The People’s Bootcamp

The People’s Bootcamp is a donation based (cash, Venmo, PayPal) bodyweight workout. It is a barebones operation so don’t expect the bells & whistles of other NYC fitness locations. Class is only held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30pm. There is no sign up function on their website, you just show up – such a departure from the norm. Class is 45 minutes long and while the website boasts an intense HIIT workout we found it to be very manageable & unintimidating. We would recommend this workout if you are interested in trying a HIIT style workout, but if you are a HIIT regular this may not be enough for you.

RUNDOWN

WORKOUT

The workout began with a longer than usual warm up. We stretched and ran around the room in a circle waiting for Melissa’s cue to go from our jog to other exercises like side shuffles and squat walks. The studio is on the smaller side so running in a circle never gets fast, it is more of a jog.

The heart of the workout was two rounds of stacked work. Each round consisted of six different exercises, which Melissa demoed before each round. We started with moved one through four, each for 30 seconds, followed by a break. Then we would go through moves one through five, each for 30 seconds, followed by a break. Then we added on the sixth move. As there is no equipment in class, exercises included planks, push ups, jacks, squats, squat jumps, lunges, high knees, crab toe touches, burpees and beast crawls. They were either the classic versions of these moves or variations and in some cases combinations of these moves – nothing too crazy. We wrapped the workout portion of class with a short Tabata  (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off – typically eight times through, we did four)which was all cardio based. Our 20 seconds of work alternated between two  jumping jacks and a star jump back to back and two front jacks to a squat. The workout felt short peppered with ample breaks so it felt more like “Bootcamp lite” to us.

The cool down and stretch was generous (10 minutes) which was followed by two minutes of Savasana to really dial it down.

INSTRUCTOR

Our instructor, Melissa, was friendly, nice and caring – not typically the norm with a bootcamp instructor. At the beginning of class she took all the first timers aside to explain the workout structure and ask about injuries. She demonstrated all of the moves and broke down proper form for us as needed. She left modifications open for us and what we could/couldn’t do (either based on injury or ability level). She was a cheerleader throughout class and did the workout with us at times. The music was good but some of the songs were a little slow for the workout and the system in the studio isn’t great. Melissa had a genuine interest in her class members both before, during and after class, which is not always the case – you are in good hands with Melissa.  

SPACE

The People’s Bootcamp is a no frills operation run out of a dance studio in Midtown West. As we said earlier, it is a barebones operation which is one of the reasons they can afford a donation based model. There is a bathroom in the studio and a small area where you can change (a glorified hallway leading to the bathroom) but anyone can walk in on you. Show up in your workout gear so you don’t have to worry about it. There are no towels, no water, no showers and no lockers (you keep your stuff in the back of the studio, with the piano) so be prepared for that as well. You are there to workout and that’s it.