As some of you may know from previous reviews I am in application to join the British Army, so am currently working hard on my fitness and weight loss. One of the ways and without a doubt the best in my opinion is my BMF classes.

I first joined BMF last year but sadly had to cancel my membership due to an accident. I am pleased to say that I am now back as a full member and thanks to the team at BMF I wasn't subject to a joining fee when I rejoined as I was still on the system as a previous member.

British Military fitness is in effect an outdoor fitness class, run by ex army trainers the workouts are not for the faint hearted but if you like your exercise with a bit more boom boom pow than your average aerobics class then this is definitely one for you. The classes have three levels, blue being the lowest, then moving up to red and finally the greens who are the hardcore of the BMFer's.

BMF now run classes in Bristol, Cardiff, Chester, and Newport and get regular requests to start running their classes in new areas due to their increasing popularity.

The class begins with a warm up normally a bit of running and some warm up stretching exercises. Then begins the main workout, there is no such thing as every class is the same with BMF as each instructor does things slightly differently and even if you do have the same instructor every time they always make sure to do something different every class to avoid the members getting bored.

There are a mixture of exercises used by BMF some of which include Squats, Burpees, Squat Thrusts, Press Ups, Sit ups and lunges, generally all added into the mix with a fair amount of running. The classes range in size from around 10 to 30 members in my local class depending on day and weather conditions, but the average class size is around 20 which is a nice number, and it's always good if it's an even number as it means we all have partners when it comes to team work.

One thing I have found at my local BMF group is that everyone is exceptionally friendly, because of the team atmosphere that is created by the instructors you are all encouraged to work together and to support each other, so it's a lot more friendly than any normal fitness class. Everyone makes new people to the group welcome, especially the ones you spot who look a little shall we say terrified on their first time. Trust me there is nothing to be afraid of, although they look scary the guys are really great and there is none of the military screaming that some people expect. You are still civvies after all.

At BMF they like to encourage to you to get together as a team in other ways than just at the classes, and do organise regular nights out, quiz nights as well as some fantastic trips such as an Alaskan Adventure, running events and the always popular Llangorse activity weekends. They also host a Christmas party every year in each area, which I hear is always good for a laugh. Sadly I haven't had chance to attend the Christmas party as yet but you better believe that I will be in attendance this year!

The instructors are all either serving or ex serving military and are very knowledgeable in their fields and from personal experience if there is anything you might like to know they are happy to try and advise you where they can, or to give you ideas as the where you might be able to get advice. I have enquired about advice on improving my running and been given some great advice by both Andy and Steve at Bristol.

If you are lucky enough to live in one of the areas BMF do their classes and fancy heading down to your local park to join the other mad people you have seen running around, and pushing out those press ups then you can pop along and do a trial session before you make any commitment.

These are arranged through the website at www.bmftraining.com/ become-a-bmf-member all you need to do is fill out a few easy questions about yourself and your location and you will then receive an email with your information on your local classes which you then take along and hey presto you are ready to attend your first class.

Membership to BMF is generally paid by direct debit monthly and the charges are...
level 1- one class per week - £25
Level 3 - Unlimited classes - £35
Corporate unlimited classes - £29 (If you are lucky enough to have a company who has a BMF corporate link)
Under 21's & over 60's unlimited classes - £20

*The joining fee at BMF is £35 but they will waive this if you join by direct debit within 24 hours of your introductory class and stay with them for 3 months*

My finals words on British Military Fitness are if you are looking for an alternative to the gym to blast some of that fat for your holiday or whether you just want to get outside and get fit then BMF is the place to do it. In the last 3 weeks I have managed to lose 9lbs and this is partly down to my regular BMF classes (as well as cutting down on my food). Yes your body will ache like never before and you will have pain in muscles you didn't know you had, but the smile on your face will be worth all the pain and you will be so proud of yourself for the hard work you put in. For me it is a high like no other.

For more info on my British Military Fitness please check out www.bmftraining.com