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 ?

k, before we get started, I know I haven’t posted in a little while, but I do have good reasons… I’ve got them somewhere here, I’m sure :)

I’ll be posting up the sizzler for BodyPump 71 soon, stay tuned.

Now, I just read an interesting article on a friend Kat’s website here. She’s a personal trainer. It starts off saying that up to 80% of her clients do not like sweating and are even embarrassed and apologetic when they do. Ok, maybe I’m being a bit too much of a guy here, but this seems absolutely incredible to me. When I work out, I strive to be a sweaty mess by the end of it. I love to sweat. To me, it means my body is working at its peak and is achieving results. Why else would you work out ?

Kat also points out what I think a lot of people find a bit of a paradox. You actually sweat more as you get fitter. It’s just your body working more efficiently to keep you cooler as your workout intensity increases. It means you can train harder and longer. I have found that to be absolutely true in my workouts too. These days, I start to sweat a lot sooner into a workout, but I also cool down a lot quicker afterwards.

Basically, if you’re working out, the more you sweat the more weight you’re likely to lose. (I wont count the sauna or steam room in that as your body is trying to cool you due to external factors rather than internal ones, reducing the benefit).

So, what can we do about our attitude to getting a bit wet ? It sounds like it’s hurting the performance and results of the majority of gym goers out there.

If you’re a personal trainer or group fitness instructor, maybe explain what it actually means to sweat and the benefits to your clients and classes. Even is it’s just little snippet and factoids to make people feel a little better and less self-conscious about it. (I wont go as far as suggesting a class competition to see who can get the drippiest…)

In my Pump and especially Cycle classes, I always encourage people to train to a level that works up at least a ‘medium sweat’ (You decide what that means to you). Naturally, I always get the odd person telling me that they just don’t sweat. To them, I say: ‘turn up the resistance a bit or add an extra kilo to the bar and watch what happens’ ;)

Get out there, get wet and be happy about it. It’s good for you :)

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.

It’s that time of year again. We are at the end of January and the new year has well and truly settled in.

So, you set yourself a New Year’s resolution, didn’t you ?
How is that going for you ?

If you’re like an all too large number of people, there is a good chance you ave already given up on it and slipped back into old habits. The most common resolutions are of course to loose some weight, get fit and, for some, to quit smoking. For now, I’ll focus on the first two since I’ve never smoked, but i;m sure you can apply the same principles across all resolutions.

First of all though, if you did set yourself a goal and are still striving for it, Well Done! You have done better than a lot of your peers and you should be congratulated. Keep it up.

If you’ve fallen off the wagon a bit, let me suggest a few things that may be able to help. Here are a list of things that I have applied to my life to make some massive changes:

1. Why are you doing this ?
Why are you doing all of this ? Do you have a real, solid & believable reason for putting yourself through this ? I believe that the reason you have for achieving your goal is by FAR the most important factor in determining whether you will succeed or not. I’m not talking about a weak little ‘because smoking isn’t really good for me’ reason here. I’m talkig about a ‘If I don’t give up now, I will probbaly never get to see my kids grow up because i’ll be dead from lung cancer’ kind of reason. If you want to truly achieve your goals, they need to change from ’shoulds’ to ‘musts’!
Look into your life as it is right now and imagine how it would be different if you had already achieved your goal. Now, look into you life 5, 10, 20 years from now as if you did NOT make that change. How different would your life be ? Would you be happy or miserable ? Let leverage on yourself. Make it hurt. now imagine your life in 5, 10, 20 years time with your goals chieved. It’s a bit differnet, isn’t it. Which life would you rather live ? I’m sure you can take a few minutes to think up a few reaon why this resolution/goal must become a must.

2. Was it a vague resolution or a defined goal ?
You may or may know know this, but i struggled with my weight for many, many years. I, like many other people, set resolutions like ‘I’m going to get fit this year by joining a gym’. These kind of goals tend to set us up for failure because they don’t clearly define the outcome. For a new Year’s resolution (or any decision) to stick, you need to have a definable goal. I will loose 10 kilos by the 1st of September. I will be fit enough to take part in the Ride Around the Bay cycling event in October. Whatever your resolution was, redefine it as a distinct goal with a deadline. Make it real, and most importantly, write it down somewhere visible.  A post-it note on the side of your monitor can help. I use a marker pen and write my goals on my bathroom mirror. That way, I see my goals and get re-motivated at the start of every day!

