BOYNTON BEACH — For Boynton Beach resident Joe Mignano, it has become a familiar twice a week routine.

On Monday and Wednesday evenings, Mignano changes into his exercise clothes and heads off to boot camp.

Mignano and several others have been enjoying a non-traditional workout program being offered by the Absolute Fitness gym in Boynton Beach. For eight weeks, the campers can step outside of the traditional gym setting to participate in fitness training exercises.

The sessions run for an hour at Caloosa Park.

The boot camps began with the first eight-week program in February and Absolute Fitness is currently holding its third.

Mignano has attended all three.

"It's just fun because you're outdoors and you're in a group, so it's challenging because you have a little competition between each other, so it makes it fun," he said. "It gets old in the gym all the time."

The activities typically include running, agility drills, and a variety of partner-assisted exercises such as relay races. Absolute Fitness owner Rob Jewett said the boot camps are becoming popular for many gyms.

"This is the perfect alternative for someone who is sick and tired of the gym," he said. "The gym gets crowded, they're packed, especially after work. That's why this one has become so popular. It's the perfect stress reliever after work."

The camps are run by lead instructor Ben Petitpas, with Jewett serving as the secondary instructor.

Boynton Beach resident Martha Combs is attending her second boot camp session and said she has noticed a difference in her level of fitness.

"I think this is better than any gym workout," she said. "Ben is great, he motivates you. He pushes you to do what you can and improve your body, it's great. Your heart rate is elevated, you can tell. You walk out of here with this awesome workout, nothing like I've had before."

Despite the name, the camps don't involve yelling and screaming. Jewett said the campers are encouraged to work and do the exercises at their own pace.

"Boot camp, they immediately think we're going to be in their face pointing, finger in their chest," Jewett said. "We think of the boot camp in terms of you're doing calisthenics. We're going to motivate you, but we're not going to do it through yelling at you. We're going to give positive reinforcement."

Petitpas said that goal is to make the activities fun but challenging.

"We do a lot of fun stuff, we try to make it fun so that they can get more out of it," he said. "At the same time it's pretty difficult stuff, but they're working hard without even realizing they're working hard."

Julie Wright of Delray Beach is participating in her first boot camp and said the workouts have been challenging. But Wright said she has enjoyed to opportunity to be able to exercise outdoors.

"I don't squeeze doing the gym into my schedule very much. I'm more of an outdoors person," she said.

Jean Truitt of Boynton Beach is participating in her third boot camp and said she likes the diversity of the programs offered.

"You have cardio and strength training," she said. "It covers all the body parts. It's nice to get outside with a good group of people. That kind of motivates you."

Jewett said another boot camp will be offered in July and the camps will be ongoing with plans to offer other nights during the week and some morning sessions.

For more information, call Absolute Fitness at (561) 732-8680.