Body4Me

Wow, it’s been quiet around these parts, hasn’t it :)

My apologies, real life has taken over a little for the past few months. but rest assured, everything is back to normal now.

We have the quarterly workshops coming up in a couple of weeks and i’ll be back to providing you will the full run-down of BodyPump 79.

For now though, we’ll have to do with the tracklist, straight from Les Mills themselves:

Warmup: Higher – Logan S. feat. Mandy Brewer
Squats: Closer To The Edge – Mekon Garden
Chest: Party All Night (Sleep All Day) – Sean Kingston
Back: Written In The Stars (Sunny Dee Remix) – Jason Born
Triceps: Born This Way – Southern Light
Biceps: Livin’ On A Prayer – Altiyan Childs
Lunges: Grenade (Damn-R Mix) – Jason Born
Shoulders: J’Adore Hardcore (Extended Mix) – Scooter
Abdominals: We’ll Be Alright – Travie McCoy
Cooldown: The Crow & The Butterfly – Shinedown
Alternative 5 – Triceps: If We Ever Meet Again (Hans-O-Matik Bigroom Radio Cut) – Pandora BX

PS: Check out the video of J’Adore Hardcore, it was shot in my hometown, Melbourne - Australia :)

As always, hot off the presses, here is the BodyPump 78 Sizzler.

Review coming shortly.

This workout is all about building lean muscle through pressure and pushing you to fatigue in each and every track. Saturday sets a positive tone in the Warmup as you move through the ranges of motion that prepare you for the rest of the class.

Squats create a Beautiful Monster in three stages, using Singles to drive the heart rate up and then twisting the knife with some strong Bottom Halves.

You’ll instantly recognize the guitar intro and by the end of Track 3, your chest will be screaming at you, so focus on great technique through the pain.

Four Clean & Presses in a row throw down the “cardio kicker” challenge to the back, while very quick transitions give the Triceps no respite in Track 5. Likewise, the return of the Bicep Rows means you don’t get a chance to relax… there’ll be no raising of the glass afterwards!

Track 7 will set off the fireworks in your legs with an overpowering sequence of Squats – Lunges – Squats – Lunges – Squats – Lunges – (gulp!) more Lunges. You’ll be a little shaky on your feet, but next stop is Africa for a three-pronged attack on your shoulders – Deltoid Raises, Side Raises and Overhead Presses.

But Please Don’t Go just yet… what about your abs? We’ve got some Side Oblique Crunches and Crunches with a Pulse and Hover, forward and back.

By the time you stretch and leave, the past hour will seem like Just A Dream… except your body will be telling you otherwise.

BTW, i did this release at the Ultimate Super Workshop in Sydney a few weeks ago, and let me tell you, it Massive!

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.

Hi Everyone.

Here we go. Christmas and New Years are all over and we’re ready to go for 2011…And what better way to start than to get straight back int the gym as soon as you’re back from holidays (or even better… while you’re still on holidays) and get into your latest BodyPump release from the awesome team at Les Mills.

My apologies for taking a little longer than usual to get the review up, The combination of family, gym and work has left me with little time to sit in front of the computer in the evening.

So, on to BodyPump 76. What is this release all about ? We’re targeting the smaller muscle groups as well as overloading the big ones with short, sharp sets & bigger than usual weights.

Warmup:  The warmup usually sets the mood for the whole hour, and this time around, it does not disappoint. We start the workout with a nice dance remix of ‘The Climb’. Slow shoulder rolls and slow deadlifts start the day followed by the usual assortment of upper an lower body workout. The song is very happy an uplifting and really helps get us in the mood. In terms of moves, there is everything you would expect, plus a few wide lifts thrown in at the start. Oh, and unlike the past couple of releases, we get a decent number of squats to warm the legs up.

Squats:  Let the workout begin! The focus today is a set of shorter rounds with more weight than usual. The warmup round kicks in hard with a big bass beat and a long set of 2’s and 3’s. You’ll instantly recognise the song when the lyrics kick in. Once the warmup is done, we’ll get familiar with a new tempo, the one-down-and-three-up. I love this move. The legs instantly catch fire from the little hold at the bottom of the move. The round keeps going with a whole bunch of singles before we hit the bottom for 3 * 4 bottom halves. Think it’s over ? Sorry… there are still the 2’s and 3’s to go before finish the first round. The break is just long enough to kick out each leg before we hit rounds two and three. This is one serious workout for the legs, made achievable by the constant changes in tempo.

Chest: Another instantly recognisable song. Actually, when I heard it, my first thought was ‘why haven’t we had this tack earlier ?’ I’m a big U2 fan, so this one is one of my favourites. The moves and tempo match the music perfectly. Be warned though, you’ll get into the song and forget that there are a lot of rounds and changes. Everything starts nice and easy with 3/1’s. When the ‘Beautiful Day’ chorus hits, we explode into the singles and a lot of bottom halves in the later rounds. You’ll be fighting the weights as well as the urge to sing along. After the break, the last big power rounds will make the little hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Slows, singles, bottoms, slows and a massive set of singles that will make every fibre in your chest burn.

