PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was two-fold 1) to investigate the effectiveness of a six-week boot camp program for increasing motivations for long-term PA behavior change, self-efficacy for exercise, and improving participants’ perceptions of their general health as well as 2) to gauge participants’ motives for adhering to the program.

METHODS: Twenty-seven sedentary adults (Mage=30.04, SD=10.33) participated in a vigorous boot camp program for a minimum of five days per week for fifty minutes a day throughout a six-week period responded to questionnaires measuring their motivation for behavior change, self-efficacy for exercise and, perceptions of general health at the onset and the completion of the program. At the completion of the program, participants also responded to a single qualitative prompt for identifying motives for continued adherence to the program.

RESULTS: Paired sample t tests indicated a significant improvement in participants’ mean scores for self-efficacy for exercise (M=7.21 ± 2.2 pre vs. 8 ± 1.65 post; t= -2.38, p < 0.05) and the perception of their general health (M=3.17 ± 1.01 pre vs. 3.92 ± 0.7 post; t= -4.21, p < 0.05). Results from the qualitative prompt revealed three main themes for continued adherence: (1) structured aspect of the program, (2) accountability between the participants and exercise leaders, and (3) the sense of community within the program.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that alternative boot camp interventions can prove effective means for improving important precursors of PA behaviors. From a practical standpoint, structured approaches that can provide a supportive community as well as a sense of accountability may present critical initiatives in promoting long term PA and solving the problem of inactivity.