Body4Me

It’s that Christmassy time of year again. And what a way to finish off the year with a big bang. BodyPump 80 represents the next evolution of the BodyPump program. You can probably tell from the past few releases, the program is getting a little harder and little more intense. This release is no different. The focus is on high-intensity circuit-style training with lots of rounds and minimal recovery and break time. For you, that means a higher heart rate and more muscle activation, two of the primary factors that drive fitness and strength.

So what does it feel like ? Well, I can tell you that this is the first time in a few releases that im actually sitting here writing this with whole-body muscle soreness after launching two Pump classes yesterday. There is not a single track in this whole release that doesn’t push your body right to the edge.

Let’s get a feel for it:

Warmup: I love this warmup. The beat is as lively as you’ll find in a warmup. It’s an absolutely fantastic way to set the mood for the workout with some great Magic Moment opportunities. Don’t get lulled into a false sense of security here though. Yes, the moves are the same as you expect from any warmup, but remember that this is just the start of the day. Well get the usual taste of what’s coming up and you’ll leave the track warn and ready for the real work.

Squats: Let the games begin! Three rounds of high intensity cardio training to smash the legs. The first round begins nice and easy with the usual set up moves followed by a gently set of 2’s and 3’s. Find your rhythm with a repeat of what we just did and then launch into a massive set of singles, bottom halves and more singles. Quick shake out before we start on the second round. Now we shake hings up a bit. It’s basically all singles and bottoms. We get a breather with a 4×4 thrown in there somewhere just for good measure, but then it’s all high intensity singles.The big bass beat of this Lady Gaga remix works really well in this track, especially the last 8 singles when the legs are about to catch on fire :)

Chest: Oh yeah, how long have we waited for the original version of Smells Like Teen Spirit? No dance remix, no re-sequencing, just one of the biggest rock tracks of all time. Let’s Go! I reckon you could predict the moves without ever having seen it. You know this song off by heart. You’ve probably worked out to it in the weight room before this. With The Light Out.. It’s Less Dangerous. So, how does it go?  4’s to set the tone, 3’s to build the pace ,2’s to get the heart beating and a huge set of singles, pulses and bottom 4’s for the chorus. Get a bit grungy and do it all again. The rounds are a good length so that by the time you get to the end of the second one, the muscles are pretty much smashed. Lucky we get a quick break before we head into the final round. 2’s to set the body up and then 20 singles to the end. Grab as much weight as you think you can handle, then add another kilo. If there’s one track that will take you there, it’s this one.

Back: Well, here’s a blast from the past. We haven’t heard from E-Type in a little while. Euro pop at it’s cheesy best. We see the return of the power press. That’s the one where we clean the bar up, catch with that little squat and follow it up with three little presses to the top. This one is a little more challenging than usual because we join the first two rounds together without a break. Let’s head straight into it. Rows and deadlifts start the day before we launch into the power press, triple row combo. Do it a couple of times, follow it with a couple more sets of triple rows and the repeat the whole lot for round two. This is a perfect way to shoot the heart rate right through the roof. After a quick break, we head into rounds three and four where we skip the deadlifts at the start and launch straight into the big presses. Oh, and we get to meet our old friend, the 7-row again a few time too.

Triceps: You only barely get a chance to drop the heart rate from the massive back track when we get straight into the triceps. It’s a really good ‘Till the Word Ends’ remix with a bit of a dubstep feel at the start. First off, go a little heavier on your bar than you normally would as we only have two rounds on the bench for our extensions and presses. Then, a surprise in the middle with 16 big tricep pushups to isolate the muscles. Let me assure you, they bite! Especially the second set of 8. You’re still up on your toes, right ? Also get yourself a big plate for the overhead extensions at the end. The advice for this one is: Atatck every set as if it’s the only one. The track has a very groovy feel and nice quick transitions to keep the muscles under tension the whole time.

