15 Fun Bootcamp Games For Group Fitness Trainers

When I opened my first outdoor bootcamp I wanted to incorporate lot's of fun bootcamp games to keep my sessions buzzing and my clients happy. 

Back then there were no fitness manuals dedicated to fun bootcamp games and there where only a handful of websites that posted very basic group fitness ideas. 

I soon realised that if I wanted to create fun sessions for my clients, I would have to come up with my own fun bootcamp games and unique challenges. And thats how the Workout Design Club started. 

The WDC is for group trainers who love keeping their sessions fresh and fun, but don't always have the time to keep coming up with new ideas. 

Sign up to the WDC mini course above to discover a select of fun bootcamp games and group fitness ideas. 

Here's a little secret. When you incorporate fun bootcamp games into your classes, make sure you have the right balance of fun and toughness. 

You want your workout games fun, be if they're not challenging, all you're doing is wasting valuable workout time. 

Today I want to share 15 fun bootcamp games that you can plug into your sessions this week. Let me know what you think in the comments below this post. 

My Top 15 Fun Bootcamp Games

This is the first of 15 fun bootcamp games I'll be sharing with you today. It's called Roll, Win, Benefit and it's a great drill.

In this fun 10 minute bootcamp game, the objective is to score points and make the opposing team work harder. You can create many different bootcamp games with this drill by switching out the exercises.

Title: Roll, Win, Benefit

Time: 15 Minutes

Method: Split the group in to 2 teams and have them facing as shown.

Round 1: Show the group an exercise then ask the end two players to roll a dice. The team that rolls the highest number wins a point and completes the exercise for 60 seconds. The team that rolled the lowest number continue to 80 seconds. 

Play 15 rounds in total. After each round the dice is passed to the next 2 players in line. The team with the most points at the end of the challenge wins.

This is the second of 15 fun bootcamp games. It's called Mexican wave. We'll use the Burpee exercise for this example, but you can also use different exercises.

Title: Mexican Wave 

Time: 5 Minutes

Method: Split the group in to two teams and have them face. Starting at one end of the team line (right side), each player completes a single burpee. The first team to finish wins a point. The team with the most points over 15 games wins.

Note: If you happen to have odd numbered teams the trainer joins in. These are really past pasted games so make sure you keep the flow going. As soon as one game finishes you should be ready to initiate the next game straight away.

Fun Bootcamp Games using a kettle-bell. I think you'll really like this idea. You can conduct this fitness challenge using any exercise. Today we're using a tough compound exercise  called the power lifter. 

Title: Power Lifter

Time: 10 Minutes

Method: Players complete power lifters for 4 minutes max reps. Once finished players take have a 2 minute break. During the break, ask players to swap scores with one another. In round two players complete power lifters for 4 minutes max reps. The goal is to beat their partners score. 

Note: Ask players to swap scores with somebody of a similar ability.

Two Tough Commando Bootcamp Games 

Royal Marine training brings back some fond memories. Although it was physically and mentally demanding, I got through it and earned my Green Beret.  In the picture above I was putting my troop through a few tough bootcamp drills

This workout side of things included things like..

• Log runs
• Assault courses
• Circuit training
• Team building
• Combat training
• Speed marches (run walk repeat with heavy kit covering distance)
• Rope climbs
• Battle field drills
• Beach assaults 
• Ambush techniques
• Night navigation 
• Camouflage and concealment
• Tactical and leadership
• Etc.

And a hell of a lot of push ups, especially if you got in trouble.

It was awesome. Each morning we had to lay our kit out ready for inspection, and if it wasn't pristine clean, we got flanked. 

It's the last thing you happen to you. Once the inspection is over, you've got a bunch of recruits stood next to their kit (the lucky ones), and a bunch of guys stood side by side - flanked. 

As we wait for the PTI's to arrive, the guys in the flank look pale and miserable. They know whats coming. After phys the head PTI shouts. 

"Raise you hands if you where flanked - follow me"  You couldn't see what was going on because they where too far away, but you could hear the screams. 

In 8 months of training, I got flanked once, and thats because I had never been flanked. Thanks Corporal Mc'crumb. The Corporals loved testing out their drills on the recruits when they messed up.

Here are a few.. 

Fun/tough Bootcamp Games From Commando Training

Drill 1: Have your clients assume the push-up then repeat the following.

• "Arm bend, arms stretch 
• Arm bend, arms stretch
• Arm bend, arms stretch
• Arm bend, arms stretch
• Arm bend, arms stretch
• Arm bend, arms stretch
• 5 in your own time go on"

In a normal bootcamp setting, ask players to go for as long as they can safely manage. The last player to remain is the winner. This is an excellent drill for mixed ability groups because everybody can work at the intensity that is right for them. 

