Body4Me

As you may have already heard, and I discussed here back in July, Les Mills have introduced an Express BodyPump class which is supposed to last 30 minutes and feature a subset of the tracks. It is meant to be used in peak time slots, at lunch times, as intro classes and as ‘warmups’ for further workouts (for example, as a lead in to an RPM class)

Well, with the latest release coming out (68), there is now what I would call, a Mini-Express edition available, cutting out one more song. Turns out that the 30 minute class was still too long for some people once you take transition and setup times into consideration.

So now, the new version of the Express class consists of the following BodyPump tracks: (1) Warmup, (2) Legs/Squats, (3) Chest, (4) Back, (9) Abs.

Don’t get me wrong… Any exercise is surely better than none, but honestly folks, are we really THAT busy that we couldn’t possibly spend another 5 minutes working out ?

Would I be terribly harsh in saying that if you’re that busy that you have to make the decision to cut an extra 5 valuable minutes out of your workout, your life is just possibly way too busy and you may like to re-evaluate your priorities ?

I would love to get some feedback and comments from people who have tried the short classes. At our club, we only do the 45 minute and full classes. The 45 minutes one slot in at lunchtimes and the full classes at all other times.

(In other news, I’ve got  out BodyPump 68 workshop coming up next weekend, so i’ll have the usual preview/review up shortly after that.)

Well, eventhough some exercise is better than nothing, I still feel that a full workout benefits us the most!!! As of now, the 45 minutes of workout in my gym does not include tricep and bicep, I am already feel something is “incomplete” and hence rarely attend those 45 minutes class. I should only think the mini BP is strictly cater for new comers as an introduction class or mother to be. Let’s make an effort to attend the full workout, at least once a week.

Hi Scott

Ah yeah, the mini class is suposed to be only for beginners, as a warm up to another class or as a quick slot-in for a super busy time period. I just hope that the individual clubs and instructors market it as such.

BTW, had a quick look at the tricep track for BP68… ouch!

Pat

suggestion - go to the 30 minute class, squat 45+ kg, bench 30+ kg. If you have anything left, try back tracking 30+ kg. you will get a workout.

Tim, that’s a bloody brilliant idea! Probably very unsafe, but brilliant :) I never even thought about that. One for the hardcore Pumpers only, i suspect.
I could probably just about do those weights too. The squats might be a bit of a struggle though.

i sure didn’t mean the absolute numbers for everyone… those weights were just a lot heavier than my personal comfort zone, to the point where I really didn’t know if I could finish or not, and had to miss a rep here and there. each to their own.

would be nice to know the tracks in advance too. i don’t want to go 45 or 50 and get hit with voodoo child !

Of course. We should probably re-iterate that I would not ever recommend those weights to anyone during a class. Officially, it just wouldn’t be a safe thing to do.

If anyone is going to try a 30 minute class though (and they are an experienced BodyPumper), it would probably be a reallly good idea to go an extra kilo or two heavier on each track just to crank up the workout a bit. That should be safely manageable by most people.

Mind you, I might just see if i can find a short class with another instructor I know well and just stay at the back of the class and try some silly weights… Just for research ;)

Pat

Does anyone have a flyer on the 45 minutes BP Express format? I like the one they have for the 30 minute but we are doing the 45 minute one here at our club and I can’t seem to find any literature on the 45 minute class. Any direction to a web site or a PDF would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Normally, for club representatives, you can log into the Les mills website and download a whole bunch of brochures and posters and flyers. I’m not one myself, so i don’t know what they have for the 45 minute class.

If you do find anything though, let me know.

Pat