British Military Fitness

=Introduction=

British Military Fitness is an organisation that provides fitness classes in over fifty public parks across the UK. The classes are run by former or serving members of the British armed forces.

History

British Military Fitness was founded in 1999 by retired Major Robin Cope as an alternative to gyms for fitness training. He felt that an added emphasis should be made on on providing motivation which was lacking in the majority of those who working out in gyms.

Format

Each lesson lasts approximately sixty minutes in length and in order to cater for all abilities, classes are broken up into three ability groups as indicated by the wearing of coloured bibs. Blue for beginners, red for intermediate and green for advanced.

The first five minutes of a class are spent warming up, before fifty minutes of intense fitness exercises, which can vary from circuit training to team games. The class is punctuated by a quick water break at the mid-point and ends with a five minute warm-down and stretching session.

Unlike the controlled environment of a gym, lessons vary from class to class with instructors making full use of the surrounding features of the park.

Instructors

Each class is led by at least one instructor, who gives direction on the exercises to carried out and motivation to the class thoughout the lesson. Students are rarely addressed by first name but by the number worn on their bib instead.

Charity work

Recently BMF has engaged with Westminster Council to run special classes for drug addicts and the ex-homeless. [Lombard, Daniel [http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2008/09/24/109482/british-military-fitness-gets-ex-homeless-into-exercise.html "British Military Fitness gets ex-homeless to exercise"] , "Community Care", 2008-09-24 retrieved on 2008-10-10]

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.britmilfit.com British Military Fitness Official Site]