Bridal Bootcamp Review

According to her biography, New York City fitness trainer Cynthia Conde conceived of her Bridal Bootcamp program 10 years ago, when she took on a client who was getting married in seven months, and wanted to lose 100 pounds. Knowing the deadline for such enormous weight loss was very tight, and recalling that her brother had lost 30 pounds when he joined the Marines, Bridal Bootcamp was born.

Conde says she researched the U.S. military’s boot camp training regimens and adapted them specifically for women – in particular women who want to get in shape for their weddings. Her focus is on improving areas of a woman’s body that are highlighted when wearing a wedding dress – which is accomplished by getting brides-to-be to build muscle, tone, and burn fat. She achieves this by submitting these women to a hardcore, military-style exercise regimen and a low calorie, healthy diet. Conde’s programs are customized to six months, three months and four weeks.

From its roots in an NYC area gym, the Bridal Bootcamp program has become a national phenomenon and a mini-empire, to include a best-selling book, an online program and the “Bridal Bootcamp” reality series, featuring real soon-to-be-brides sweating it out on cable channel VH1.

If you don’t live in the NYC area to attend Conde’s gym, the book ($15) or the online program ($4 a week, 5 week minimum commitment) are good options if you are hearty and committed enough to take Conde on and seriously slim down.

In the online program, dieters must begin on level one, and follow this program for at least six weeks. Here you are required to commit to an hour of military style training, four days a week. (You do have the option of a more intense, two-hour session twice a week if it’s more conducive to your schedule.) Conde’s intent here is to turn you into a fat-burning machine.

Level two incorporates more resistance training – often using your own body weight - to build core strength, tone, and shape a more lean, sleek physique. You’ll work out on the level two program for one hour, three times a week. If you’ve burned a good amount of fat in level one, you’ll surely see some lovely toning results in level two.

On the diet and nutrition front, you will first select from a 1300, 1500 or a 1900 calorie plan, dependent upon your body’s needs as well as how much weight you’re trying to lose. The nutritional breakdown is 50% carbohydrates, 30% fats and 20% proteins. Conde recommends the five small meals a day approach, to keep satiated and improve digestion.

Will you lose weight on this program? Absolutely. Now, there is nothing new or magical in Conde’s approach to weight loss – other than the catchy branding and marketing to brides-to-be who worry about jiggly arms, back fat and such in wedding photos. But there’s nothing wrong with that. Conde found a market, and more power to her. Her program is a solid – if demanding – one that will make you shed pounds and tone up. If you have the will – the discipline – to stick to it, Bridal Bootcamp will not disappoint when you slip on that beautiful dress. Or – any dress. Remember that this program will work for anyone looking to really hit weight loss hard. And if the inevitable positive results are enough to keep you on a healthier lifestyle track for the long term, then that is the ultimate success of Bridal Bootcamp.