3. Is your goal measurable ?
Once you have defined what you want to achieve, create yourself a path to get there. We already know that people who weight themselves regularly are more likely to loose weight than those that don’t. Use this to your advantage. Set yourself milestones and measure your progress in small, achievable steps. It is amazingly motivating to see yourself hit a target every week. If your goal is to loose weight, create a weekly weigh-in chart and stick it up on your bathroom wall above your scales. Then, every Monday morning go for a weigh-in. Record the date and weight and feel good about your progress :) Whatever the goal is, write down your achievements and congratulate yourself.

4. Burn the Boats !
The best way I found to get myself serious about a goal is to tell as many people as possible about it. that way, you can’t just quietly back out of it when the going gets tough. As some famous army general once said: ‘If you take the island, burn the boats’. As in, if you want to be sure you’re going to achieve your goal, remove any other possibility. No retreat, no surrender!

5. Reward yourself !
Did you hit a target ? Reward yourself ! the human brain works amazingly well on positive reinforcement. If you hit a weight target, reward yourself with a new piece of clothing that you can now fit into. Naturally, pick a reward yourself with something that motivates you even more. Don’t go an have a big tub of ice cream because you lost half a kilo this week :)

6. Surround yourself with success.
The easiest way to start is to surround yourself with imagery of what your goal looks like. If they are physical things like a new car, put up pictures of them around your home and work area to constantly remind you. For fitness goals, it might be a bit harder since you may not want to (or can) have pictures of hot looking guys and girls around the office and home :)
The more important step is harder and his one may be a bit difficult to get used to but it is absolutely vital. Someone once said: ‘You will always rise to the level of your peers’. These are your friends and family you hang out with day to day. Do they share your goals and dreams or do they think it’s just some unrealistic fantasy ? If it’s the second option, then you are more likely than not to fail in your path. Your peer group has a very direct influence on what you will achieve. It’s very simply psychology. We want to be accepted by our peers and that means behaving in a similar manner with common beliefs and goals. If you’re overweight and hang out wit other overweight people who are not motivated to loose weight like you then, then guess what… To fit in, you’ll probably give up on your goal fairly quickly. what’s the chance of you quitting smoking if you continue to hang out with other smokers ? I know this sounds like an impossible choice, but you may have to find yourself a new set of friends that share your new goals and ambitions. At least, find yourself a new peer to hang out with that can give you constant, regular motivation. Talk to the people at the gym. Maybe you can set yourself up a lunchtime walking/workout group where a few of you get together regularly to motivate each other.

7. Have Fun!
This goes hand in hand with some of the other points, but it’s easy to forget sometimes. Go back to your reasons for doing this in the first process and think of all the good things that will come from you achieving your goal. Smile. I regularly walk around with a silly grin on my face because I imagine myself already achieving my goal :)

Ok, I think i’ve ranted on enough now :)

I hope some of these tips turn out to be useful to you. I know they have changed my life.

I would love to hear about your success stories, hints, tips or anythign else on the subject, even the setbacks. Heck, even post your resolution and progress for all to see. It might just motivate you enough to get back on the wagon and post a followup comment to tell us all how well you did.

Now, enough time at the computer, get back in the gym! There’s a BodyPump class starting somewhere. Be There! :)

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!

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!

A new quarter, a new BodyPump release. I’ve just come back from out latest workshop for BodyPump 67  in the city. It was cold and rainy outside, but we turned up the heat inside. It felt like one of the biggest workshops ever. We had 293 instructors doing the masterclass at the same. Talk about energy! Nothing quite like the master trainers yelling ‘Are You Ready!’ and 300 instructors yelling back at the top of their lungs.

Ok, so what do we have here. The theme for BodyPump 67 is ‘The New More Powerful You’. No doubt about it too. By the end of this workout, you’ll feel… something… maybe not new, but certainly trashed :)  This is seriously one awesome release. With the last few releases, it has usually taken me a few listens before I liked a few of the songs. Not this time.  As soon as they hit play, I liked what I heard. The whole release has a similar feel to release 63. Big beats, nice grungy raw sounds when you need them and new moves to get deep into the target muscles.

Oh, and if you’ve been checking out the tracklists for this release on the internet, let me tell you, they’re wrong! Wrong mixes, wrong artists, wrong feel.

** Edit 29/9/2008: Now that all the quarterlies are over, here is the tracklist for BodyPump 67:

1.  Bleeding Love - Jamie Knight
2. Piece Of My Heart - Jan Wayne
3. Paralyzer - Finger Eleven
4. Eurofighter - E-Type
5. Cuz I Can - P!nk
6. We Got It Going On - Bon Jovi
7. I Need A Miracle - KLM
8. Now You’re Gone - DJ Alex - Basshunter
9. B Boy Baby - Mutya Buena
10. Angel - Aerosmith

As you know, the secret to any good exercise program is variety.  Different moves, different weights and different intensity. The choreography team have really taken that to heart and given us a completely new and different workout. With Bodypump 67, We have new moves and  new sequencing to keep it exciting and effective.