Back: Wow, how do you follow that chest track ? Easy… take a great remix of Cascada’s Pyromania, throw in some new sequencing of moves and make it haaard! Yes, I know… It’s Cascada again, but the song is quite different and the remix really adds some life to the original version. Our new move involves two clean and presses in a row followed by two rows. It doesn’t sound like much of a change, but the two lifts to the top really push up the heart rate a lot more than the usual top / bottom combo. Follow the combo move with lots of wide triple rows and some unexpected wide deadlifts and you have a massive back track. Thankfully, each round cuts out a move, so it gets easier as the track goes on. Just grab your bar and go!

Triceps: This one feels quite similar to the tricep tracks from the past couple of releases. We get just about every move we have in our repertoire. The catchy ‘My First Kiss’ tune carries us along as we start the workout with a whole lot of tricep dips before we quickly transition to our knees for kickbacks. Before you know it, we’re up on the bench again for a massive set of pushups after which we’re back down again for kickbacks on the other side. Let’s finish the track with standing overhead extensions and you’ve worked every millimetre of muscle.

Biceps: The bipce track in this release has a similar feel to the more subtle track we saw in release 75. Unlike other releases, this one actually gets harder as the track goes on, so chose your weights carefully. Keeping the theme of the release with a new move consisting of a mid-range pulse (sort of like two bottom halves joined together) followed by two singles. The sneaky thing about this track is that when you think a round is over, we’re only half way. By the time we get to the end of each round, the arms are well and truly burning!

Lunges: Here’s my one-word review of this track: Ouch! We’re going to do something we’ve never done before… we’re going back to our squat weight for the lunge track. Ok, before you start thinking ‘That’s crazy talk’, hear me out. We’re going to hit the legs for about a minute and a half with some wide squats using the big weight, and then we’re going to drop back to our normal lunge weight for the rest of the track. To make it a little more interesting, we’ll also use the bench top as a step up to get more muscle activation. The music in this suits the tempo perfectly, with the super slows building the anticipation for the top half singles and a Storm of singles and bottom halves to finish off each round. Don’t be scared, grab the big weights and give it a go.

Shoulders: Another new move today. Reverse Flys. The move is quite similar to the kneeling rear delt raise, except this time the plates are facing each other as we lift them out to the sides. It’s a perfect little exercise for the rear delts and all those little muscles between the shoulder blades. Like in the triceps track, we get maximum variety with a set of pushups to start, then the flys followed by side raises, mac raises and a bar to the top to complete the punishment.

Abs: Oh boy, another killer Ab track. Honestly, I don’t know what evil training manual the Les Mills team are looking at to come up with these moves. We track starts nice and reasonable with crunches and reverse curls, like we’ve seen plenty of times before. To make it more interesting, we constantly alternate between those two moves for about 3 minutes without a break. Then, we discover the pleasures of the ‘hover with pointer’ move. Sounds nasty, doesn’t it? That’s because it is. Hover position on your elbows, feet wide. Take one arm, lift and point it forward to 12 o’clock, then, keep it up and take it to 3 o’clock. Bring it back in and repeat on the other side. Do that a heap of times and then do it all again even quicker. Yikes!

Cooldown: Hmm.. interesting.. I think the choreography team ran out of time on this one and just reused the same moves in the same sequence form release 73, just set to different music. Oh well, makes it easy to learn I guess. It’s a nice relaxed cool down track, although I would have been happier to hold each of the moves for a little bit longer.

So overall, a really nice release. If the biceps track had a little more energy in it, it would have been a perfect release. The music is great and even the Australian PPCA-free covers sound pretty good.

My recommendation is to really get into this one and go with the suggested weight selections. I know it’s a bit heavier than usual, but it’s totally worth it.

Wow, it feels like we only just launched the last release the other day and now BodyPump 76 is already on the cards.

I was hoping to be able to give you the ‘Sizzler’ by now, that seems to have been delayed.

Best I can do at the moment is give you a look at the tracklist for BodyPump 76, since it’s out all over the internet already anyway. Enjoy

(As always, the youtube links are only there as a guide. The actual song you’ll hear in the class will be a different mic or a cover version)

1    The Climb (Almighty Essential Radio Edit)  -    Almighty Pop Factor
2    Telephone (Original Radio Edit) -    Pandora BX
3    Beautiful Day -    Lee Jones
4    Pyromania -    Sun Flash
5    My First Kiss -    3OH!3 feat. Ke$ha
6    Not Myself Tonight -    Christina Aguilera
7    Storm -    DJ Lotus
8    Bring It Back -    Paffendorf
9    Cooler Than Me -    Mike Posner
10  The Truth -    Kris Allen

Australian workshops are in the middle of November, so look out for the full review a few days later.

Once again, it’s new release time. My apologies for being a bit late this time around. The releases in Australia were delayed by nearly a month to give Les Mills extra time to record our cover versions. I’m happy to say that the wait was worth it as the music is first rate  and the next release (76) has already been announced to be on time.

