Bath Bootcamp to Zest Bootcamp
and now...Time flies when you are having fitness fun!
We are well into 2022 so time to celebrate the fact that Zest Bootcamp is over 13 years old this month … and a reminder the Zest Van is also that old (no wonder it went bang last year!)
A video popped up on my memories from 10 years ago when we entered the Bath Life Awards as part of the ‘Health & Beauty” category. All finalists were invited to do a short “showreel” answering some questions to be used as part of the audio visual production on the evening.
So there I was in my Bath Bootcamp hoody (because this was before we rebranded to Zest) hoping my hair looked ok (although given I was due an overdue visit to hairdresser it was a bit crazy – just like now)… answering questions about what Zest Bootcamp is.
Very hard to answer but more than ever it is a community.
You can see the video which was shown at the glamorous event at the Assembly Rooms just before they read out who the winners were. My stomach was churning and they said “Highly commended Bath Bootcamp for their innovative approach to fitness” and I thought. “oh no I have to go up on stage and make a speech” but that was followed by “in second place and the winner is….”
What – beaten by a Hair-salon … the disappointment, but actually it was a relief as I didn’t have to go on stage so all was good.
So what else has been going on at Zest – not much this year as you would expect, normally we would have done a fund-raising bootcamp for Bath Carnival – nope, we would have been part of Picnic in the Park in Alexandra Park, nope – our 4 day retreat in the French Alps, nope – we would have collected lots of left over Christmas goodies to donate to Julian House, nope BUT we did do an online fundraising bootcamp for Julian House instead as part of their festive workshops to raise money for the homeless and I can say the donations were very generous so thanks to everyone who took part and those who donated without taking part.
“our longest standing member celebrated 10 years at Zest we were sad she was moving up North but she now joins us online for classes“
Something else that happened last year was a new website for Zest as you can see – in January something happened and the previous site vanished and we had to start from scratch which was pretty stressful but we did it and it’s much better than before anyway as the old one was 12 years old.
Just like our exercise classes had to adapt to the new scenario last year – it was stressful at the time but we managed and have made some things better.
I was actually in Portugal taking a break when lockdown was looming so came home early (not easy) and realised I needed to make sure our Zesties could still get their 3 sessions a week workouts done in an effective way and keep the social bind and connection that we have had over the last 12 years running.
It wasn’t perfect at the start but we did it and it was being able to create this space for our members that reminded me how important community is. For some of them it was the punctuation to their day whether it was the early 6.30am class, the 9.30am or the 6.15pm in the evening.
One change that did come about this year was moving our evening classes from outdoors to online only and has enabled people from all over the country and world (we have several members from the USA) to join in the Zest fitness fun. One lady who is now working from home says how it punctuates her finishing work and then starting her home life.
When our longest standing member celebrated 10 years at Zest we were sad she was moving up North but she now joins us online for classes which is amazing.
I also started running an online stretch class for our members so they could spend time really stretching the tight areas of the body and working on deeper breathing to help balance out the nervous system from the press ups and burpees!* They have all benefited from doing the extra stretching and I have also been able to introduce meditation to many of our members as we finish with a short one at the end of each stretch class – the class is also now available to book for non-members.
Click link below to find out about joining the Tuesday evening online STRETCH class
2020 also led me to creating a 12 week online coaching programme where I can help women over 40 to get even better results by going in deeper with nutrition, mindset and healthy lifestyle support & accountability. This has been a huge success and we will be starting a new 12 weeks soon so if you’d like more information click here.
Last year at Zest we had members celebrating some big birthdays from 50, 60,70 and everything in-between and as I’m now over 50 I realise how proud I am of what I set up 13 years ago – I had no idea I’d be here now and from creating Bath’s original outdoor bootcamp to having several venues outside of Bath with other instructors we have come full circle back to just me but with the possibilities of online the circle of people I can help has widened even more.
Here is a little photo montage from a few years ago.
Thanks for reading and if we have never met maybe see you in a class soon – we have a wonderful community of “Zesties” and everyone is supported and welcomed because we all know how hard it is to take the first step… which is exactly what everyone who I work with did once so why not you?
Zita x
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.