The term "boot camp" is common among fitness programs these days, but people aren't really looking for a drill sergeant to get into their face and disparage their mother.

They're looking for that extra disciplined push they can't give themselves.

David Clair, owner of Fitness for Living, offers a series called Fitness Boot Camps in Longmont and Boulder. The company makes a promise on the first page of its Web site: "We don't yell, we don't scream. We work and have fun."

The boot camps do give that extra push.

"It is true that people slack off," Clair said. "They start chatting and lose the focus. We're not yelling at people, but there's no way we're gonna let people slack off."

Clair said specific goals are motivational.

"We try to give people reasons for getting fit."

If a camper says he or she wants to hike without getting out of breath, Clair assigns a specific mountain to climb.

"You gotta find something you like or like to do. It's the end of that tunnel that's gonna jazz you up and get you excited."

Fun also has to be part of the equation. Camaraderie helps keep the campers focused and adds a fun element.

"I foster an environment where everyone knows everyone's pulling for them," said Jenn Altman, a trainer at Fitness for Living. She plans lots of interactive "buddy" work and games. "(Games) give them something to focus on mentally to take their mind off (the exercise). It keeps their mind engaged in a different way."

This is Altman's third summer with the boot camps.

"I'm definitely not in everyone's face," Altman said. She said it is a much more challenging workout than they would get on their own. "We're pushing to higher intensities. We also bring about bigger results and faster."

Altman works with the 6:10 a.m. group and said the group sees some "great sunrises." She said there are physiological advantages for the early morning workouts.

The post-exercise oxygen consumption causes more calories to be burned throughout the day. She also believes that campers make better food choices when they start the day with exercise.

Cindy Young is a two-time camper, and she was not afraid of the title "boot camp."

"I guess what it means for me is structure - being pushed and structure," she said. "You're pushed in a fun way. You're pushed to your own limit."

But how do the trainers know where that limit is?

"That must be where they really know their stuff," Young said.

Clair has been conducting these boot camps for six years. The company has about 300 boot campers in a year - one-half to three-fourths of them are repeat campers.

The camps are outside when the weather is good and in the indoor soccer fields in the winter. They run Monday, Wednesday and Friday for one-and-a-half hours for five weeks.

"We basically see how far we can get folks in five weeks. We start with a quick fitness assessment then give them a goal," Clair said.

Like real boot camp, the first two weeks are the hardest.

"Some of it is learning how to recover," Clair said. "That's why we do every other day. We encourage people on their day off to do what they like to do."

He said people occasionally, but usually it's because they are overtraining and not recovering on their days off.

"We have a satisfaction guarantee," Clair said. "Try it for three days because each class is different. In the course of the week we've gone over all the muscle groups."

Clair doesn't have time to be a trainer these days. "There's so much stuff involved in doing (everything)."

Fitness for Living does a lot of cross promotion with Eldora Ski area and the Women's Wilderness Institute. It will have a booth at the Longmont Triathlon and the Buffalo Bicycle Classic. It also maintains an association with Flatirons Athletic Club, which is where Clair was working when he started the first boot camp.

Clair still believes strongly in his mission.

"Most people are usually used to their one activity. Bikers bike, runners run. People are doing one quarter of the things they should do," Clair said. "A lot of times people just don't do what you've got to do to have a strong foundation. You're kind of beating your body up doing the same thing over and over.

"It's not just getting into shape. The ultimate goal is to get people to a higher plane. Take your fitness, and let's start broadening what you can do."

"My favorite part of it is I love that group energy, and watching people who you would never expect would set out to do something like this accomplish and transform their bodies," Altman said.