Fit Body Boot Camp Makes Long Term Health Accessible with HIRT 

The brand’s high-intensity resistance training has an abundance of benefits, drawing in new members and elevating global wellness 

Fit Body Boot Camp doesn’t have time to mess around with outdated or inefficient workout formats. Not only does the brand facilitate fitness with unique, 30-minute group training sessions that leave no room for unproductive movements, it’s also committed to promoting longevity and combatting widespread health concerns. 

As a result, the brand recently opted to include more high-intensity resistance training (HIRT) in its fitness offerings. 

HIRT differs from the more commonly known high-intensity interval training (HIIT) by involving some sort of load or weight during movements to establish a greater force of resistance for members to push against. It still involves rapid movement for cardiovascular health but adds that muscle-enhancing element as well. 

With the workout format’s ability to blend strength with cardiovascular exercise, HIRT is ideal for the modern fitness consumer.

“The reason we’ve put a great deal of focus on HIRT is centered around exercise science,” said Barrett Henson, Director of Franchise Business Development at Fit Body Boot Camp. “We’re trying to ensure our clients have a better quality of life from a health, wellness and longevity perspective. We want to make sure our clients’ prime years are exactly that, helping them to live healthy and happily. We want to make sure our clients are enjoying their later 40s or 50s as well — taking care of themselves for the long haul — because there is no end date to taking care of yourself.”

Addressing What’s Most Troubling

By weaving more HIRT workouts into its classes, Fit Body Boot Camp attacks some of the health sector’s greatest threats head-on. One of which is an “obesity epidemic,” as Henson reports that 42% of the U.S. population is currently obese. 

“We’re fighting an obesity epidemic,” he said. “The number one way to do that is to focus on the development of lean muscle mass, which is mission critical. Resistance training is how you do that. That’s why we’ve blended our resistance training to high-intensity resistance training, because not only is that going to develop lean muscle mass, it’s also going to help cardiovascular health.” 

HIRT also helps fight osteoporosis and sarcopenia, both of which pose significant threats to widespread health as well.

“It is a little bit lower of an intensity than you would get with HIIT training, but it has a greater neuromuscular response to building muscle mass, increasing bone density, fighting adipose tissue and improving the quality in which your cardiovascular system works,” said Robert Linkul, Director of Education at Fit Body Boot Camp.

“It’s going to put more stress on the muscle which puts more stress on the bone — and the body responds to that stress by enhancing both,” added Henson. “Those two things are not only going to boost your metabolism long-term but boost your quality of life.”

Real Life Functionality

Lifestyle improvements extend to all types of people, including seasoned athletes and those just looking to have an easier time going about their everyday life. When designing its HIRT programming, the Fit Body Boot Camp team targeted muscles and movement tracks we all use.  

“We are focusing on fundamental movement patterns — lifts that mimic everyday life,” said Henson. “When you’re picking things up off the ground, maybe you’re lifting your kids or grandkids or you have to bend over, ​​all of these things require modalities that put you in a different position.” 

Those benefits often only take a matter of weeks to start showing up, according to Linkul. That’s again thanks to the brand’s detailed programming around everyday life movements. 

“You were just fiddling around on the weights before, and now you’re training,” said Linkul. “We have a whole system and plan. Now, you see this drastic change in people from the basics of improved posture, or their ability to open jars or windows, to better ground reactions so they don’t fall as much. They have better coordination. They have better balance. They are multi-directional. That’s fantastic.” 

As lives improve, retention and engagement follow.

“You’ll see the simplicities that are performed in daily life, like sitting down and standing up, reaching overhead, transferring load from one place to the next, groceries from the car into the kitchen, all become so much easier,” said Linkul. “Clients recognize the successes that they’re having, and that, in turn, changes their mood, their cognition, their mentality, they get excited about training and want to do more.”

Attracting Newcomers with Fit Body Forever

After identifying a demand for functional fitness by the older demographic, Fit Body Boot Camp began to direct more focus toward it by launching Fit Body Forever, a specialized training program tailored to individuals 55 and above, last year. 

Nonetheless, Linkul reported that the Fit Body Forever’s avatars are almost 10 years older than they originally expected, illustrating the extensiveness of the course’s longevity-boosting benefits through HIRT.

“We definitely see a consistency in what those clients (and) that demographic wants,” said Linkul. “They want to look better, perform better and feel better from an internal standpoint — not necessarily two pictures that they can hold up. They want to be able to perform in golf and pickleball, to go on holiday and not worry about falling down or staying behind when the other family members get to go on a hike. They get to participate.”

The more individuals engage in HIRT, the more everyone stands to benefit, Linkul argues. 

“You see a society of some people who have resistance trained, are doing okay, and then there are others who are the exact same age and look like a completely different species,” said Linkul. “They’re frail, falling apart and need assisted tools to take care of themselves. Then you see someone else who’s 70, who’s climbing mountains, doing cartwheels, chin-ups and can deadlift their body weight. You’re like, ‘What happened to these two? Why are they so different?’ It’s because one resistance trained their whole life and the other one did not.”