Body4Me

Quarterly workshop time again in sunny Australia. Wow, what a day. We had the pleasure of having Glen Ostergaard with us on stage today. Glen is the head choreographer and program director for the Les Mills Body Pump program. He’s the guy that makes it all happen. Because of this our usual attendance lifted to the point where we were struggling to contain 200 odd instructors in the same room. Awesome atmosphere, heaps of energy and lots of fun had by all!

So, what about the BodyPump 73 release itself ? Well, today is all about the pop tunes. This is by far the most easily recognisable release we’ve had in a long time. Almost every song is straight out of the recent Top 40. When I say Top 40 though, I do of course mean Top 40 ‘with a twist!’. Pretty much all of the songs are remixes or re-recordings to make it a little harder. Be warned right now: Every song starts easy and almost lulls you into a false sense of ‘Yeah, I can do this easy’ before it hits you with a muscle-melting endurance final round. No doubt about it, this is going to be one of the biggest releases we’ve had in a while!

(Note to instructors: Make sure you check out the DVD in your kit. Somehow they managed to convince Wolverine to come up on stage and present a few tracks. He’s French. You’ll know who I mean when you see him. He’s awesome :) )

OK, let’s get straight into it:

Warmup: An easy and very uplifting start with a great version of ‘Release Me’.  Even without ever having done the track before, you can just tell the choreography that’s coming up. All the usual moves you would expect to see here and none that you wouldn’t. This is simply a perfect warmup song. Use this one as your chance to get your form right and timing spot on. Quite honestly, you just can’t help but be smiling by the end of the warmup.

Legs(Squats): Time to get moving on the real work. As the sizzler for this releases promises, Body Pump 73 is challenging to the point of punishing. Our squat track for today is a massive rock track to really push the legs. Each round starts nice and easy before belting into a big set of singles. The first rounds come and go and you’re thinking, Yeah, I can do this’… but you forgot about the killer last round. It starts the same, but quickly degenerates into a never ending set of singles, bottoms, twos, threes, more singles, more bottoms, more singles and more pain. I reckon you could just about do this track with an empty bar and your legs would still burn like crazy. (Disclaimer: Don’t try to actually do a BodyPump class with an empty bar!)

Chest:  ‘I’ve got a feeling’ that this chest track is going to become a favourite with many of us. Not only is the beat super catchy, but the workout will get in deeper than any chest workouts we’ve seen a while. The kicker here is that after we do our standard twos and threes, we hit the bottom halves before we go for the big singles. By the time you go for the big moves, the muscles are already nicely pre-fatigued. Like with the squat track, the first couple of rounds are manageable and fair. Quick break. Uh-oh.. You already know the song well enough to know that there are a good two minutes left. The wind up begins. It hurts even before the big beat kicks in. Did I say that ‘tonight was going to be a good night’ ? Maybe not for your chest :)

Back: If you’re thinking of challenging yourself and going a little bit heavier, this is the track for you. Four(!) rounds today, with four continuous clean-and-presses in a row. Once again, very familiar song to keep us moving and keep the energy high of. The music changes beautifully to the moves. When the power comes, your bar shoots up along with your heart rate.  The choreography is as straightforward as you can make it. Cleans, rows, triples and we’re done. I like that we come out of the break straight into the clean-and-press. I reckon it keeps the heart rate higher. Make sure you use the breaks between sets! Once you’ve done the first two rounds, you’re probably thinking that you only have one more round to go… Nope… two down, two to go. Breathe, dig in. Explode out of the breaks straight upstairs. Oh, and watch out for the last 5 seconds…

Triceps:  Hang on… am i in the wrong track here ? It’s Cascada… They’re our friends from the back tracks. What are they doing in a triceps track ? I love the energy in this track. Normally, the triceps track is a little toned down after a big back track. Not this release. This one is as big as the back. We meet the usual variety of moves with extensions, bottom pulses and a few pullover combos thrown in for good measure. Two rounds on the bench before the break. Another quick round before we grab our big plate for standing overhead extensions. Now, normally, there are just a few overheads because the arms are already shot. Apparently, they forgot that bit when putting the choreography together in this release. Tricep-melting fun  :)

Biceps: Ahh yeah, you just have to love a bit of Linkin Park for the Biceps track. Even if it is a re-recording with female vocals :) My advice: If this is your first time doing this release, today is probably not the day to go too heavy and try to show off like I did at the workshop. There’s a good chance that your arms may actually explode.  Seriously though, everything seems quite ok for the start of this one. Two well-sized rounds to get used to it, nice big break, and then a final round that feels at least as big as the first two rounds put together. To make things even more painful, instead of full range singles, we’re moving three-quarter range today. That means the arms don’t even get those little micro-breaks at the top and bottom. Simply massive workout for the arms here today.

Lunges: As we’ve seen plenty of times before, two kinds of lunges today: The normal static up-and-down lunges on each leg, followed by dynamic stepping lunges. We get to hit the singles very early on, although the beat is probably not quite as big as I was expecting given the last 5 tracks. Don’t let that fool you though. There are more than enough bottom halves to keep the intensity in the legs. By the time you’ve finished each leg with the static lunges, you’ll be wishing the song is over. Not so. Time to step forward slowly. Push and then back. Full speed and kick it hard for the last minute!

Shoulders: ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ ? Heck yeah! This mix is quite similar in style to the one we saw some time ago in RPM. You just can’t help but go massively big in this one. Some slow push ups to set the mood, then a big set of singles and doubles. Don’t even think about dropping to your knees. Kurt wouldn’t be happy :) Each set of moves today is a little longer than we’re used to. The rear-delt raises for example have more 2*2’s than you expect. Stand up and do it again for the singles.  Be careful with the plates you pick up today too… we have a new move, the slow top half side raise. It does exactly what it says. It’s a slow pulse at the top that just simply burns like heck. Hook into the music and grab your bar to finish it off at the top.

Abs: Uh, I like the new compound crunch we’re getting into. We’re using both the upper and lower abs to bring the body together. It’s probably not quite as hard as the ab track in BodyPump 72, but that’s not really a bad thing, is it ;) Once again, the music helps us though the workout. Helped by a sampler mix of pretty much every move we’ve done in an ab track over the last few releases, you’ll be screaming by the end of it.

Cooldown: There’s ‘No Surprise’ you’ll need the cool down at the end of the work out to back down to earth. No odd moves like we saw in 72. Just old-school stretches and nice music to relax and reward the body for the workout. Nice way to finish a very challenging workout.

So, what is the overall impression ? I love it. If you like your Top 40 music, this one is right up your alley. Even if you don’t, the beat and energy in every single song is big enough to lift you through the workout. We were challenged, we were punished, we grew, we strengthened. If BodyPump keeps getting harder with every release like this, we’ll all end up being elite athletes before too long!