Biceps: Another iconic track. I don’t think there will be anyone reading this that hasn’t wanted to lift weights to Eye Of The Tiger! Again, no dance remix, just the original rock beat in its full glory. Now, as you expect from this track, you’ve gotta fight for this one to get to the end. We start with a nice dramatic stagger lift to the guitar riff. When the verse starts, set up your body and get strong for the 2×2’s and 1×3’s. We do this three times to fatigue the biceps before we step into the ring for the real fight: 2 bottom halves & 2 singles * 4. Sounds easy here, but once you’ve done the three preceding sets, your arms are already tingling. Quick stagger& roll. Fake a break. Bang! Surprise! Knock out round! Muscles burning, breathing heavy.Bite down and take the last round like a champion. I think I’ve just found my new favourite bicep track.

Lunges: First, let me tell you, we’ve never done a lunge track like this before. Prepare yourself to get a new set of legs as your current set may just melt during this track. Start the track with just over a minute of squats. Not just any squats though. After a slow setup squat, it’s all singles, bottoms and bottom holds. This set alone would be enough by itself, but here it’s just the first course. Get rid of your bar and set up for lunges. Two rounds each leg. Normal lunges first, and just like the squats, it’s all about the singles and bottoms. Now the fun part. dynamic backward stepping lunges. One slow one. 8 big singles. 8 knee lift lunges. 8 Propulsion lunge. Sounds OK right ? But what’s a propulsion lunge ? Think knee lift lung but then jump into the air as you raise the other knee. You barely get enough time to ponder why the evil minds at Les Mills would punish us like this before we launch straight into the other leg to do it all again. Ouch!
During the workshops, I’ve never seen a bunch of instructors groan and moan as much as this.

Shoulders: Ok, so you think the pain is over for a couple of minutes, right ? Wrong! Not only do we get punished with 4 rounds of non-stop circuit training, we also get two rounds of 16 pushups and a whole new move thrown in for good measure. Let’s start the workout with the bar set to come cool dancy/techno sounds. Some work above the head before we quickly ditch the bar and grab out plates. We see the return of the bent over rear raise before a nice set of side raises, rotator raises and our new move where we start with a rotator raise and add 2 overhead presses before returning to the bottom. It’s a nice addition because it moves the shoulders in every direction. Follow that by 16 pushups and you’re halfway through the track. Yup, halfway. Ouch. Suck it up and do it all again. The track finishes with a decent sized set of overhead presses, just in time for the shoulders to give up :)

Abs: The smooth, slow sounds of Rolling In The Deep fit the ab work for this release perfectly. Even this track has a new move thrown in. It starts as a quick crunch-pulse, modifies itself t add the feet in the air and then morphs into a bicycle crunch. We spend a significant amount of time with our feet in the air to really engage the mid-section. After two rounds of crunches, we transition into a moving hover followed by a couple of side planks with a raised leg option. My body was definitely shaking by the end of it.

Cooldown: Oh, thank goodness, the stretches are slow and long and spend most of their time on the ground. After those propulsion lunges, I need all the recovery I can get.Nothing terribly new or complicated here, just a great opportunity to stretch out your weary muscles and reflect on the incredible workout you just went through.

As I said at the start, BodyPump 80 represents a milestone and evolution in Group Fitness. We have raised the intensity to a new level with the emphasis on high-intensity circuit training and constant innovations in virtually every track. The release is amazing for instructors to present and an absolute knock-out for everyone to participate in. Make sure you get to a gym as soon as you can and be a part of it.

The way we’re going here, we can probably merge BodyPump, Attack and Combat into the one class within a few releases :)

Hi Everyone

Wow, seems like the Christmas quarter lasted a bit longer than the previous ones. Either the good people at Les Mills took an extended holiday, or recording the cover version of the music for Australia took a little longer than usual.

Either way Ladies and Gentlemen, the way was well worth it. BodyPump 77 is one of the best releases we have seen in a while. The music is great, the exercises are a bit harder and the new move innovations take BodyPump 77 to a whole new level.

The easiest way to describe it: It’s BodyPump, but turned up to 11!

