How 45 minutes divides
Every plan below spends the first 8 minutes warming up and the last 7 cooling down. That leaves 30 minutes of training, and most of the planning is deciding how to split those 30 between one long block or two shorter ones with a water break between them.
Write the times on the board before anyone arrives. When a station demo runs long, you can see straight away which block has to lose a round.
Plan 1: the station circuit
Eight stations, 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds to move, three rounds. It suits groups of 8 to 16, one or two people per station, and it is the easiest plan to run for a new coach because the timer does the counting.
The station order alternates legs, push, hips, cardio and pull so nobody arrives at a station with the same muscles already tired. The circuit building guide explains that ordering rule if you want to swap stations out, and bootcamp station ideas is the catalogue to swap them from, with the kit each one needs for three people. The finisher borrows its timing from the original Tabata study, which used eight bouts of 20 seconds with 10 seconds of rest between them.
Plan 2: the partner class
Partners make a class feel busier than it is, and they halve the equipment you need. Pair people of similar fitness, or let the faster partner carry the running.
Block B has a natural cap: climbing to 10 means 55 burpees each, and most mixed groups will not reach the top in 12 minutes. That is fine. The pair that gets to 7 has done 28 burpees each and will remember the class.
Plan 3: AMRAP, then EMOM
This is the plan for a group that has done a few months of bootcamp already. Each block produces a score, so people have something to beat next time.
The EMOM regulates itself. Someone who needs 50 seconds for 8 burpees is working near their limit and gets 10 seconds of rest, which is the signal to drop to 6 next week. The advanced progressions guide covers both formats in more detail.
The 30-minute version
Lunchtime classes and early-morning slots rarely get 45 minutes. Plan 1 shrinks cleanly:
Cut rounds, never the warm-up altogether. A shorter class with a proper start loses less than a longer one where people pull a hamstring at the first sprint.
Running it for a mixed group
Every class has someone on their first day and someone who has been coming for two years. Three habits keep both of them working:
- Demonstrate each station once, with the easier version and the harder version side by side, before the timer starts.
- Post the regressions on a card at each station so nobody has to ask in front of the group.
- Coach effort with the talk test rather than with reps. The CDC describes moderate intensity as being able to talk but not sing, and vigorous as not being able to say more than a few words without pausing for breath.
Two of these classes a week, plus a 30-minute walk on two other days, also covers the CDC baseline of 150 minutes of moderate activity and two days of muscle strengthening.
Frequently asked
What do you do in a 45-minute bootcamp class?
About 8 minutes of warm-up, 30 minutes of training and 7 minutes of cooldown. The training is usually a station circuit, partner work, or a timed format such as an AMRAP or EMOM, often with a short finisher at the end.
How many exercises should a bootcamp class have?
Six to ten stations for a circuit. Eight is a practical number: at 40 seconds on and 20 to move, one round takes exactly 8 minutes, so three rounds fit inside a 45-minute class with a warm-up, a finisher and a cooldown.
How do you plan a bootcamp class for mixed fitness levels?
Give every station an easier and a harder version, demonstrate both, and coach effort rather than reps. Timed work such as 40 seconds per station or an EMOM lets everyone work at their own pace inside the same clock.
Can you fit a bootcamp class into 30 minutes?
Yes. Keep a 5-minute warm-up, run two rounds of an eight-station circuit, add a 4-minute Tabata finisher and leave 4 minutes to cool down.