The other big question is about the cover versions of most songs. As you probably already know (because i’ve posted about for the past few reviews), Les Mills is preparing for the record companies to increase their grab for royalties by very significant amounts. This has the potential to cause serious harm to the Group Fitness industry at least in Australia as fitness centers will simply not be able to afford the fees. So now, most of the Les Mills programs feature re-recordings of the original songs that are not covered by the same royalty structure. Naturally, the down side is that we won’t get to hear the original artists any more. There is an upside to all of this though. Finally, the choreography teams get the chance to remix the song to fit the exercise better. You probably noticed a lot of the songs in previous releases used to have little pauses as they restarted the song to give us more time for the track.  Now, they can just repeat a verse and/or chorus or restructure the song to fit the exercise. Plus you’ll get to hear interesting new mixes. For example, a different ‘Evacuate the Dance floor’ cover features in three different Les Mills programs and they sound totally different so that you wont get sick of them too quickly. So, in effect, this all works to keep BodyPump the unique and fresh exercise program we know and love.

Once again, a fantastic release from Glen and the team. Can’t wait to get stuck into it.

As always, leave your comments below and let me know what you think. Do like the songs and choreography ?

**Update 24/02/2010: Full Preview / Review of BodyPump 73 available here ***

**Update  06/02/2010: Now with embedded BodyPump 73 Tracklist ***

Hot off the presses, here is the BodyPump 73 Sizzler:

BodyPump 73 is challenging, bordering on punishing, but it will leave you with a great sense of achievement. After an uplifting warmup, we’ve got intense isolated work in store for you, especially in the Chest, Triceps, Biceps and Shoulders Tracks. Get prepared right now for the huge cardio endurance work in Tracks 2, 4 and 7 (Lunges).

Musically, this release holds a real contrast of genres that will get you through the intensity of the workout. Feel strong and confident as the chart-topping music pushes you to new limits.

Get ready for big blocks of Singles that will really drive your heart rate up in the Squats Track. The awesome anthem DOA will motivate you to keep going all the way to the end. You’ll not only feel this one in your legs – your heart will be pumping hard too.

It’s a party on the bench in Track 3! Watch out for the days of the week in I Gotta Feeling – a week has never felt so long for your chest. Next is the crescendo of athleticism that is Track 4, (the Back Track). Four blocks of powerful back work will take you to a cardio adrenaline-pumping high.

For Triceps, we’ve got isolated work that just doesn’t back off but the massive song will help you make it through. There’s no hiding in this one, evacuate the PUMP floor! Then, get ready for pain in the Biceps – hello ¾ Range Singles!

Smells Like Teen Spirit brings more pain for the shoulders in Track 8, before a new exercise, the Alternate Leg Extension & Twist, spices up Jordin Sparks’ remake of the hit S.O.S.

The Cooldown/Stretch track will leave relaxed and proud of a massive workout.

(As always, the video links are only indicative. Having seen the tracklist, most of the tracks are cover versions. Looks like only Tracks 4, 9 & 10 retain their original artist. Thanks to the music industry’s unquenchable thirst for more money, I expect that within the next couple of releases, all the Les Mills program songs will be all covers.)

So, what happens when the quarterly BodyPump workshops in Melbourne, it’s 34 degrees outside, you’re in a massive metal building with 300 other instructors, no air conditioning and 2 pedestal fans ? You have one awesome, massive, sweaty workout. Oh, and afterwards you end up with a swimming pool on the floor as a freebie :)

The focus for BodyPump 72 is on isolation and bottom halves and let me tell you, they’re not kidding. Pretty much every track has some kind of modification to keep the muscles under tension just that little bit longer. Whether it be bottom halves or three quarter moves, you’ll feel it by the end.

You may be thinking, ‘hang on… why do they keep making it harder?” Well, and most of the instructors out there know this, a lot of participants tend to under-load their bar by a fair amount and are really not working up to their potential. So, if we can’t get you to put more weight on the bar, we’ll make the workout a little bit more intense so you get a big workout even if you’re a bit scared of the big plates :)

As usual, I’ll keep the review as musically spoiler free as possible. If you want to see the track list, check out the Sizzler, a post or two down.

Warmup: Time to get going. As soon as the beat hits, you know it’s going to be a big workout. We start with our usual assortment of deadlifts and rows. The original track from release 71 as great, but I really like this one because you know the song and it’s a happy tune. Lots of quick change overs, and moves. It’s quite a long one too, so by the, you’re be ready for the real work

Squats: Ok, so we said that this one is all about isolation and bottom halves.  They weren’t kidding. This is one of the hardest squat tracks I’ve done in a long time. It’s only 3 rounds. Medium first round, then massive second and third rounds. Not only that, they trick us too. Just when you think the track is finished, you realise you’re only at the end of the second round. Seriously, go with your normal squat weight today. Don’t try to be a hero during the first couple of classes of this release, you may end up regretting it. First round filled with the usual warmup moves plus a good set of bottom halves. Second round starts easy but the gets not-so-nice with lots of singles and bottoms. Think the round is over ? Sorry, it’s just a quick super slow to let the legs breathe before we go again…and again. I think I lost count somewhere after 20 bottom halves just in that round.  And we haven’t even hit the third round yet. Ouch.

Chest: Thank goodness we can lie down. After that leg workout, the legs are shot. Once again, it’s all about isolation and bottoms. We have a nice little combo move from a few releases ago to get in deep: The slow bottom half pulse. Four rounds, but be careful…. the break is about half way into the track rather than the usual three quarters. And what a difference it makes. The last two rounds will make you want to cry. Awesome rock track that lets you move your arms nice and smooth during the 2/2’s and then rip it up for the singles and bottoms. By the time you’re two rounds in, you’re happy to get the break and have already forgotten that we still have another 2 rather evil rounds to go. Uh-oh. Now the real work begins. Easy start, combos, bottoms, more, more and more.

Back: It’s a Cascada track. What else can i say? Big Bass Beat,  Deadlifts, Clean & Press, Triple Rows. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. And Repeat again. I guess there had to be some Cascada or Pink in the release somewhere :) It’s actually a pretty good track. Typical Cascada high energy sound. No surprises, just a solid workout. Don’t be shy on the weights. With lots of rounds, we get plenty of breaks and time to recover.

Triceps: All right, back to the isolation workouts. The focus here is constant loading for the muscles for a real good burn. Grab yourself a little more weight than usual to get the real feel for the workout. We start with some nice easy triceps extensions followed by a little set of bottom presses. We repeat the movements for a few rounds to isolate the triceps. There’s a new move with the combo press-pullover. Down, pullover, back and up again.  I’m a big fan of the pullover move.  Uh, how about a few more bottom halves. For the encore, let’s finish this one off with a few dips. The new option today is to keep your bar in your lap to add a little more weight. Believe me, give this option a try. There’s only a few of them, but let me tell you, it works. Instructors, please make sure you demo this option.

Biceps: As usual, bit rock tune to work the guns. I dare you not to tap your foot to this one. Everything we know and love about a bicep track… Lots of two’s, three’s, 1/3’s and bottom halves. After that though, we mix it up a bit some bicep triple rows. Remember them from a few releases ago?  They allow you go a bit heavier on the weights because you’re getting assistance from more muscles. The rounds are longer, the weight is heavier. Go hard!