Let’s get straight into it.

Warmup: Wow, this is easily my new favourite warmup track. Normally, you wouldn’t get that excited about a warmup track, but this one has an awesome beat and really sets the mood. The exercises are the same as we would normally expect to see, with the usual intro of wide lifts and rows. It’s when the chorus hits that the room really livens up. It almost feels like an interval track. We get smooth, controlled moves through the verses and then big explosive movements through the chorus. Turn it up and get set for one massive workout.

Squats: Let the onslaught begin. It’s time to hit the legs with 4 rounds of massive work. The first two rounds start us off with a nice set of two by two’s followed by massive singles and bottom halves. Then, it gets interesting. You’re not even half way. The second half of the track is where the real work comes in. Singles, Bottoms, to the bottom quick with a little stop and plenty more bottom halves to follow up. Sounds reasonable but let me assure you, by the end of the third round you may get a little worried that your legs could actually explode during the fourth round. Just clench your teeth and hang in there. Oh, and it’s all set to Bon Jovi’s - It’s my Life, so you have no choice but to go big :)

Chest: Little change of pace here. We leave the big rock tune of the squat track and hit the club where the DJ will have us falling in love. Ramp up the weight a little bit from usual, draw your belly in and get ready to work. Nice easy start with twos and threes followed by singles and bottom halves through the chorus. Halfway through the chorus, check your feet… you’ll be tapping your toes :) Straight into the second round to do it all again and a nice long third round that starts with some magic moment super slows. Once again, at the end of the third round you’ll be pretty keen on a break and thankfully we get one. It’s only a quick one before, Bada-bing Bada-boom, we’re back to work in the last round to build maximum pressure in the chest.

Back: Uh-oh.. When the master trainers in the workshop tell you that you may want to go a little bit lighter on the weight for the first time doing this track, you know you might be in trouble. We have a new move; it’s called the Power Press. One Clean followed by three (yes, three!) presses from the chin to the roof. Prepare to take your heart rate to new heights. The work begins with a quick warm up round with a nice thumping beat to get the heart rate up. When the work begins in the second round, prepare yourself with a few deadlift, then hold-and-brace and power on to the top for a massive set of Power Presses. Follow that up with never-ending triple rows and you’ll be gasping for air by the end of this round. Now, do it all again two more times and you’ll see why I said that this is BodyPump turned up to 11!

Triceps: After that back workout, we need to hit the bench a little just to be able to breathe. Thankfully, Enrique will get us back into party mode with a little ‘I Like It’. The song is deceptively happy, so you won’t even notice the three huge rounds of extensions, presses and pullover-combos. Now, your shoulders may be a bit wobbly from the previous track, so be sure to pull the elbows right into the body to isolate the triceps and keep the work where it’s supposed to be. After the bench work, we’ll finish this one with a set of overhead extension with a large plate. Oh yes, I like it!

Biceps: Oh yeah, I love this one. The bicep tracks have been a bit hit and miss lately, so I’m real happy that the BodyPump team have taken us back to some good, solid rock for the biceps. The track comes in three rounds, with each round getting longer and harder. Ouch. The start of this track just sets the mood perfectly with slow moves and super intense guitar to get us moving with purpose and intensity. Actually, the whole track is a bit slower than usual to keep building pressure in the muscles. Two tough rounds composed of 2×2’s, bottoms and our power move combo before a quick break and recovery round of bicep rows. Round three is where we turn it up a notch. Stand strong and smash through three combos and a big set of singles.