So, without further delay, here is my (non-spoiler) preview and review of Bodypump 67:

Warmup:  Ok, you’re thinking… I know what’s gonna happen here… Nice light song about love, a few deadlifts, deadrows, Upright rows, etc, etc.  Well, you’re right about the first part. It is a light fluffy song about love. You already know from the sizzler that the song is called Bleeding Love. I know i’m a bit silly, but i couldn’t help giggling to myself, thinking “if you’re bleeding love, you’re doing it wrong” :) Anyway, back  to it. The general sequence is what you would expect, although they have moved a few of the moves around to mix it up a bit.We also do moves that we would normally see in the back track. I really like the warmup. It’s lively and really gets the body warm for the main onslaught.

Squats: Bring! The! Bass! Ahh yeah! I love my dance music and this one is right up my alley. Once the bassline hits, you know you’re in for one helluva workout! You’ll hear the rhythm and think and it’s a particular song, but you’re wrong :) Three big rounds with two breaks. You’ll need them too.  Big sets of singles and LOTS of bottom halves.. is 24 in a row enough for you ? No need to go heavier than normal on this one. Put on your normal weigths and pray you get to then end in one piece. This is a perfect example of changing the intensity to keep the muscles from adapting. I love this one. Close you’re eyes and imagine the strobes and coloured lights in the club. My new favourite squat track.

Chest: If you liked Enter Sandman (Metallica) or Famous Last Words (My Chemical Romance) from 63, you’ll love this one!.  Again, familiar beat but a different song. Raw. Energy. It’s a bit slower than usual, so you can add at least an extra kilo or two. I did and believe me, I felt the difference. Nice sequencing of slow and fast work to let you get through it.  Something new too.. Two breaks!. But, they feel like they’re about 5 seconds long each. You have long enough to stretch the arms back and then it’s straight back into it.

Back: E-Type is back in full euro-electro-pop goodness. Cheesy as it is, it works perfectly as a Back track. High energy beats and lyrics you can really work with. We get a different track layout too. Gone is the usual small warmup round. We get straight into the workout. Four sets of Clean and Press sets in total with a couple of breaks. There are some real quick changeovers too, so you’ll have to pay attention. If you’re looking to get the heart rate up, this is the perfect song. I reckon you can go a little heavier tha usual because of the sequencing. It works perfectly if you want to challenge yourself a bit more.

Triceps: Ouch! It hurts! Make it Stop!.. They’re just a few of the thoughts going through my head towards the end of the tricep track. P!nk is in the house with a funcky attitude track that hurts like all heck. We start on the bench with a nice heavy weight (heavier than usual) and end on the floor with a wicked set of tricep kickbacks for each arm. One tip though, do the tricep kickbacks properly if you really want to feel this one. No momentum swing. Stop at 90 degrees. I’m a big fan of this track. The only way it could be any harder if if it had dips in it. Thank goodness it doesn’t :)

Biceps: I’ll be the first to admit that i’m not usually a big country music fan, but the bicep tracks tend to work really well with it. This one is no exception. Bon Jovi gives us just over 4 minutes of party time. Big, toe tapping energy tune with a heap of work. To keep things fresh, the choreography team give us new moves and a weight change half way through the track. I really advise you take them up on the challenge and add that extra kilo or two when called for. It makes a massive difference. Don’t worry, the new move allows you to carry the extra weight to the end. You’ll make it.

Lunges: This is one of the all time classic dance songs andwe get an awesome new remix of it for our lunges. Definite Ibiza feel to it. We’ve been enjoying the bench lunges over the past few releases and this one once again gets us up on the step. Maybe it was just the intensity of the rest of the workout, but I could really feel this one get in deep. We start with a nice slow set of weighted lunges and then explode into the dynamic stepping lunges. As usualy, one leg at a time until you’re about to crumble :) Not much else to say here. The music rocks, the lyrics work and the workout hurts. It’s everything you could want from your lunges.

Shoulders:  This is the shoulder track ?  We normally save the fast techno tracks for the lunges, but this time we get a massive bass tune to hit the shoulders hard! Huge variety of moves. Pushups, Front Raise, Mac Raises, Side Raise, Rotator Raise, Overhead Press! Grab your plates. Are you Ready ? We haven’t had a tune as big as this for ages. I love it. The shoudler track is usually my favourite becuase they hit us hard when we’re just about out of energy and this one fits the bill. The beat is much faster than normal so you don’t even get tiem to think about the pain :) Empty the tank on this one. It’s a big as it gets!