Lunges: Hang on, is this one the lunge track or is it another squat track? For the first couple of minutes, they had me confused. Because we’re squatting for a bit, we need to go heavier than normal. Think chest weight. Pay attention to your instructor too, the transition from the squats to the lunges needs a little attention. But anyway, the track itself it the usual big beat techno sound that will carry you through the workout. Lots of squats to start with. Really… Lots.  2’s, 3’s, singles, bottoms… They’re all there and we haven’t even done a lunge yet. When we do get there though, you can really feel that extra weight. We get lots of slow movements to go deep and feel the burn. Do yourself the favour, load up and really go for it. Word of warning: Even with all the squats to break it up, it’s longer than you think.

Shoulders:  Finally, the Michael Jackson Tribute! Honestly, this cover of ‘Beat It’ is the perfect Shoulder track. ‘Beat it….Beat it…..No one wants to be defeated’. It doesn’t get better than this.  Pushups to get us going then rear delt raises and side raises to lift the temperature. No really new movements, so we can just focus on the music and the workout.  We do get a small, interesting modification with the three quarter range movements. We go all the way up, but only ¾ way down to keep the muscles loaded. By the time you get into the song and get to the break, you wont even notice how much work there is in this track. Quick recovery and then it’s time to grab your bar and head upstairs. Give it all you’ve got.

Abs: Ouch. That’s probably the best way I can describe the ab track in this release. The reverse ab curls from the previous release are back, and in a big way. Slow, medium, quick, every way you’d want them. Since we’re now familiar with the move, it’s really time to focus on form. Make sure you glue your heels to your butt as you lift. Just when you think there couldn’t possibly be any more, we find out that we’re only half way through. Are they for real? This thing hurts.  Hit the deck for a walking hover on and off the bench for what feels like an eternity. What’s a walking hover ? You’ll find out…. or rather, your abs will.

Cooldown: This has got to be the coolest cover of ‘Careless Whisper’ ever :).  Normally, there’s not much to write about the cooldown since they’re all fairly similar. This one, however, is quite different. We get a whole set of brand new moves including a quad stretch on the floor. This is one of the best cooldown tracks to finish a solid, solid workout.

I can happily say that the Les Mills team have done it again. BodyPump 72 is one of the hardest, most effective workouts I have done in a long time. The program keeps evolving and the music keeps getting better. No wonder millions of people around the world choose Les Mills BodyPump as their workout program of choice. Well done guys.

Hot off the presses, here is the Bodypump 72 Sizzler (Tracklist is embedded into the text):

BODYPUMP® 72 is all about making your class stronger, faster. How? By focusing on Bottom Halves and Partial Range movements, the rest phase is eliminated and the muscles are kept under tension for longer. Look forward to a challenging workout and an overall strength blast where active recovery is your only break! Brace your abs and prepare for more Bottom Halves than you bargained for in the Squats Track.

Kelly Clarkson will motivate you to keep going with her huge hit I Do Not Hook Up. New Zealand’s own Dane Rumble sings Track 3 – Always Be Here. Bottom Halves and Slow Bottom Halves will put your chest muscles under tension for a little bit longer than usual. Ouch! The good news is this will give you results faster. The Triceps Track is sweet like Sugar! Again, Bottom Halves are the name of the game.

Challenge yourself and go a bit heavier than normal in the rocky and upbeat Biceps Track. The Bicep Row returns, attacking your guns from a different direction. It’s back to the legs in the intense Track 7. The Lunges stick with the theme of the release – you guessed it – lots of Bottom Halves that will push up your heart and burn calories. The Shoulders Track is a tribute to the legend that is Michael Jackson – make sure you watch the DVD for this one! The range of motion in the Singles has been shortened to ¾ Range. Grit your teeth and hang on!

Ciara and Justin Timberlake will take you through the Abdominals Track with Love Sex Magic. The mix of deep, lower abdominals work and the Walking Hover will chisel your six-pack and at the same time strengthen your core.

Apart from that, we can warm up to the Freemasons and cool down to a Careless Whisper. And hey, it wouldn’t be a BodyPump without a bit of Cascada for the Back Track .

As you may or may not know, partly due to some fairly significant potential changes in the Australian music royalty scheme, Les Mills is now starting to use covers of a number of songs to avoid clubs having to pay a 300% increase in music charges. Check out Operation M.U.S.I.C for more details. All the youtube links on here are still to the original artists, so the version you will hear in the class will likely be slightly different.

Stay tuned for the full review coming early November…

Yup, it’s quarterly workshop time again, and that can only mean one thing! It’s time for a new set of Les Mills Releases. For us, the most important one is of course BodyPump 71! Here we go with the usual full preview / review.

For this release, we had the great privilege of having Susan Renata with us all the way from New Zealand. In case you don’t know her, Susan is one of the awesome master trainers that has appeared on pretty much every instructor DVD for as long as I can remember. She is the essence of Les Mils. As fit as you can be, full of life, an amazing instructor and a really nice person. Susan spent a lot of time with us, answering question and hanging around for photos with almost 300 instructors. Thank you very much Susan. You Rock!

Ok, so let’s get on to Bodypump 71. At the start of the masterclass, Susan decribed it as a ‘meat-and-potatoes’ release :) What that means is that it focuses on the fundamentals. The right moves, the right weights, the right intensity without having to worry too much about tricky choreography. Pretty much all of the moves are things we have seen before and are comfortable with. You get the chance to focus completely on the workout. Don’t worry though, there are still plenty of surprises along the way to keep it exciting.

Warmup:The warmup is an interesting one. The warmup track was actually written by a fellow BodyPump instructor. It starts off a little mellower than I would probably expect, but it has a really nice feel to it. Uplifting & positive lyrics without being all lovey-dovey and easy choreography. It’s nowhere near as grungy as the warmup for Bodypump 70 was. in terms of moves, all the usual suspects show in the place you’d expect them. Nothing too different today. As Susan said, ‘meat-and-potatoes’ release.

Squats: Wow, that’s a bit different. After such a cruisy warmup, I wasn’t expecting to get hit that hard :). Classic squat track with an awesome tune. I love the remixes of old tunes. You get a big beat to work with and the participants get a chance to sing along and forget about the pain.  We start off with a massive beat and some nice easy 2×2’s. No idea what the song is yet ? Wait for the 3×1’s. Guitar hits and the room goes crazy. You know it’s going to hurt. That’s what happens when you do a bunch of singles, then 2 * 4 bottom halves, then 8 bottom halves. Ouch! Recovery ? Not yet. Another couple of rounds first. By the time we get to the break, the legs are seriously ready to melt. Oh, and when you think you’re done, prepare for another 30 seconds of wicked singles and bottoms. For the past 3-4 releases, the squat tracks have been absolutely superb, and this one is no different.

