British Military Fitness

As a marathon runner this is the best type of training for me
Didier Manier

 

Why didn't I do this before?
Susan Wilson

 

Forget paying for gym membership - invest in BMF
Simon White

 

BMF is not just for the super fit, nor is it run by army sergeants screaming at you Full Metal Jacket style
 

Alex Herbert

 

After every session you really feel like you have worked and sweated and there is a great level of camaradary
Jenni Regan

 
 

 
 

 
 

How many calories can I expect to burn in a BMF class?

Ask a BMFer about how good our classes are at burning calories and they will probably tell you that it 'Feels like hard work'

We wanted to put some numbers to the wealth of anecdotal evidence we have about the effectiveness of our classes. There are many hundreds of unmeasured success stories that we've had over the years, so we teamed up with our friends at Fitbug to gather some hard data on BMF classes. BMF members can get 30% off the normal price of a Fitbug, see the BMF members area for more information.

                          

What we did

We took a group of 12 people at our Hampstead Heath venue (4 beginner, 4 intermediate and 4 in the advanced group) with 2 men and 2 women in each group. The people selected were chosen on their regular attendance record and sex only. We kitted them out with Fitbugs and Polar F4 heart rate monitors and measured the calories they burned and the distance they covered during 4 BMF classes* We then took an average for the number of calories they burned during an hour long BMF class, and also their average distance covered during this time.

The Results

Were convincing, BMF is one of the most effective ways you can exercise. See the summary below or download the full press release, write up, results sheet or results graph below.

  • BMF is a highly effective way of burning up to 1040 calories per one hour class.
  • The average total calories burned during a session across all three groups regardless of gender is 640
  • On average, women burn 495 calories per hour in a beginner class, 517 in an intermediate class and 539 in an advanced class
  • On average, men burn 782 calories per hour in the beginner class, 645 in the intermediate class and 835 in the green class
  • The average distance covered in a beginner class is 5km. In an intermediate class it is 5.3km and in an advanced class 5.85km. Don't let this worry you, we never leave anyone behind!
  • The government recommends that every person should try and take at least 10,000 steps per day. The BMF 'step equivalent' per hour long beginner class is 10,336, per intermediate class is 12,316 and per advance class is 14,778. All three classes exceed the recommended number of steps to take during a whole day. For a definition of step equivalent, please read the write up below.

* We had 1 person drop out because of increased work commitments and a further 2 people who only completed 2 out of 4 classes.

                     

How much can I consume for 640 calories?

Based on an average calorie burn of 640 per class, and according to calorie counter on the excellent website weightlossresources.co.uk you could burn off:

Eat 2.5 regular sized Cadbury Dairy Milk bars (each 255 calories)

Drink 7.2 glasses of champagne (89 calories per glass, luckily for the BMF Clapham ladies)

Drink 3.5 pints of beer (182 calories per pint)

Eat 4.6 donuts (140 per doghnut, holes included)

Eat 1 Chicken Tikka, half a naan bread, an onion baji and a white wine (653 calories - you'd need to run home)

A word from two of the trial participants

Maria Wren - advanced class

Were you surprised to find out that during a session you burn on average 656 calories per 1 hour class? Yeah, thats a lot more than you would burn if you went jogging for an hour and its loads more fun.

How long have you been attending BMF for? Since April 2008 after a friend recommended it to me

Have you found that during this time you have lost much weight, or changed body shape. Have you found it to be an effective way of exercising for you? Since doing BMF I have most definitely toned up whilst maintaing my well known chocoholic status and athough I have participated in sports since I was young, I feel I am at my peak physical fitness. For me BMF sums up what I want out of a good exercise session, fresh air, fun people and a full body work out that pushes you to your limits!

Nick Kalamaris - beginner class

Were you surprised to find out that during a session you burn on average 817 calories per 1 hour class? Hell yes, I was very happy with the outcome. If I'm not mistaken that probably works out to the equivalent of a meal! Previously I would spend an hour at the gym and lose probably half the amount of calories. As stated before, I'm actually really enjoying myself now whilst doing exercise!

How long have you been attending BMF for? Since June 2008. On average I would say my attendance has been twice a week.

Have you found that during this time you have lost much weight, or changed body shape. Have you found it to be an effective way of exercising for you? Prior to starting BMF I was 98kg, whilst I have not weighed myself recently I can state that I have gone down a trouser size and noticed that my body has really toned up especially the love handles (that's my fiancée comments), which I have never been able to do. Saying that, I still have some way to go! I have really found the exercise beneficial, my fitness has improved immensely, I'm toning up and can see the progress whilst admitting that I still eat whatever I want. So its thumbs up all round!

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