Abs/Core: Ok, you’ve probably checked out the tracklists on the internet and thought “What the heck is this?”. Don’t worry… Yes it is that song, but it is a really good new R&B remix by a different artist. It’s a short song, but it’s worth it. We keep the innovation going with a new move they told us about in the sizzler. Plank Crunch.. It’s basically what it says, a plank and an upside down crunch at the same time. It sounds odd but it feels awesome. And by awesome, I of course mean painful. Everything about this track is slow and deliberate. You can feel evrything contract as you move.

Cooldown: Ahh, you’ve made it! What a workout. And what better than to finish it off with a big Aerosmith ballad. I really like this one becuase the stretches are nice and long. A few releases back, we had a tendency to make the stretches 2*8 counts, whihc I thought was a big quick. This time around, everything is 4*8 counts, which gives you plenty of time to feel the muscle relax, bring the heart rate down and focus on breathing.It’s the perfect way to round our a massive workout.

So, what did I think of it overall ? Love! It! This is one of the most powerful and fun releases of the 60’s. The music captures the workout perfectly. The moves give us variety.  The fitness magic is there in every song!

Honestly, every release the Glen Ostergaard (program director adn choreographer) and the team have done has been better than the last. These guys are pulling out all stops to give us the perfect workout every time. The amount of innovation we have seen in the 60’s has never been done before. Every time you step into the group exercise room, you’re in for a totally different workout. No wonder bodyPump is now the most popular group exercise program on the planet.

After having listened to the release3-4 times now, I like it more and more each time and I know you will too. Let me know what you think of it.

Have a fantastic workout!

Do you ever get one of those moments when you look at something and think to yourself: ‘Why are they doing this ?’

The other day I was leaving the gym and I saw a couple of things that made me think. My gym is on the first floor with about 3 meters worth of stairs. We have a lift for wheelchairs and prams and things, but on this particular day, there was a guy that was waiting for the lift to go downstairs. Now, this guy was quite overweight (>150kg). I did watch him work out, so I was pretty sure he wasn’t injured and needed the lift. A few minutes later as I was walking down the stairs myself, there was a young lady rummaging through her handbag for a cigarette which she proceeded to light as soon as she cleared the door way.

Now, the thing is: I don’t think either of those two even thought about what they are going before they did it. It was totally subconscious and out of habit. And that’s what struck me. Here we have people that a making a conscious effort to do something good for themselves by going to the gym but then immediately slip back into their subconscious habits to undo it all.

I have posted on this topic before here, but I want to touch on it again. I am a firm believer in the thought that it is your habits that determine your life, not what you do ‘on purpose’. Yes, you can go to the gym a few times a week because you know you should, but what you do when you get home is just so much more important. Is it just a habit to grab a beer or a glass of wine when you get home ? Or a muffin for morning tea ? I don’t want to preach or judge here, I am just as guilty as everyone else. I love my deserts. A bowl of ice cream or a cookie after dinner was just a normal thing to do. However, it was also stopping my from achieving my goals. I was working hard to lose weight but I was sabotaging myself without even realising it.

My turning point came when I worked out that point about habits determining the rest of your life and more importantly that your reality is really just determined by what you focus on and what you decide it means to you. I wont bore you with all the details, but the point of the story is this: It’s All In Your Head!

If you find yourself held back but can’t explain why, do yourself a favour and just spend a day (or a week if you can) and check in with yourself every time you do something our of habit or routine. Ask yourself: Is this really helping me ? Do I really want this ? Is this really aligned with my goals ? There is a good chance that, just like me, you’ll find a whole lot of little things that you do that are not serving you as much as they could.  Once you’ve done that, the important part is replacing them with new habits that will actually help you.  I did it by using little post-it notes in all the places that led me astray. On my fridge, on the inside of my wallet, on the dashboard of my car. It worked too, but that’s a whole other post :)

That’s all from me for now. I’m getting ready for the new Pump workshop and putting together my next cycle class.

Have an awesome workout.

As some of you may know, starting with release 66, the Les Mills team have introduced a new, shorter variation for Bodypump. It’s a 30 minute ‘Express’ class. In this configuration, you do 6 tracks : Warmup, Squats, Chest, Back, Lunges or Shoulders and then Abs (Core). No cool down and we skip the Triceps and Biceps completely. The workout is focused on moving the major muscle groups and using the maximum calories possible for that class type. You will still need to cool down and stretch after the class yourself.