Chest: When Glenn warns you at the start: “Go with your normal chest weight. Today is not the day to go heavy”, you know it’s going to be interesting. Naturally though, when you’re at the workshops with 300 other instructors, you always go heavy :) On today’s chest menu, we have a lovely set of 4 rounds without break (!), each served with a solid set of 2’s and 3’s, followed by big set of tops, bottoms and singles. For dessert, how about an extra helping of pushups. Don’t worry, there’s only 17 of them :)
Seriously though guys, this is one massive track. My chest was burning like it hasn’t in a long time. The pushups at the end just keep going.

Back: The 4 continuous Clean & Press is back once more. I like this move, it has so much more energy than the usual C&P/row combo. To help you focus on the energy, the choreography is as simple as you can make it. Deadlifts of various speeds, hit the roof and then go deep for a bunch of single and triple rows. Rinse, Repeat. And again. I can guarantee your heartrate will go through the roof for this one.

Triceps: Uh, compulsory challenge, I like it ! When was the last time you used a 5kg or 10kg plate for your standing overhead extensions ? Well those are your choices for today. We start of nice and easy on the bench with a nice grungy tune from Eskimo Joe. Lots of extensions and presses to burn through the triceps. Each round seems quite achievable on its own, but when you chain few of them together without a break, it does start to tingle :). Two thirds of the way through the song, we’re off the bench and with a massive plate in our hand. The lyrics hit and we move super slow. Guitar comes back and now we’re moving with proper speed. “Straight Down” for the singles  to the end! Ouch!

Biceps: You can just about close your eyes and just feel the music. No need for a lot of words today.  The choreography follows the music perfectly. You just know when the singles hit and when it’s time to slow down. My recommendation: Go just a little heavier than normal. Even if it’s just an extra kilo, it’s worth it. You’ll get through it just from the music alone. The bottom halves at the end of each round a the killer here. Watch the adrenaline go through the roof for the last round after the break. You couldn’t really pick a better song for a bicep track.

Lunges: Finally, we get a full length lunge track with guess what: Just Lunges! No squats today, just good old fashioned static and dynamic lunges. Grab your bar or plates and prepare to go deep. Nothing too new or unusual in terms of music here. We get a familiar, solid techno beat. The challenge comes from the bench option that lets you get just that little bit deeper. We also get a new modification for the dynamic lunge. When we hit the return phase backward stepping lunges, we lift the knee all the way up instead of just stepping back onto the bench. It almost feels like a Body Attack move. It’s amazing what a difference those extra 30 centimeters of leg movement makes.

Shoulders: Ahh, we’re bringing back some memories … ‘I wanna hear everyone in the house say whoooaaaa’…. ‘Bass in the place London’. I think you may know this one :) Not a lot of words needed to coach you through this one. The beat will drive you through the roof. So what’s new here apart from the remix ? How about more move changes than you can count. Shoulder presses to warm you up, rear delt raises, side raises, pushups, more rear raises, side raises, more pushups !, back to the bar and to the top, quick, slow, quick, arrrgghh….. Finished ? NO, there’s more….make it stop, make it stop.  I think i’ll call this one The Punisher. Seriously, one hard track. All the changes without any real breaks work to completely drain every part of the muscle group.

Abs: Brittney’s back with a nice slow ab track. I really like this one. It’s slow and deliberate like the last release. New position and new move. We’re on the bench and we’ve got a reverse ab curl.  Hang on to the bench behind your head, tuck the heels in and lift the knees towards your chest. Now lift them some more. Now lift your butt off the bench with your abs. Can you feel it ? I think you will.  I reckon these new ab tracks are awesome. Oh, did I mention the hover at the end. To easy ? Try it with your toes on the bench and your elbows on the ground. Not easy any more, is it ? :)

Cooldown: Pink’s Sober takes us home today. Not really much to say about the cooldown track. Same moves and pretty much the same sequencing we always have. I wonder… with all the innovation and new moves we get in every release, why is there never a change in the cooldown track ? Bbut anyway, good song, long stretches, nice way to finish off a solid workout.

Overall, Susan was right on the money. Simple moves, big weights and a fantastic workout you can walk away from and be proud of. The music is a touch different to some of the previous releases, but it’s something that will grow on your very quickly. I can’t wait to launch it.

Hot off the presses, here is the BodyPump 71 Sizzler:

BODYPUMP® 71  is all about  teaching  from  the heart, not  from  the head. The exercises are easy  to coach, giving you  the  freedom  to  focus on connecting your participants  to  the magic of  the workout and  the music.

The release  focuses on  two kinds of  training — strength work  in  tracks 3, 5, 6 and 8, and cardio dynamite  in tracks 2, 4 and 7. Warm-up  to  the captivating, warm voice of James Sampson, a singer and BODYPUMP™ instructor  living  in Denmark. Magnetized  is  his  original  song. The Squat Track  is  a  killer! Sing  along  to  the Summer  of  69  cover  but  be  prepared  for  huge  blocks  of Singles  and Bottom Halves. Most  of  the work is done  in a wide stance, which allows you  to go  lower. Oh yeah! Pace yourself  in  the Chest Track.  In Right Round, Flo Rida and Kesha will  inspire you  to go all  the way down  in  four  identical sets of work without  recovery. A  set  of Push-ups  at  the  end will  fnish  you  off. Push  yourself  in  the  hugely  energetic and  athletic Back Track! Four Clean  and Presses  in  a  row  are  followed  by Triple Rows. Eskimo  Joe will take  you  through  the  Triceps  Track  with  Black  Fingernails,  Red Wine.  Be  prepared  for  a  Bottom  Halves challenge! The Biceps Track  is straight-forward, allowing you  to  just relax and really  feel  the music. Then fnd out how low you can go in the Lunge Track, where cardio meets butt. Unleash your strength in the Shoulders Track. Go harder and heavier as we attack the shoulders from three different directions – back, side and front.

Of course, we’ll see some familiar artists for the  Abs Track and the Cooldown.

The workshop is coming up for us in early August, do you can expect the usual full review shortly after that. Can’t wait!

Time to celebrate 70 big releases of the world’s best and most popular workout program. I’ve just come back from the workshop and I can honestly say that this is one of the best releases in a long, long time. It’s not that the other releases are not fantastic, it’s just that this particular combination of music, choreography, weight selection and feel works extemely well.
So, what’s the general feel ?

• Lots of big dancey beats. Right from the first track, you can feel the energy in the room.
  
• As in the previous release, easy to learn choreography with simple, big supersets.

Let’s check out the specifics. Here is my preview / review of BodyPump 70

Warmup: What’s this ? A male vocalist on the warmup track ? Ok, different. First thing you’ll notice is that the beat is a lot bigger than the warmup tracks you’re used to. You could just about mistake this one for a squat track. Lots of big moves to get the body warmed up. No usual ‘Love’ theme here either. Strong lyrics, strong beat, good, solid warmup. No new moves, and none needed.

