Torture and Pleasure

This is a bootcamp holiday of torture to get you motivated so pack your double woven drill fabric and head for Thurlestone with Gerald Haycock. Tracksuits and short shorts are the height of fashion during this exercise boom. The wellness, nutrition advice and mindfulness are not yet a part of the course so the pleasurable rewards are hearty pasties and cream teas, just to keep your mood up. Activities include cross-country running, gym sessions, squash and horse-riding.

Military-style exercises were embraced by Americans especially Californians who in the mid-seventies began the boom in modern fitness culture and the gear to go with it. This was exported around the world when the first military book on Aerobics (1968) was republished for public consumption as New Aerobics (1976). The leisure market continues to be an important part of general health and wellbeing and regular aerobic exercise is encouraged to improve the health of any nation. Group fitness classes and hotels solely dedicated to providing bootcamp holidays are a major part of the global gym and leisure industry today, albeit with improved styling and a wealth of engineered new fabrics and trainers.