Now, obviously, Les Mills is just doing what the market is asking. People want shorter classes to fit into their lunch breaks and around their ‘busy schedule’. It first glance, I was really excited about the idea. Hey, it’s a short ‘taster’ class to get new people interested in Group Exercise. It can be used as a warm-up class to something else (RPM, Body Attack, Body Combat, etc). You can squeeze it in anywhere when you want to get a quick workout. That’s all really good and I am totally for it.

But now, I’m a little worried about what this may do to the perception of people and the class. Are we diluting the program ? In our society, everything is about making things quicker, easier and more convenient. Does it make sense to apply that principle to exercise and keeping your body in shape ? At the end of the day, if you want to get fit or lose weight, there are no shortcuts. We all know there is no magic pill that will suddenly make you lose weight (long term). Yes, you can grab a tablet that will stop your intestines from absorbing fats or go to the doctor and get your stomach cut in half, but that’s not really solving the root of the problem. If you don’t change your mindset and how you think about your body, none of these things will last you long term.

If you wan to lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you take in. If you want to build muscle, you need to train them beyond their capacity. By offering shorter and shorter classes, are we giving people false impression that they can achieve their goals with minimal effort and barely raising a sweat ? All too often, I see people in the gym, walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes while chatting to their friends. Yes, I know it’s better than nothing, but really, who are we kidding? You’re not going to achieve any real results with that.

I’m just worried that busy clubs will start offering these classes instead of, rather than alongside, the normal classes and that participants will come to think that half an hour of exercise is all they need to get trim.

So, the way I look at it, it’s a double edged sword. On one side, this new format is an awesome weapon in our fight against globesity for those that use it to supplement their existing workout routine. On the other side, it can be misused to give you a false sense of security that you’re doing everything you need to.

If you’re an instructor and you’re teaching this new format, please make sure that you educate your participants  about the purpose of the class. Explain the benefits of each class format and try to ‘up-sell’ the longer formats.

If you’re a participant or someone who has not done a Group Exercise class before, try it out. BodyPump is an absolutely fantastic way to get in shape. Use it to add to your workout regime. You can try the short format as a warmup to a bigger workout or you can do it on an off-day. Just be aware that the class was originally designed as a 55 minute workout that targts every muscle group to give a full, balanced workout. The 30 minute class will be a compromised version that you may not want to solely rely on. And maybe, let’s ask ourselves, how busy are we really that we have to cut 15-30 minutes out of keeping ourselves in shape. At the end of the day, you only get one body. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Is your email, that spreadsheet, that report, that tv show really that important…. ?

**Update: I’ve got the review/preview of BodyPump 67 up here **

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to have a listen to the upcoming BodyPump 67 release. Of course, it’s been killing me to not just post the tracklist and tell you all about it :) As we know though, we don’t want to spoil the fun for all the places where it has not yet been released.

What can i tell you about it though? The warmup is happy and lively, as always. The squat track is huge. Love the beat!. Chest, nice and grungy. I’m sure it’s going to hurt. Back, fun and fast paced. You’ll know the artist… we may have seen them before once or twice :) Triceps are good, not quite as ‘dancey’ as the last few releases. Uh, i’m going to like the Biceps track. Again, familiar artist, lots of guitar. The Lunges feature the usual up-pace dance beat we all know and love. Good song too, classic. You’ll all know it. The shoulder track is once again lively with a big beat. Not as ‘heavy’ a sound as we’ve had over the last couple of releases. Then come the abs… ermm…not quite sure what to say here.. Not the sort of music you’d usually hear in a BodyPump class, that’s for certain. Points for variety though… :) The cooldown is another big guitar based song you’ll probably know. Nice finisher.

So overall… Very different feel to BodyPump 66. Lots of guitar and not as ‘dancey’ (Yes, i know it’s not a real word) as the last release. I love that every release has a quite unique feel to it. Bodypump 67 is going to be another big workout, as always. Can’t wait!

Hi Everyone.

Well, we just finished our first week of Bodypump 66 classes. So, what’s the verdict from the crowd ? They love it!

I’ve had some real positive feedback about the warmup track. It’s a nice upbeat song with a really good bass line. It sets the mood very well. The Squat track is awesome with it’s three big rounds. For me though, the real fun is in the Chest track. Now, do yourself a favour : Go heavier on the weights ! The track is designed to allow you to put a little more weight on the bar as we finish early on the bench to hit the pushups. For my first class, I used my normal chest weigths and it simply wasn’t enough. Since then, I’ve been putting an extra 2.5kg on each end and it really makes a difference. You need to overload the muscles in the ‘Get Down’ part to make the track work properly.

