Welcome to the Get Fit Guys, quick and dirty tips to slim down and shape up.

My name is Ben Greenfield, and I'm the Get Fit Guy.

Fitness boot camps and group workouts are all the rage these days,

from the external social motivation to push yourself harder, to the fun of training

with group camaraderie.

It's no surprise that exercising with a crowd can get you better results sometimes.

Even better, you don't actually need fancy equipment or even a gym to have a good group

workout or fitness boot camp.

So if you have a group of friends, you want to get

together for some workout in a park or a backyard, or if you have a group of coworkers who want

to get exercising together, or if you're a personal trainer or group fitness instructor who

wants some new boot camp workout ideas, then this episode is for you.

Having a group around to push you to go harder has both benefits and drawbacks.

Sure, you may push yourself more, but you can also increase your risk of injury when you amplify your workout intensity.

For this reason, it's important to begin with a dynamic warmup.

Here's a great dynamic warmup routine that could easily be done as a group. Compared to traditional stretch and hold static stretching,

this type of stretching has been shown to actually reduce your risk of injury and enhance your

performance. Ideally, you should warm up your muscles before going into this dynamic

warmup with five to ten minutes of light cardio, like cycling or jogging or even a brisk walk.

Begin with leg swings, in which you hold onto a wall, a bar, or anything else that adds support,

and swing one leg out to the side, then back across your body

in front of the other leg. Repeat 10 times on each side. Next, do the Frankenstein walk.

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