Squats: The first of our three challenge tracks. It’s a short one, so load up. We start slowly and work up the intensity today with a big set of 4’s and 3’s. Just when you think this is going to be OK, the singles hit and the heart rates shoots up. 30 seconds later and we’ve slowed down again. Bang, there come the singles again. And now they don’ stop ! The second half of the track is basically and extended set of 46 singles (!) that come at you either as full length or bottoms. I’m not kidding, this is intense.
(Note to Glenn O: Mate, I know you’re a big fan, but seriously brother, it’s time to retire your ‘Best of Pink’ CD for a few releases…)

Chest: Once again, a short track. Make sure you stick an extra kilo or two on each side. It’s our second challenge track. Ok, check this out… There are two moves in this track: 4×4’s and Singles. Yup, nothing else. You want a chest workout? Here it comes ! You know the song. It’s Infinity 2008 (Klaas Vocal Edit). ‘Relax… Take your Time…’. You can’t get a bigger dance beat than this. It’s an odd beat too to give you more time under tension. The 4×4’s get an extra two beats added to them at 3/4 height to burn the chest and tri’s. Oh, and how many singles would you like to do in a single set ? 10 ? Sure! How about 15 ? Let’s do it!

Back: Back to something more conventional in this back track. Three big rounds. Long one, Medium one and one short one. E-Type is back once again with the big euro-pop dance beat they’re known for. No new moves today. Deadlifts, Cleans, Triple Rows. You can actually predict the next move from the vibe in the music. I wonder if E-Type write their songs specifically for Body Pump :). The sneakiest part of this track is that the music finishes after the second set so you think you’re done. 2 seconds later, the beat comes back and you realise there’s another round to go. Nice touch :)
(2nd note to Glenn O: Same goes for your E-Type and Cascada CD collection…;)

Triceps: Remember a couple of releases ago when we did the triceps track without a bar? Remember how much all those triceps pushups hurt ? Well, get set for a whole heap more. BodyPump 70 gives us a very similar choreography set with 24 triceps pushups (!) and 44 kick backs before we stand up for some overhead extensions. Make sure you position your body correctly on the bench so that you don’t pre-fatigue the supporting arm before it has to do the work. Hint: Start on your weaker arm. You’ll be thankful to have your stronger arm ready to go when you get to the end.

Biceps: Ahh yeah. Proper rocking singles are back with Nickelback and a track that’s a bit longer than the last couple of releases. Nice lyrics and a huge guitar backdrop motivate like nothing else. Pretty familiar format for this one. Three rounds with a quick recovery after the second round. It’s a nice long last round too. You feel like you’re not going to make it, but the music just takes you there. Connect with it. Let it carry you through the work.

Lunges: Time for the third challenge track. Rack up some extra weight. Chest weight will do just fine. ‘Feels like the raindrops..’ BOOM! Sash! is in the house with the biggest lunge track there is. This one is for the clubbers. Try to contain yourself during the build up and go absolutely crazy when the beat hits. If this one doesn’t get the little hairs in the back of your neck standing up, nothing will. I’m going to hae to force myself not sing along to the whole song when I do it :) ‘You make my body come alive…’ Like in the previous release, we have a combination of lunges and squats. The squats component in this one is a longer than last time around. It’s all singles, pulses and bottom halves in the squats. Ouch! Can’t stop, Can’t stop! Best. Lunge Track. Ever!

Shoulders: ‘Aa aa aaaaa Thunder!’. Hinder’s cover of AC/DC’s Thuderstruck. Classic Track.. Classic Track. TURN IT UP !!! Grab your plates, grab your bar. Think Side Raise Staggers for ‘Thun-der’. Be careful with your weight selection though.. there are 26 Side Raises before we even hit the Mac Raises. Don’t fight it, just sing along. It’ll help you get through this one. As you’d expect, one of the biggest rock songs of all time gets one of the biggest workouts you can find. As I said, side raises, mac raises, back to the side raises and then the bar for the final chorus. What a way to finish off the big muscle groups.

Abs: Wow, finally, our little abs track has graduated to a fully grown workout. Three rounds of three moves. Not just normal moves either. The Leg Rotation Extension Combo sees us extending our legs while they are at 45 degrees through a rotation. Follow it up with some plate crunches and then hit it with a wicked set of Vertical Lifts. Haven’t done vertical lifts before ? Glenn borrowed them from Body Balance :) Ok, you’re on your back. Lift your legs straight up in the air. Now, lift and extend your arms and use your abs to push your hands towards your toes. Sounds hard ? That’s because it is! Finish this one off with some quick Rotator Planks and you’re done. This is probably the most effective abs track I’ve done in a long while.

Cooldown: Ahh.. Needed this one. What a massive workout. Slow song with good long stretches. A bit more upbeat than usual and a great way to finish off the debut release of the 70’s.

Seriously, this is one of the best BodyPump releases ever. The music is rocking, the intensity is huge, the choreography is perfect and the whole workout is as effective as you can possibly make it. If you walk out of this one without sweat dripping down your shirt, you didn’t try hard enough :)

Thanks go once again to the Les Mills team for consistently delivering the world’s premier group fitness program. What a fantastic start to the 70’s.

*** UPDATE: BodyPump 70 Review is now up ***

It’s that time again. We’ve just finished the first few weeks of the current release, and BodyPump 70 is already around the corner.

Here is the sizzler, hot off the presses:

The key focus of BodyPump 70 is perfect timing. This means your body spends more time under tension and this will get you shape fast! The music in this release really ‘goes off’ - and keep an ear out for beats you’ve never heard before in BodyPump. Game on in the Squat Track! Challenge yourself with more resistance. Don’t be fooled by the slow start and the Pop-Rock nature of the track - the back half bites hard with four sets of Singles and Bottom Halves back-to-back to finish! Go a little bit heavier in the Chest Track - Infinity 2008 is awesome and builds anticipation before you pump it! The new tempo means your muscles will be under tension for the maximum amount of time. True Believer will inspire you to give it all you’ve got in the Back Track, before Christine Aguilera’s Keeps Gettin’ Better drives you through the Triceps Track. You don’t need but get ready to feel the burn in the Pushups and Kickbacks! Rock through the Biceps Track with Nickelback’s Gotta Be Somebody where Singles are the name of the game. Take a deep breath before the Lunge Track. Sash! is back for this endurance track that is VERY intense and includes Lunges and Squats with heavy weight. Ouch! Another classic Rock track is in the house with Thunderstruck motivating you through the Shoulder Track. There’s a new move in the Abdominals Track - The Rotator Plank. Kanye West’s Love Lockdown is unlike any Abs Track - get ready for a dark, dim, sexy beat!

Wow! This sounds absolutely awesome. I love the track list already.  BodyPump 70. A new release, a new evolution of the program.

What do you think of the lineup? Let me know!

What ? Time for a new release already ? What happened to the last one ?
the third quarter always feels like it’s over in a flash with the whole Christmas and New Years break that keeps everyone out of the gym.

But now, we’re back. 2009 ! New Year, New Release.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to BodyPump 69.

Before we get stuck into the preview itself, what’s the general feel ?