The Back track is the next big one. Four sets of clean & presses is a lot of work ! You really have to focus and pull together to finish the last few sets of triple rows in good form.

As I said before, I love the Tricep track. Again, the choreography works very very well. I like it that much, I wish the whole track were longer. I’m sure my participants feel otherwise about the dips at the end though :)

The next big track is the Lunges. It looks easy on paper, but, wow, does it hurt. You get a few dynamic lunges to warm up, then 32 proper ones to really hit home. Each Leg. Once again, I had one of my usually so well mannered front row ladies whisper some pretty harsh obscenities during the track. That’s when you know the workout is doing it’s job… :) I really like the lunge tracks from the last few releases.

For the shoulders, again, go with the heavy option. Towards the end, you have the choice to very quickly grab a bar instead of using the hand weights. I highly recommend that one. Don’t get me wrong though, the track is hard, real hard. The Arnold Press move tires out every part of your deltoids. Using the bar at the end though really makes you feel though you couldn’t have done another press if you wanted to.

The Abs track is another one of my new favourites. The song itself is really good, but the rolling side plank move is my new favourite. It’s another one of those things that looks easy on paper but is quite hard to do properly. Watch your hips! Lock them into place. The idea is that you move your upper body and use your obliques to stabilise and rotate. If you move your hips forward during the movement, you take all the work right out of it. Don’t worry, once you’re doing it right, you’ll know it :)

So, once again, BodyPump 66 is a fantastic whole-body workout. The use of body weight exercises throughout the class really gets in deep. The music is fantastic, the choreography is perfectly matched and workout is hard. If you have friends that think group exercise classes are the easy option instead of going to the gym ‘properly’, bring them along to this one.

Enjoy your workout.

BodyPump. One Tribe, One Bar, One Workout.

Kia Kaha!

It’s May,so it is time for the quarterly BodyPump workshops. We just had ours this morning. Once again, massive room, heaps of people and a concert style sound system. I so wish we had the same sound system at our gym. 20,000 watts worth of Bass would make a fair difference to the atmosphere :)

First Impressions of BodyPump 66… Wow! If i didn’t know better, you’d think we’d gone back to the mid 40’s in terms of huge workout intensity. This one is massive! The squat track is huge, the chest track hurts, the lunges burn and the shoulder track brings a world of pain. Yay :)

The theme for release 66 is: Heroes Made Here. The focus for this release is on tough sequences of work combined with functional innovations. There are lots of body weight exercises that target the main muscle groups as well as hitting the smaller stabiliser muscles.
As always, the official rundown by Les Mills Program Choreographer Glen Ostergaard can be found here.

If you just want to look at the tracklist for this release, please have a quick look around in Google. There are plenty of sites by now that have it. Like I mentioned in my previous post, Less Mills would prefer us to not post the track list until the release has been launched around the world, so i’m going to give you this preview without spoiling the fun :).

**Edit 09/07/2008: Now that the quarterlies are well and truly over, here is the tracklist for BodyPump 66:

01. Rain Down Love - Freemasons Feat. Siedah Garrett
02. Cisko Disco (DJ Radio Mix) - Rico Bass v.s Deejay Bonito
03. Get Up - Technotronic
04. What Hurts The Most - Cascada
05. Time After Time - Quietdrive
06. On Your Way To The Disco - Rogue Traders
07. Show Me Heaven - Micky Modelle vs Jessy
08. Where Are You 2007 - Paffendorf vs The Real Booty Babes Club Mix Paffendorf
09. Extreme Ways Bourne’s Ultimatum - Moby
10. Always On Your Side - Sheryl Crow

Here is a track-by-track preview of what you can expect from BodyPump 66:

Warmup: As usual, the theme of the song centers around ‘Love’. That’s ok though, because you’ll love this track as much as I do. Here we have a happy track with a good beat, good lyrics and a good range of exercises. Definite toe-tapper. By the time you’re finished here, you’re definitely in the mood for an awesome workout. This one is also really good for beginners as we do an introduction to quite a few of the moves in the 4/4 slow-motion mode.

Legs (Squats): You know this one. As the sizzler mentions, a lot of instructors may yell ‘Oooooh.. we’re half way there…’ way too many times :). It’s a great remix with a huge beat! Lots of slow work and lots of singles. I love the setup from the 3/1’s to the Singles. Energy ! Energy! Energy! By the time you’re finished with the bottom halves, it’s straight into the next round. If this one doesn’t make your legs burn by the end, I don’t know what will.

