Squat Thrusts Drills
Squat thrusts are the signature power move of any cardio boot camp workout. Recruited from football fields and military training camps, squat thrusts require strength and significant cardio vascular output. To get started, stand tall with your feet hip distance apart. Bend your knees and place your hands on the ground shoulder-width apart. Hop both legs back into high plank or push-up position. Perform one push-up. Lift from your core and jump both legs back to standing. Perform a vertical jump or jumping jack to finish off the move. The squat thrust exercise is performed in a continuous movement without pausing between positions.
Athletic Karaoke Exercise
The karaoke movement is another exercise recruited from the football field and drafted into cardio boot camp workouts. This aerobic move specifically targets the muscles of the adductors or inner thighs. To begin this exercise, stand up tall with legs hip distance apart. Cross your right foot over and in front of your left foot with your arms out to your sides. Step open out to the side with your left foot, then cross your right foot behind your left foot. Continue moving laterally for several steps then repeat the movement to the right. The karaoke pattern is cross front, step to the side, cross back, step to the side, as in the grapevine jazz step that keeps on moving.
Core Training "Corps" Style
A typical boot camp abdominal series involves two or three targeted moves combined together in one set. Bicycle-Plank-Crunch is an example of a quick moving core series. Start by lying on your back on the ground with both hands placed behind the head. Lift your head and shoulders up off the ground and bring your right knee toward your left elbow keeping your left leg extended straight. Begin the bicycle movement by alternating opposite knee to elbow. Perform a quick set of 20 bicycle moves. Flip over quickly onto your forearms and toes or elbow plank position. Keep your abs tucked in and your spine straight. Hold the isometric contraction for 10 to 20 seconds. Quickly turn back over onto your back and perform 20 fast-paced basic abdominal crunches with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground.
Jacks and Jumps
Jumping Jacks combined with basketball-style jump shot moves appeal to the competitive athlete and definitely give cause to break a sweat. Perform 20 jumping jacks with arms reaching and clapping overhead. It helps to count out loud and enhances the boot camp-style atmosphere. Move quickly into 10 to 20 power jump shots. Bend your knees then spring off the ground with both feet as you extend your arms overhead and mimic shooting a basketball.