• Awesome music with a nice blend. Rock tunes, dance tracks, something to keep everyone happy. Some big remixes of classics make an appearance here.
• The choreography reminds me of the Mike McSweeney BodyPump days. Simple, repeated sets that hurt you more with high reps and big weights than with combos.
• Where are my breaks ? One track is missing it completely and when they are there, they feel much shorter than usual. I think it’s one of the reasons why my heart rate was higher throughout the workout than with other releases.

So, without further ado, here is my preview / review of BodyPump 69

Warmup: As always, we start with a happy, upbeat tune. I wonder, is there a special store where you buy all this happy music ? :) The choreography is a bit tricky in this one and we see a nice variation on the lunges early on. I like the way the choreography team are playing with the warmup routine lately. It keeps the program fresh. BTW, if you’re an instructor check out the DVD. Susan Renata does the warmup. Would you ever pick that she had a baby just a few months ago  No, me neither :)

Squats: Load up! It’s a massive track with a short warmup round followed by three big working rounds. The song is perfect for the squat track. ‘Let’s get the part started’ indeed! What’s the focus today ? Lots of slow moves to get deep into the muscles at the start of each round. Once we’ve fatigued the muscles, we head downstairs for a whole bunch of little ones before we hit the big singles. Round one done. 2 second break. Guess what, we get to do it all again…. and then again! Arggh. You can really feel the McSweeny style choreography here. Simple, but as effective as it gets. Oh, btw, we had Alani (from the DVD) at our workshop. He did the track with 40kg on the bar….and made it look easy.

Chest: Short one for this release, so we need to put a bit more weight on the bar. Really try to keep an extra kilo or two on the bar for this one to get the full workout effect. The big, grinding rock tune will carry you through the pain. Once again, we meet short, intense rounds taht give you just enough intensity to make you think you can’t possibly handle any more before your to slow down and start the next round. Oh, watch out for the last round though. That one will push you just over the edge :)

Back: I remember this song… It’s a remix of a dance classic that we already used back in the BodyPump 40’s. As normal, we get a little round of rows to warm up the body before the big work begins. After that, three big round of deadlifts, clean & presses, rows and triples to raise the heart rate (and the roof). With all the rows, the focus for this really lies in your form and core stability to focus the workout on the upper body. I know i’ve said a few times already, but the choreography in this release is really hitting home for me. It’s easy to learn and remember, so you can spend more time focusing on the workout.

Triceps: The bar makes a welcome return as we hit three short rounds on the bench before we go upstairs with seated plate extensions. It’s also the first time in this release that we get to see any sort of combo move. This one is really well timed as it takes the load of the working muscles for a second and allows you to keep going a little longer. I would recommend that you go jus a little heavier than you normally would. With three rounds and the combo in each round, you can easily go an extra kilo or two on each side. Don’t forget about the seated overheads at the end though. Grab the biggest plate you can see and hang on till the end. ‘Shut up and drive’ ? No. Shut up and squeeze! :)

Biceps: I think Glenn O is a bit of a P!nk fan. We meet her again, this time in a tiny but super intense three and half minute biceps track. It’s that short, we don’t even have time for a break. Use the shoulder rolls between the rounds to get some blood back into the arms. I like the bottom half moves for the biceps and this one doesn’t disappoint. All intensity, all the time. You never feel like the bar stops moving. Want to feel what it’s like ? Do ‘Pump It’ from Release 58 an remove the break.

Lunges: Time for some innovation. More weight. New moves! This release, just like 68, adds some squats into the lunge track. This time though, the bar is back behind the head again and we change the range and target zone of the squats. Think continuous loading for the whole length of the track. Like with every song in this release, the breaks are virtually non-existent. Make sure you have some spare plates for some dynamic lunges to finish the leg workout.

Shoulders: Ahh, what’s that you say ? We get an actual break in this one ? What a pleasant surprise :) Seriously though, this is one awesome shoulder track. After some initial push ups to get the blood pumping (on the bar, of course), we run through two full rounds of exercises that include both the plates and bar. It’s a very different feel to our normal shoulder tracks and a very welcome change. Normally, we progress from the plates to the bar for the power moves. This time around, we get a chance to work with the plates and bar in each round and push the body to a completely different kind of workout. Some more push ups to finish it off? Sure, why not. BTW, did you spot the ‘Night Train’ sample at the start of the track?

Abs: Seriously, a mashup of country songs? Yup, you’ll hear a beat mix up of “Werewolves of London” and “Sweet Home Alabama” in a song that works surprisingly well for an abs track. Quite a traditional ab workout n this release. Plated crunches, bicycle crunches, twists, all the usual stuff. The song is nice and slow, so you’ll get plenty of time to make the moves long and deliberate. Just when you think it’s over though, we might just hit you with hover and a side plank. Stay with us, it’s good for you ;)

Cooldown: consistent with the theme of the release, the cooldown/stretch track has a bit more feel to it. Nice refreshing rock ballad with good long 2 x 8 stretches. Time to collect your thoughts, think back over the past hour and congratulate yourself for another amazing workout.

So, overall, another great job from the Les Mills team. Yes, I know I say that about every release, but this time, the different feel and different focus gives us something new and intense to sink our teeth into. I can’t wait to start teaching this one soon.

*** UPDATE: My BodyPump 69 Preview/Review is now up! ***

Ok, better late than never  :)

BODYPUMP® 69 is a strong, intense release that you’re going to learn fast and have fun with! The music is pumping with awesome tracks from Fall Out Boy, Pink and Rihanna, motivating you to really challenge yourself – and your class. The squats track is tough but, as the song suggests, it really gets the party started! There are three blocks of work and in each block the legs are pre-fatigued with bottom halves before the singles.

The chest track is short, simple and hard. Fall Out Boy’s rocking track I Don’t Care provides the momentum needed to get through more killer bottom halves before you start the good, honest, back work in track 4. It’s a classic track with three sets of identical work.

Pink’s huge hit So What ensures the biceps track is oozing attitude – this song is definitely the fun peak of this release! It’s another short, intense track but you’ll feel the burn in the bottom halves. There’s a new move in the lunges track – the three quarter squat. Coming up three quarters of the way in the squats means the load is kept on the leg muscles and boy, does it hurt!

And there’s no relenting of the pain in the massive shoulders track which features two supersets. You do three exercises back-to-back to challenge the shoulders in a slightly different way. Don’t be fooled with the cool feel of Kid Rock’s All Summer Long in the abdominals track as there’s a strong core challenge ahead, before you catch your breath and cool down to the smooth sounds of Let Me Be Myself by 3 Doors Down.

Sounds Awesome!
The workshops are in early February, so I’ll have the full review up shortly after that.