Chest: Oh my goodness.. The never ending Chest Track. Don’t worry, it does end eventually after about 5 and a half minutes, but if feels like forever because we’ve gone a bit heavier on the weights. This one feels straight out of the mid 40’s. Even the song is appropriate for an old-school workout. Funky beat and lots of work. We get familiar with the normal power moves and then we hit a new little innovation that will totally overload your muscles. The extra time under tension we get in this track will make a huge difference. Best of all, once you think you couldn’t possible lift another round, it’s time for push ups. Not just normal push ups either.. Evil Push ups ;)

Back: Peak Time! As usual, Cascada does not disappoint. Big track with a massive beat. All the moves you would normally expect, and at nearly 6 minutes long, you’ll know you’ve done some hard work by the end. This track is so long, in fact, that there is room for another round of Clean & Presses. That means your break is pretty much smack bang in the middle! Lots of rows too, normal and wide.

Triceps: I love this song! It’s a remix of the old Cindy Lauper - Time after Time song. The song fits the movements perfectly. We split our time between the bench and dips, so you can really afford to go a little heavier on the bar than you normally would. You’ll be too busy humming along to the music to notice the pain anyway :) We have a great new pull-over combo move that will really put some load into the triceps. A couple of rounds of presses, extensions and combos and we’re ready for the dips. You remember them from release 64, right ? How many this time ? Too many to count.. Well over 20.. Ouch!

Biceps: Rogue Traders hit us once again with a tough workout. It’s only 4 minutes long, but you’ll feel every second. The track is designed to keep your arms pretty much under constant tension the whole time. Good variety of moves including plenty of bottom halves with a short break towards the end. Watch out for the final round though. We finish it off with some real burners!

Lunges: Another remix. Huuuuge techno beat that kicks in as soon as we’re done with the stretches. We start off with some wicked backward stepping lunges off the bench and finish the log off with a nice long set of normal weighted lunges. Shake, rinse, repeat on the other leg :) Once again, we have the option of using the single pate to really utilise the core muscles. The lyrics work really well on this one. You just can’t help but smile during this track. It’s just a fun, uplifting song.

Shoulders: The first time I heard this song, I thought to myself…’This isn’t going to be pretty’. Let me assure you, I wasn’t wrong. There are virtually no lyrics. Just a big dance beat. It sounds almost robotic. Again, a workout straight from the early 40’s. Like any good shoulder track, we start with a big set of push ups before we step into a world of pain :). We hit some delt raises and then the real fun begins! You remember the Modified Arnold Press from a few releases ago ? Well, it’s back. With a vengeance. Not only do we do them both slow and fast, we also change the move slightly to get even deeper into the shoulders. Use your normal weights for this one and pray that you’ll make it to the end.

Abs: Beautiful, atmospheric sound by Moby. This one is not so much a normal Ab workout as a full-on oblique workout. The focus here is very much on giving you that nice V shape in your body. We’ve got a new move here, the Side Plank Roll. You may know this move from Body Balance. It’s basically like a side plank but then we thread the top arm under the bottom of the chest while keeping your hips in place. If it sounds hard, that’s because it is :) We finish the workout with nice modified oblique crunches. I really like this Ab workout. I think it’s it’s one of the best we’ve had in a while (with the exception of 65, which was also awesome).

Cooldown/Stretch: Nice slow duet by Sheryl Crow. The best part of this song is that the stretches really last a long time. We get plenty of time to relax and reward some tired muscles. Not much else to say about this one. It’s just a nice and relaxing song.

So, overall, another massive workout from the Les Mills team. Glen Ostergaard and the rest of the choreography team have done another great job. Once day i’ll have to make it over to New Zealand for a filming. The Bodypump 66 DVD looks simply amazing. These guys have built an absolute empire on fitness and it’s easy to see why. Solid workouts, fantastic music and constant innovation. Well Done!

Can’t wait to get into this release. With quality like this, I can’t wait for BodyPump 67. Bring it on!

The other big news is that starting with this release, Les Mills are introducing a new 30 minute ‘express’ class format. In this configuration, you do 6 tracks : Warmup, Squats, Chest, Back, Lunges or Shoulders and then Abs (Core). No cool down and we skip the Triceps and Biceps completely. The workout is focused on moving the major muscle groups and using the maximum calories possible for that class type. You will still need to cool down and stretch after the class yourself.

