15 years of Zest Bootcamp – time to celebrate!
After being a personal trainer in a gym for 10 years I decided to have a go at group outdoor exercise in 2009. It could be a more affordable way for people to get fitter, stronger and healthier, especially those who don’t like the idea of being in a gym.
Bootcamps had ben korund in ten USA for a while and had started to become popular in London so I thought I’d have a go, despite never having trained groups, nor outdoors!
We started as Bath Bootcamp and then as I had other classes running in villages around Bath I rebranded to Zest Bootcamp a few years later, and at that time we had some men coming to classes but more recently I decided to keep it as women only.
Lockdown saw us move all classes on line, which highlighted the value of what Zest offers, the community is all, and 15 years later we are just in Bath and the 6.30am and 9.15am classes have remained online, whilst the 6.15pm one moved to online only which has allowed more people who can’t get to Bath to enjoy all the benefits of our strength and conditioning classes.
We still have members who joined over 10 years ago and in order to celebrate this milestone we threw a party which allowed members to get to know each other better, as so many of them have to rush off after class to attend to children or go to work – especially at the early class.
It was also a great chance to dress up and get out of gym kit – they looked fab!
We shared delicious food together that many of the members had contributed, danced and generally had a relaxed evening connecting with others.
My passion alongside helping women get fitter, stronger, healthier and happier has been to create a supportive community for women over 40, and it was evident at the party that we have that.
Huge thank you to all the Zesties who clubbed together to give me a generous gift and wonderful card full of personal messages that included words such as
“I’m proud to be a Zestie’
“You make a positive difference to my week”
“Thank you for making this fab community”
and several saying “here’s to 15 more years” … I’d be 68 then!
Anyway for now our next trial week starts Feb 26th if you fancy joining our fabulous, friendly, fresh-air fitness and fun. Click here to register you place.
Outdoor exercise helps mental and physical wellbeing!
PS If you didn’t know I used to be an overweight, non-exercising asthmatic so believe me when I tell you that healthy living really is the best thing you can do for your mental and physical wellbeing. Click here to book a trial week at our friendly and fun fitness classes
* Although the word bootcamp can bring images of beasting and endless burpees – we actually don’t operate like that at Zest which is why if you watch the Bath Life Awards video you’ll hear me describe it as group personal training style class. Many of our members have been coming for years so they get coached on exactly what they need.