Update 05/02/09 : Ok, I normally don’t post the track lists until after the workshops, but it seems that everyone else already has them listed anyway. So, here it is:
01. Better In Time - Jamie Knight
02. Get This Party Started - Dan Winter
03. I Don’t Care - Fall Out Boy
04. Castles In The Sky - Liz Kay
05. Shut Up & Drive - Rihanna
06. So What - Pink
07. Stand Alone - Dyce
08. All I Ever Wanted - Basshunter
09. All Summer Long - Kid Rock
10. Let Me Be Myself - 3 Doors Down

Naturally, the youtube links probably are not the exact same mix, but you get the idea.

Wow, where have the last 3 months gone? Time for the BoduPump workshops again. This time, we have BodyPump 68, and it promises to be a big one.

As usual, the Les Mills Super Workshops manage to gather about 300 BodyPump instructors into one stadium for one massive workout. I always wonder… where do you keep 300 people’s worth of bars, benches and weights ? It looks like they would need a fleet of forklifts to set the place up. But anyway…

Ok, so what is BodyPump 68 all about? Well, if you read the Sizzler, you already know that this workout is going to be a little different. Let me assure you, they were not lying! This release of BodyPump feels completely different to the last few releases. There is innovation everywhere with new moves or new sequencing in pretty much every track. The focus has shifted from the normal strength workout to include a massive cardio workout in this release. Most tracks are structured with shorter, harder rounds to peak the heart rate multiple times in each song and muscle group.

While the focus has changed, the general feel of the music in this release feels very similar to the last release. Tracks 2, 4 and 7 have the big dance beats. 3, 5 and 8 are big rocking tunes. There is something for everyone here.

Now, I know there are lots of track lists floating around on the internet for this release already, so I won’t bother listing them here. If you want a generally spoiler-free preview of BodyPump 68, read on:

Warmup: Let’s get started then. The warmup song is meant to be light and uplifting and this one is as cruisy as a cruisy song can cruise. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was the Pet Shop Boys at the start. Great beat, nice lyrics and finally a song not centered on Love :). Because it has a deep bass beat, the moves can get in nice and deep to really warm up the core muscles. All the usual moves you know and love here, nothing out of the ordinary.

Squats: The first big working track is in the house. Ok, this is a challenging track. Six rounds with a heap of singles and bottom halves. When the master trainers tell you not to go too heavy on the weights, you know it’s going to hurt! Right off the bat, massive beat with a Nick Skitz remix. The slow moves at the start give you a false sense of security that make you think you can actually do this track :). Then the singles hit. And then the bottom pulses. Ok, we can do this once or twice, but six times ? Oh boy! I really like this track because it is quite different to our normal squat tracks. The focus is on the cardio component of the workout rather than just strength. The singles almost come out of nowhere to bite you. We really lift the heart rate with those six peaks.

Chest: Grungy rock track all the way to really get deep into the chest. We’ve got a new move to help work on endurance. Imagine a bottom pulse but slowly with a 2 count in each direction. If it sounds hard, that’s because it is. In principle, the track is quite similar to the squat track. A few slow moves and then the heart rate peaks with a big set of singles. I love the rock music for the chest tracks, it just works. We’ve got two big rounds here with one break. Because we have the slow pulse, don’t go too heavy on the weights. Good chance you’ll burn out during the second round. There’s some real slow stuff at the end to test what you’re made of.

Back: Well, you can’t go wrong with Cascada on the back track. It’s got everything you know and love in a back track… but there’s a change. This time around, the clean-and-press move does not have a row in it. It’s just 4 cleans in one hit. The rows come later. Quick warmup round to get us started. Bar down break. Here comes round one. Deadlifts and then we explode. Rows, Triples, Done. Once again, quick rounds with a quick spike in the heart rate. Not much else to say here. If you’ve done a Cascada back track, you pretty much know what to expect.

Triceps: Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Who came up with this one ?  Very different track this one. No bar at all. It’s all about the tricep kickbacks and the pushups. The difference here is that we’re on the ground with our knees, leaning into the bench. Why are we doing this ? It makes it a little harder to cheat because you have to hold the arm a little higher. So, kickback galore, then straight into the pushups. Think you’re done ? Nope! More kickbacks on the same arm. Argghh… this is an awesome tricep track. In the past, I’ve found the kickback tracks a little easy. Not this time around. Once again, don’t even think about going to heavy on the weights for the first few times. Oh, and there’s a nice surprise at the end. You think you’re done, but you’re not. Swap over to the biggest plate you can see and watch what happens.

Biceps: Party time for the front of the arms. What an awesome track. Happy, bouncy song. Definite toe-tapper here. You’ll be way too busy getting down to the music to notice that your arms are about to catch fire. We keep the theme alive with the quick, sharp rounds that get deep into the muscle belly. No shortage of bottom halves here today… especially at the end… how about 16 to finish it off ?

Lunges: My new favourite lunge track! We have a new move too. The Front Squat. The bar goes on the front of the shoulders. Cross the arms over and sit the bar at the top of the arms. What does this do ? It lines up your spine and stops you hunching over. It makes you push all the weight into the legs. Before we get there though, we have a nice set of normal and stepping lunges. You’ll have to ‘listen to you heart’ to get though this one ;) Awesome techno remix of the classic. My legs haven’t burnt this much in a long, long time at the end of a lunge track.

Shoulders: Another big rock tune to make the shoulders burn. We start off with the usual rear delt raises and follow it up with a big set of side raises. The thing is that there are probably quite a few more than you’d expect. More reps and more variations. As we have with the last few releases, we finish off at the top with the bar. Nothing really new here, just a good solid shoulder workout to finish up the major muscle groups. The one piece of advice I will give though: Have some extra weights handy and go a little heavier during the rear delt raises at the start. You can always swap to some smaller plates during the side raises later on.

Abs: Let’s finish off the workout with some abdominal conditioning. Once again, we get a new move with an overhead plate extension. I was actually a bit disappointed that we did not see a return of the plank crunch from the previous release. I always got an ‘interesting’ response from my participants with that one. Not to worry, this one can be just as good by employing a decent weighted plate. The nice thing about this one is that you already have the plate in your hands so it’s quite natural to keep it on one shoulder when we start the twist crunch. That will be a new option for a lot of participants that normally chose not to go with a plate in the ab track.

Cooldown: For me, the most important thing in a cooldown track is that we get enough time to do each stretch. This was one thing that bugged me with release 63 (otherwise the best release ever…). Nice slow song by Andrea Bocelli called ‘Dare to Live’. Very appropriate at end of a massive workout. It’s quite a short song, only 4 minutes long, but we get a good length 2 * 8 count for every stretch. No new moves here and none needed I guess. You’ll walk away relaxed and uplifted.

So, overall verdict? I love it. It’s quite a different workout to the last few releases and it is exactly what we need to keep the program current. I know a lot of us can get into a rut easily and stick with the same weight for every workout no matter what the instructor says. This one will change that, that’s for sure ? ‘m sure there will be a few old-school pumpers out there that have been doing the program for years that might not be comfortable with the new moves and the little bit of extra intensity. To them, I say: This is exactly what you need to take you to the next level. Get in, load up and Turn It Up!