There has been growing demand for shorter classes that people can fit into their lunch breaks. I think these could also be fantastic as introductory classes or as a ‘warmup’ to an RPM/Attack/Combat class. By my way of thinking, anything that will get people in the gym to keep fit and healthy is a good thing. There is a good chance that a newcomer who has started with an express class will move up to the full classes. That has to be good. We still keep the 45 minute format as well though. This new class style is just another weapon in our arsenal against the growing ‘globesity’ problem.

Have an awesome workout. Let me know if you like it!

**UPDATE**: I’ve got a preview/review of the new BodyPump 66 release right here

Sorry all. You were probably expecting to find the tracklist for BP 66 here. It turns out that Les Mills are pretty keen to wait for all the states and markets to go through their release cycles before we post full lists. So, in the spirit of keeping it fair for the others, I have removed the list.

You’ll just have to wait for your local release :)
In the meantime, you can check out Glen O describe it himself here

**Edit 09/07/2008: Now that the quarterlies are well and truly over, here is the tracklist for BodyPump 66:

01. Rain Down Love - Freemasons Feat. Siedah Garrett
02. Cisko Disco (DJ Radio Mix) - Rico Bass v.s Deejay Bonito
03. Get Up - Technotronic
04. What Hurts The Most - Cascada
05. Time After Time - Quietdrive
06. On Your Way To The Disco - Rogue Traders
07. Show Me Heaven - Micky Modelle vs Jessy
08. Where Are You 2007 - Paffendorf vs The Real Booty Babes Club Mix Paffendorf
09. Extreme Ways Bourne’s Ultimatum - Moby
10. Always On Your Side - Sheryl Crow

Trust me though, it’s going to be a big one!

So, you would like to become a BodyPump instructor ?
Awesome choice :)

It is a fantastic way to help people make a real difference in their lives.

To help get you started and to see what is involved, I have started to write a little ‘totally unofficial’ beginner guide to becoming an instructor.

Check it out over here : Patrick’s BodyPump Instructor Beginner’s Guide

It’s a constantly growing document. I will add more as I have the time. When I started this morning, was was a bit surprised that a couple of hours later I was staring at a 6 page, 2000+ word document :)

Let me know what you think of it. Leave a comment or send me an email.

**UPDATE**: I’ve got a preview/review of the new BodyPump 66 release right here 

Wow, how time flies. It feels like only a few weeks ago that were were previewing BodyPump 65 and now 66 is on its way already.

The Les Mills site has the new Revolution magazine available for download and they give some hints on the upcoming BodyPump 66:

Transform yourself with BODYPUMP® 66.
This release delivers a challenging workout with some tough sequences and functional innovations. Body-weight exercises are a focus and they bring intensity by increasing the recruitment of stabilizers and the power muscle groups. So watch out for Pushups in the Chest and Shoulders Tracks, dips in the Triceps, Stepping Lunges on the bench and the Side Plank Roll in the Abdominals Track. This move challenges the core and shoulder stabilizers and really hits the obliques — hard!
The Modified Arnold Press is put into reverse for a new combination in the Shoulders Track. Working both ways gives the shoulders a complete workout, mixing the direction of eccentric and concentric phases of training. And it’s tough — great for really isolating and chiseling the shoulders into shape.
The music is huge! Be motivated by some big powerful songs from Technotronic and Cascada, sing along to On Your Way To The Disco and Show Me Heaven and enjoy remixes of the huge Rock songs Time After Time and Livin’ On A Prayer.

BODYPUMP® 66 is a truly memorable group fitness experience.

Also, I hear that this may be our warmup track.

Sounds like another awesome release!

Oh boy… i can see it already… During the “Livin On A Prayer” track, every instructor in the world is going to be singing ‘Whooah, were half way there..’ on every chorus. I promise to you right now that I will only ever sing it once we’re actually half way there :)

The moves look fantastic though, all my favourites. The Arnold Press is a great move that makes a very welcome return with its fantastic range of motion. More Dips in the triceps, very good. Side Plank Roll… Can’t wait to see that one.
Looks like the choreography team is really turning up the heat in these new releases. Well done again Glen.

If you’re an instructor in Australia, make sure you come along to the Super Workshop in Sydney in April. Glen Ostergaard (program head choreographer) is going to be there too!
If you’re not in Australia, maybe it’s time for a holiday :)

PS: Congratulations to Susan Tolj and husband Steve on the birth of their daughter Grace. Susan is the head trainer for BodyPump and has been one of the main presenters on the DVD instructor kits for some time. Her energy and enthusiasm are second to none and I wish them all the best in their life and with the new baby.