For the recruits in commando training, this would go on for quite a while. This is why I become so good at push-ups. Btw, arms bend is the lowering phase of the push-up, and arms stretch is back up. 

Drill 2: Another one their favourites. Complete squats for 30 seconds then hold for 30 seconds. Repeat adding on an extra 5 seconds to each round. As you can image, holding the squat position with 30lbs of military kit is not a nice feeling. 

Drill 3: At the end of a corporate session a while back, my clients asked me what was the most brutal finisher I could throw at them. Can you believe they actually asked that?

• Plank for 60 seconds then complete 10 push ups
• Plank for 50 seconds then complete 10 push ups
• Plank for 40 seconds then complete 10 push ups
• Plank for 30 seconds then complete 10 push ups
• Plank for 20 seconds then complete 10 push ups
• Plank for 10 seconds then complete 10 push ups

I could have conjured up something much worse, but I wasn't there to kill them. 

How To Craft Fun Bootcamp Games Using Pretend Money

Players: 2+

Time: 30 Minutes

Method: List 8 exercises and give each exercise a value. Give each player a pen & paper. The first player to spend $1000 wins. Players can spend their money however they wish.

1. 20 Push-ups: $25
2. 20 Ups & Downs: $25
3. 20 Squats: $25
4. 20 Burpees: $40
5. 20 Walk Downs: $40
6. 20 Power Jacks: $25
7. 20 Get ups: $40
8. 20 Sit-up Super Twist: $25

Note: You can either stop the game when you have a winner or let everybody finish.

How I Turned The Sandwich Circuit In To 2 Tough Team Games

Although I spend most of my time creating group fitness ideas for my Workout Design Club members, I also like to get creative with my own workout ideas.

A Sandwich Circuit is when you sandwich a cardio element between two strength exercises. For example. 

Complete each exercise for 1 minute x 10 rounds. 

• 25 Push ups
• 20m shuttle sprints 
• 10 Weighted squats

For me, adding a sprint element to a strength-based drill kills two birds with one stone. I can train strength and cardio at the same time, which help me with my football training. 

The next time you design a strength based workout for your group, break it up with shuttle sprints (or a different cardio element). It makes things much more intense, and they'll work up a good sweat.

Here are a couple of fun bootcamp games using  a sandwich circuit. The first game is called points blitz. 

The 11 Components of Fitness And How You Can Use Them To Design Fun Team Games

When I studied to be a trainer, one of the first things I learnt was the 11 components of fitness.

1. Agility
2. Balance
3. Body Composition
4. Cardiovascular Endurance
5. Coordination
6. Flexibility
7. Muscular Endurance
8. Muscular Strength
9. Power
10. Reaction Time
11. Speed training

How To Turn A Strength Based Workouts Into Fun Bootcamp Games 

How many of these components do you include in your training programme?

Utilising the 11 components will help you create a more effective and fun training programme for your clients. If you can turn them into fun bootcamp games and challenges, all the better. 

I mean, when was the last time you incorporated reaction time, coordination or agility into one of your group sessions?

Going over my old course material today has made me realise just how much I've forgotten, and how much I forget to apply when I'm creating my workout programmes for the week. 

Fun Bootcamp Games That Develop Strength, Endurance And Reaction

Lets talk about balance and coordination, which are probably the least developed
skills in a group training programme.

"Having good dynamic balance can help improve your coordination and ability to react to sudden changes of direction, both of which can help reduce the risk of an accidental fall" (Credit, Pete McCall - 5 Benefits of Training for Dynamic Balance read more....)

When was the last time you purposely included these elements into your group session? If it was a while back, or never. Here are five ideas to get you going.

How To Design Fun Bootcamp Games Using Popular Board Games And Card Decks

There are loads of board games you can adapt to create fun fitness games and different bootcamp workout ideas. I.e.

• Bootcamp Monopoly
• Snakes and ladders
• Battle ships
• Cluedo
• Trivial Pursuit
• Scrabble
• Uno
• Risk
• Yahtzee
• Etc

A while back I had a go a creating my own. You can right click and save the image.

Time: 20 minutes

Method: Split the group in to teams of 2. Give each team a dice and a counter to move on the board. Show the group 5 bootcamp exercises.

Round 1: Teams complete 10 reps of each exercise. Once finished, they roll their dice and move the counter forward that many spaces. If they land on a feature (bomb, smiley face etc) they complete the action.

Teams have 20 minutes to complete the board. The team that finishes first, or advances the furthest wins.

Want More Fun Bootcamp Games

Inside the Workout Design Club, I've got a treasure trove of over 3000 fun bootcamp games and one-of-a-kind bootcamp workout ideas. 

It's like your go-to group fitness search engine, and I'm ready to give you a guided tour. Hit that play button, and I'll show you how it all works.