Popular Boot Camps Promise to Make You a Better Man

Videos show men struggling to climb a hill on their grime-covered bellies as drill sergeants shout expletive-laden orders. Scenes from “man camps” ─ all-male experiences designed for self-improvement ─ are gaining attention on social media. The goal of these hard-core boot camps is allegedly to help men discover “the best version of themselves.”

A least, that is the message on the website of the Modern Day Night Project, a regularly sold-out boot camp in Chino Hills, California, that promises men they can “flip the switch” to overcome “vice dependencies, limiting beliefs and glass ceilings so that you can become the husband, father and man you respect and admire.”

According to USA Today, those who survive the grueling physical challenges under the instruction of military veterans, get access to year-long coaching and mentorship program. The cost for the 75-hour trial is $18,000.

Ronald Levant is a professor emeritus of psychology at The University of Akron and co-author of The Tough Standard: The Hard Truths About Masculinity and Violence. He says these extreme camps sell men on the idea that if they adhere to a hardened vision of masculinity, their lives will improve.

“They feel that their lives are not what they want them to be, and they believe that, if they were more masculine, more macho, more ‘beast,’ their lives would be better,” he says. Psychologists say that the prevalence of these man camps points to a real problem men are facing in this society: loneliness.

In a 2021 survey by the Survey Center on American Life, only 21% of men said they had emotional support from a friend within the past week, compared to 41% of women. Just 25% of men said they told a friend they loved them within the past week, as opposed to 49% of women.

Levant says that many men have trouble putting their emotions into words which makes it difficult for them to form meaningful relationships. “The inability to put their emotions into words leads to failures in relationships, leads to loneliness, leads to seeking out these experiences,” he says.

Dean Simpson, a former NYPD officer and author of The Blue Pawn, a book that deals with his personal mental health struggles in the police force, tells Newsmax that men struggle with their societal role because “once we were the hunters, and now we are the hunted.”

“However, the idea that going away to a camp to roll around in the mud will somehow raise a man’s self-esteem is absurd,” he says. “If anything, the act shows the true desperation men are experiencing, suggesting a stronger need to address the mental aspect of the issue rather than the physical.”

Simpson points out that according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women.

Other man camps do offer an opportunity for men to bond with other men and make mental health a priority. One example is MPowered Brotherhood in Austin, Texas, which focuses not only on physical prowess, but also incudes emotional practices, vulnerability exercises, breathwork and grief circles. Stefanos Sifandos, one of the founders of MPowered Brotherhood, says the organization strives to give men a support network and show them that they are worth more than their achievements.

Psychologists say that the popularity of man camps suggest that, as a society, we need to have a broader conversation about men’s need for belonging and to have a tribe.