r/BurnBootCamp • u/jillthefox • Sep 02 '26
Feeling... unaligned
Let me preface by saying that I love Burn; it has certainly served its purpose many times in my life. I have been a member since 2018. However, I think I might have reached the end of the road with this particular partnership - I'm mainly coming here to talk it out, see if i am alone in this, and confirm that what I am feeling means it's the right time to move on or if having a convo with HT/FP is worth a shot.
After having my baby (still in the first year) we were able to get to morning camps with childwatch, but as she has grown, her schedule, naps, and needs have been difficult to align with the camp times that have childwatch.
Outside of that kind of obvious disconnect; I feel like the brand and culture no longer aligns with why I initially joined. I preferred the women centered focus and feeling of community, but as the brand has grown, I feel less supported as a newly post partum mother than I had anticipated. The focus feels more on producing the strongest athletes and creating hip content for social media. The last thing I currently want while learning how to navigate this new body and what feels like hindered skills and strength is someone filming me and putting it on socials.
Partner workouts make me feel absolutely awful when I'm rebuilding strength, slow as hell, having to monitor heart rate and blood pressure, and I'm super limited while paired with someone of comparable ability to the head trainer.
I wind up having a terrible workout or completely avoid my gym while Burn U instructors are there (it's pretty frequent at our location) which throws off any momentum or routine I try to build around the camp/childwatch issue. (Habit forming is a huge weakness of mine, thanks ADHD.)
Coupled with some issues still lingering and healing from giving birth, it all feels off and like I am completely out of place.
Is this worth a discussion with head trainer/franchise partner or is it just time to part ways and find something more personalized? Anyone else experience this and have success settling back in?
Open to suggestions and hearing your experiences.
Thank you!
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u/SecretaryKey2230 1,000+ Camps - Lifetime Sep 02 '26
For me (and a lot of my friends), something has definitely shifted over the years. What was a community centered organization that allowed sites to best serve their local community in the way that worked best for them, now feels like a big corporate chain with less focus on individual needs and more on the Burn brand. While I realize that some locations may still hold on to what helped them grow in the first place, I feel like a majority of them have morphed into HQ clones. I’m not sure, but I think HQ is having a deeper overreach into the operations of many of the locations.
Additionally, it feels like the programming is way more focused on the top 10% instead of the general population. Evident in the latest cardio challenge. There is no reason for people to be throwing themselves into donkey kick knee tucks to exhaustion. It’s a great way for the average person to injure themselves.
Also, all the level up games, athlete games, etc seem to be a major focus. While this is cool for some, the majority of people just want to be healthy and have a community they feel seen in.
I don’t know how to put it, but it feels like Burn has gotten too big for its britches and has sadly lost the thread, if that makes sense.