Once again, thank you Glenn O and the Les Mills team for taking BodyPump to the next level. I think it’s safe to say that we have seen more innovation in the last eight releases that we did for the previous twenty. Release 68 will challenge you in totally new ways. What could they have in store for us for BodyPump 69 and beyond?

Have an awesome workout!

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.)

Hot of the presses, here is the sizzler for the new BodyPump 68, coming soon:

There is more focus, for example, on pure strength in the Chest Track, emphasis on power in the Back Track and overall, you are going to get a huge cardio blast. There are also some cool new moves in the Triceps, Lunges and Abs Tracks. Watch for lots of Singles and Bottom Halves in combination with slow strength in the Squats Track. The six sets of Singles will increase your heart rate, burn calories and help you get fit faster!

The heavy beat and uplifting feel of Big Girls Don’t Cry really powers you through this great interval training session. The new tempo in the Chest Track is the Slow Bottom Half – it is all about control and it’s tough! Watch out for the 4 Clean & Presses in a row in the Back Track. This is intense! This will lift up the heart rate and bring a huge power-training effect to this track.

No bar is used in the Triceps Track – instead, the focus is on Kickbacks, Pushups and Seated Extensions and you’ll be able to sing along to the Veronicas’ Hook Me Up. Again, the Bottom Halves are the killers in the Biceps Track but give it your all because the song is short.

A remix of Listen to Your Heart will get you through the killer butt workout that is the Lunges Track. Your legs are going to be hammered with the Forward-Stepping Pulsing Lunge and then you’re going to give whatever’s left to the new move – the Front Squat. You position the bar on the front of your shoulders which gives you a totally new sensation in your legs and helps you maintain a perfect back position when squatting.

The Plate Crunch in the Abdominal Track adds resistance to your six–pack. Straight from the weight room, this is authentic resistance abs work at its best and will seal the deal in BODYPUMP® 68.

No doubt about it, this is going to be another huuuuge workout from the Let Mills gang. Can’t wait!

I have finally added some more content to the So, you want to be a BodyPump Instructor page.

We now have the Certification section up. I know a few of you asked for more in that part.

The next part is getting a Cue Library up and running. Good cueing is something I found quite difficult to do when I first started instructing. I had one or two ways of describing and pre-cueing a move. It took me quite a while to work up a decent library of sayings.

I plan to go through every track and every move and put in a few lines on how to pre-cue it and how to describe the move once you’re there.

This is where I need your help though. It doesn’t matter if you’re an instructor or a participant who has heard a great cue that really connected, please leave a comment or email me (patrick [at] body4me……) with your cues.

How do you describe a 2/2 bicep curl ? How do you explain what a bottom half squat should feel like ?
Let me know!

Ok, the first week of the new BodyPump release is over… So, what’s the verdict ? In a couple of words, this release rocks. No question about it.

First, we have the warmup. Like we already know, nice cruisy song that changes the sequencing around from the usual warmups. I really like the 2/2 lunges we do at the start of the leg warmup. It’s quite different to normal and really allows you to stretch the muscles before moving into the squats. The extra bicep rows are a nice introduction to the bicep track later on.

The real work starts in the squat track… and what a track it is. I know it’s a hard one, but don’t go easy here. Normal squat weight please! The bass beats hit us from the start with a nice big first round and lots of singles. Quick break and we’re straight into the second round. Normal stuff, then we meet our new best friends, the 24 bottom halves… Now, they come in a 4 * pulse + 4 * 4 configuration, but I think a nice ‘option’ would be to offer to combine the last 4’s in the first round to make it an 8 and then combine the 4*4’s into 2 * 8’s to really make it hurt. I had a few people try it the other day and the difference was huge. It’s of course only something for the seasoned Pumper. Give it a try though… Your legs will thank in that special way… ;)

Chest next and for this one, I think you do need a little more than usual to really feel it. Yes, I know the breaks are only 5 seconds long, but the track itself doesn’t seem as hard as some we’ve had in the past. Really try to stay low on those bottom halves, especially the ones at the end.

Back comes in big with a nice tune from E-Type. I like that we get straight into the workout without the little warmup round we normally get. The two sets of clean and presses work really well together, especially combined with the quick wide rows. I just wish the second and third round were a little bit longer. You’re just getting into the track and it’s over already.

Triceps are set to a rather familiar tune from the radio, but that’s ok. It’s a good song with a lot of hard work. The first two rounds on the bench need a little more weight than usual to do their job, but then the triceps kickbacks only need a couple of kilos to do the damage. If you’re doing these properly (arm tucked into the side, elbow not moving, pushing the plate behind you, etc), you will not need any more weight. This one has massive burn potential. Use it!

Oh man, how much do I love the bicep track! I said in the review that I wasn’t into country music, but this one changed my mind. The first two rounds are a heap of fun because they are achievable with your normal weight. Then, we add the extra weight… ok, no problem so far… we can do bicep rows with the extra few kilos on.. what, you want me to go all the way up with that ? and do bottom halves ? and then top halves ? Are you insane ? That’s basically the expression on the face of every participant I’ve been getting :) If you ever wanted a challenge for your biceps in BodyPump, this is the one for you. I have found my new favourite bicep track.

For the lunges, we get an awesome remix of a dance classic. You’ll know this one. The workout flows quite smoothly form the static lunges to the dynamic lunges. Fun, achievable but hard. I reckon it could have done with a few bottom halves at the end to increase the burn.

Nice pick on the shoulder track. As we’ve seen on the past few releases, we get a whole range of different moves for the shoulders. Pushups, rear delt raises, front raise, mac raise, side raise, rotator press, shoulder press….. Sounds like a lot, but the massive beat carries us right to the end. Challenge yourself and go with the instructor suggestion to grab a slightly heavier weight for the first couple of moves. It pre-fatigues the rear delts nicely for the rest of the workout. Awesome track overall. I love the faster beat. Oh, by the way. The pushups at the start… there are only 8 of them so you’ll be doing them on your toes, thank you very much.

Ok.. Hardest. Ab Track. Ever. The plank crunch can make a grown man cry. The look of disbelief I’ve been getting at the end of this track is priceless. Unless you have a lower back issue, do yourself the favour and stay on your toes… Don’t go with the knee option. Tough it out to the end. There are only 16 of them. Your abs will thank you later. Just keep that butt at shoulder level. I’ve seen a few people try to do it from a ‘downward dog’ yoga position. Needless to say, they were corrected rather promptly :) Keep it low and keep the abs locked in place. We all want that six pack… work for it!

After all that, the recovery/stretch track is a welcome relief. Nice big song with loooong stretches. Thanks Glen! Nothing better than being able to take a few seconds to slow the heart rate in one position before moving on the next one. You really feel properly recovered at the end of this one.

So, overall, this is another massive workout. BodyPump66 was huge and this is as good or even better. We have heaps of opportunities to increase our weight or try something new to challenge ourselves. Seriously folks, throw yourself in the deep end with this one. If ever there was a BodyPump release to really help you change the shape of your body, this is the one!

As always, Enjoy The Workout!