It’s intense. It will work all your major muscle groups, including your core, and give you a great cardio workout to boot.

It’s not for you if you don’t like to sweat. Although you can do the exercises at your own pace, you will get the most out of it if you really push yourself.

Take steps to avoid injury. Warm up first and cool down after boot camp. Do the moves exactly like your instructor says. If you’re not sure, ask.

You’ll definitely lose extra weight and boost your cardio fitness. Before you start, ask your doctor if it’s OK for you to do.

If you have diabetes, you will be burning calories and bringing down your blood sugar. Ask your doctor if you need to adjust your diabetes treatment plan. You may need to modify high-impact moves if you have any nerve pain or nerve damage from diabetes.

Do you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol? An aerobic workout like boot camp will help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol, but you should start slowly if you have these or other risk factors for heart disease or other medical problems.

If you already have heart disease, your doctor may recommend starting to exercise in a cardiac rehab program.

It’s also not a good workout if you are pregnant, unless you were doing a boot camp program before your pregnancy. Even so, you will have to make major changes in your routine as your pregnancy progresses.

When you’re pregnant, your joints don’t need the high-impact pounding that they will take. Moves like lunges are not safe as you belly grows and your center of gravity shifts. You will also be likely to overheat, and that can cause problems for your baby. A fitness routine like water aerobics is a safer way to stay flexible and strong while you’re expecting.