “fit” people dropping dead of heart attacks while training. The ability to exhibit physical qualities and skills do not necessarily mean that wellness has been achieved. Measurements such as blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and bodyfat % will help us evaluate whether fitness and wellness are being achieved. Make no mistake, regular hard exercise is crucial to achieving both, but to that we must consider lifestyle and stress management, as well as our nutrition. It requires a holistic approach to achieve high levels of fitness.

Our programs are purposefully and carefully designed by us to give you what you need not only to achieve fitness, but wellness.

NH: Probably don’t need to say much here, because NH rocks! Seriously thought, while we have helped train numerous out of state clients, and serve as consultants to many fitness professionals in the U.S., our bootcamp programs are based and focus on residents of the Granite State.

Bootcamp: This part of our name might be the most confusing of all. What is “bootcamp” anyway? To be honest, I wish I could give you an across the board definition, but there really isn’t one. Some bootcamps really are “military” style classes, with barking instructors and your face in the dirt. Others are based on bodyweight and calisthenics, and get stale pretty quick. We have the privilege of meeting a couple times of year with other fitness pros from across the country that run very good programs, but make no mistake, all fitness bootcamps are not created equal. The vast majority I see have one goal – beat you into the ground until you beg for mercy – not conducive to long term fitness or wellness. While many programs are popping up that call themselves “bootcamp”, I urge caution when selecting a program.

So why  do we call ourselves a bootcamp, if there is so much difference? Well to be frank we were a bootcamp before bootcamps were cool. We had the great privilege of working with some great trainers down in Mass. who introduced us to their concept of bootcamp, and we have refined that initial concept to a program that as far as I know is unique in the industry.

From a physical preparation standpoint our injury prevention protocol and emphasis on flexibility and muscle tissue quality are the foundation of our program. If you are injured you can’t train effectively, simple as that. Each week in a training cycle (8-12 weeks) is carefully built on the one before it, coaching the skills required to safely and effectively train with continued progression. The ability of our coaches to adapt and progress or regress a skill based on ability and appropriateness is another hallmark of the program – group training is transformed into group personal training – a significant difference not to be overlooked.

As members of the Precision Nutrition Network and with Dean being the only trainer in NH to be a certified PN Coach, we also are able to offer unparalleled nutrition coaching to our members.

We are also privileged to have an amazing network of health care providers that help our members achieve total fitness and wellness.  Through our Strategic Health Partner Dr. Laura Jones, our members can get their bloodwork tested and evaluated. Dr. Jones is skilled the diagnosis and treatment of insulin resistance, thyroid and adrenal fatigue, and other metabolic disorders. Dr. Brett Coapland is an accomplished triathlete, and one of three practitioners licensed in NH for Active Release. Drs. Paul Malloy and Melissa Savicky have helped many of our members who came to us with health challenges get relief with their expert chiropractic care. Amy Troy and her staff at Chichester Massage have been instrumental in educating us to the many benefits of therapeutic massage. Having these professionals on the team is a valuable resource that we can collaborate with on behalf of our members.

My point is that you owe it to yourself to investigate any fitness program you are considering joining, and we certainly invite to look closely at ours. While we will freely admit we are not for everybody, we have helped hundreds of clients from 16 to 69 achieve levels of fitness they never dreamed possible. Odds are you can achieve those results with us too.

The Get Fit NH Bootcamp difference – It’s In Our Name!