Lunges: For the first time in a little while we start the lunge track with a quick stretch on the ground. I like the stretches, they give you a good chance to find your posture and get a quick breather. Trust me, you’ll need it. As soon as the beat hits, we’re up for static lunges on the bench. Slow ones, a little quicker and a whole bunch of singles. After that, you’ll get about half a second to drop your plates and go straight into the dynamic backward stepping lunges and some awesome ‘knee it in the guts’ power lunges. The quick transition helps keep the heart rate nice and high. Hit the same quick transition and now do it all again on the other leg. Love it! Just when you thought it was finished, grab your bar for the last round of squats. There’s a beautiful ‘calm-before-the-storm’ moment as we breathe through the super slows before the insane onslaught of singles and bottom halves. If you can still walk at the end of this track, you need to check your weights :)

Shoulders: Scooter in the house! ‘24 hours a day, 12 months a year, It’s all about the sound, You’re about to hear’. You want some intensity in your shoulder track ? Come and get some right here! Scooter’s Ti Sento is the perfect finish for the big muscle groups as we start with pushups and migrate straight into a super long set of one-knee reverse flys. I love how this track keeps going just when you think each set is over. It builds massive pressure in the muscles and pushes you further than you’ve ever thought your shoulders could go. Grab another super-extended set of side raises and rotator presses before heading for the bar to scream a loud Scooter “Yeah” at the end as your arms are about to explode.

Abs: Hmm.. Odd song, but great moves. I think the choreography team that are producing the new Les Mills CX30 core program have been sneaking some moves in here to see how they can punish us the most :) This time around, we get to try out the new side oblique crunch in a combination of slow, quick and pulse moves. Super effective. Just make sure you open up and really lift that top shoulder off the ground. After that we also revisit the walking hover with both hands and legs. To make it even more interesting, we’ll finish this one off with a nice hover combo that is guaranteed to leave you gasping.

Cooldown: Perfect song for a perfect workout. Good, long, slow stretches through all the major muscle groups to bring relief to tired, exhausted muscles. Not much else to say here. By now, you’re too exhausted to care anyway :)

Overall, BodyPump 77 well and truly delivers what it promises. It’s a fantastic high-energy workout with great new music and fantastic new moves. I’ve instructed it a few times now and my classes absolutely love it. Get out there and give it a try straight as soon as you can.

Time for a quick book review. I had had this book for a while and constantly refer to it in my training and when helping clients to refine their form and get the maximum out of their exercises.
The book is : Strength Training Anatomy by Frederic Delavier

The quick official blurb says :

Get an inside look at the human form in action with more than 400 full-color illustrations. This detailed artwork showcases the muscles used during each exercise and delineates how these muscles interact with surrounding joints and skeletal structures. Like having an X-ray for each exercise, the information gives you a multifaceted view of strength training not seen in any other resource.

This updated bestseller also contains detailed anatomical analysis of training injuries and preventive measures to help you exercise safely. Chapters are devoted to each major muscle group, with 115 total exercises for arms, shoulders, chest, back, legs, buttocks, and abdomen.

So, why is this book good ? Well, let me first say that I am a very visual learner. I need to see something to be able to do it and learn it and this is where the book comes in so handy. Everything is shown to you in exact, immediately obvious x-ray vision. As you can see, the sample page shows the starting and finishing position, which joints and which muscles are involved. Seeing exactly which muscles are used has been a tremendous help as it allows me to really visualise what is happening inside my body and allows me to correctly target the muscles I am supposed to be working.

The text is very concise with clear, understandable explanations. The author does not get overly technical, but instead focuses on simple instructions for performing the exercises, key information such as variations for specific focus on particular muscles and warnings (with diagrams) to avoid injury.

Every exercise is kept to a page in length with a brief introduction to each of the major 7 sections of the book (arms, shoulders, chest, back, legs, buttocks, abdomen)

If you are looking to build yourself a full-body workout routine, this book is an excellent reference point.

I should note though : This book is very much an anatomical reference for weight lifting. It is really not intended to be a general guide to exercise. It does not contain any other information regarding introductoryweight training, general exercise, diet, lifestyle or anything.

As they say… It does what it says on the box. And it does it extremely well. As a matter of fact, i have not come across another book that is as clear and concise about weight training exercises as this one.

Even if you’re not a seasoned weight trainer or even interested in getting a detailed anatomy lesson, simply ignore the technical details and the words and use the images to guide you. For price, it is without a doubt one of the most worthwhile puchases you can make on this topic.