Boot camps are a quick way to get in shape for upcoming marathons or adrenaline-pumping prison escapes. Jump the fence with today's Groupon: for $40, you get five boot-camp classes (an $80 value) at Tuff Girl Fitness. Classes are held at the Bodyology Fitness Studio in Hamden.

Tuff Girl’s boot-camp workouts mold mealy muscles into fit physiques through high-intensity exercises that increase endurance and build strength. In the company of an encouraging community of women, fitness fiends will sweat, lift weights, power slide, and jump across pits of snapping crocodiles. Boot camp summons the powers of interval training to banish predictability, and varied workouts create optimal energy use by switching between exercises designed to keep muscles as confused as an American renting a car in London.

Tuff Girl boot camp provides appropriate perspiration to both beginners and advanced participants, and instructor Christa Doran draws on her nine years of experience to modify moves for all fitness levels and body shapes.

Christa has a master's degree in occupational therapy, as well as personal-trainer certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. She believes that motivation and inspiration are better fuel than high-decibel heckling, and she considers boot camp to be fat’s cartoonish mortal enemy. Participants can enlist by email or phone, and all sessions must be redeemed within three months of the first class.

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WTNH featured Tuff Girl Fitness in its "Connecticut Style" segment.