Without further ado, here are some first impressions of BodyPump 75:

Warmup: As usual, we set the mood with an upbeat, bassy track. This time, it’s Cascada’s turn to get our heart rate up and running. Interesting to hear them in something other than the Back track :). The lyrics in the song work really well with the music, mood and moves. Nothing unusual in terms of moves, although we do get introduced to some wide lifts that we’ll see again later in the workout. As in the previous release, the warmup for the legs seems a little short, but it works well with the music.

Squats: Let the workout begin! Three big rounds for the legs. Long one, Medium one and a short(ish) one to finish off. It’s a big song with a massive bass beat. For this release, we get a really nice sequence of moves that trains every part of the leg at maximum intensity while still keeping it achievable. The choreography team vary each round with high intensity singles and bottom pulses and  2/2, 3/1 moves. The rounds are a lot longer than you think, so hang on tight. By the time we get to the last round and all the nice easy 2/2’s are replaced by an onslaught of singles and you’ll be gasping for air!

Chest: Uhh, i like this one. It’s a very different beat to what we normally get. Not sure how to explain it, but the sound a lot ‘rougher’. The track is divided into 4 rounds on the bench before we hit the pushups! Yes, that right, 4 rounds, then pushups. Even better, the challenge is to do the pushups with your feet on the bench. Ouch. Don’t worry though, they’re all over in 15 seconds. Overall, it’s another punishing track, thanks to the perfect choreography. Like in the Squat rack, we get a great mix of high and low intensity moves in each round and a big block of slow 4/4’s at the end to ‘recover’. Sing along with the lyrics and fill in the blanks when the going gets tough :)

Back: Quite simply, this is one of the best Back tracks we’ve had in a while. You know the song, you know the lyrics, you know the beat. The first round is completely unexpected. Guitar, drums, all the things you’d expect from a classic rock song. Rock song ? in a Back track ? … Stay with me.. Suddenly, half way through the warmup wide rows, the beat starts teasing its way in. First break. Boom! Grab your bar, it’s about to get serious. Clean-press combo, rows, wide rows. With each move, the beat gets bigger. After some very quick breaks, we get another two big rounds of high energy work.

Triceps: What a surprise, Pink makes an appearance in BodyPump :). (And in the non-PPCA version in Australia, the role of Pink is played by a male artist. Interesting…). Her ‘Bad Influence’ serves as a nice contrast to the high energy Back track we just experienced. We get two rounds on the bench with the bar in the usual moves followed by two rounds on the floor with a plate for some kickbacks. Do yourself a favour and go a little heavier than you normally would to get the best out of this track.

Biceps: Hmm, this one is interesting. I’ll be the first to admit that i’m n ot the world’s greatest fan of country music, but something is missing here. The Biceps track is usually one of the tougher tracks for the participants, so the music has more beat and motivation to it. This time around though, the Biceps track is lacking a defining beat and energy. Mind you, i’m sure all the country music fans would disagree with me :). Anyway, on to the track itself.  Before you start, make sure you arm yourself with a little more weight than usual as the whole song is only 3:50 including a 10 second intro and break.  That gives us 2 rounds before the break and a finisher round that ties everything together nicely. Nothing out of the ordinary here today. Nice even sets of 3’s, 2’s, 1/3’s and bottom halves.

Lunges: After the last two mellow tracks, Tiesto’s energy brings the high intensity with a vengeance. The track is split into three parts, two lunge sections at the start and a squat section at the end. As always when we have a squat component, go a little heavier on the weights to get the most out of it. The choreography is married perfectly to the music. We get the build-up, the calm-before-the-storm, the explosion of power, the active recovery and the massive race to the end. And even better, there is no break between the two lunge components so your legs are burning all the way through. By the time we get to the squats, there is just enough time to shake the legs out before the works kicks in again. The super slows make the hair on the back of your neck stand up before the final round of singles and bottom halves smashes your legs. Love it!

Shoulders: What can i say? Oh yeah: Hardest. Shoulder Track. Ever. Turn up the music, grab your plates and hope your arms don’t fall off! We’re starting with the bar for some upright rows and overhead presses while the incredible bass beat drives our heart rate through the roof. Quick break and we’re on the plates for a nice set o side raises and more Mac raises that you will care to count. (Hint: the first time you do this, be careful, there are more mac raises than you think !) Another quick break before some more side raises. Now the fun begins. Your arms are already shot and we haven’t even hit the hard stuff yet. To get used to the new moves, we’ll start with a set of Rotator Presses. Now, imagine combining that with a Pec Deck Press (yes, the machine from the gym floor). Keep your elbows high, grit your teeth and push through what feels like an eternity. And for good measure, let’s finish it off with 16 pushups. Up on your toes, thanks.

Abs: Thank goodness we’re on the floor for the first round of abs. After that shoulder workout, i can hardly use my arms to wipe the sweat off my brow. Uh oh… i spoke too soon. There are only two rounds of crunches on the floor before we get another new move. In keeping with the tradition of introducing impossibly hard moves at the end of the abs track in the last couple of releases, This time round, we’re on the floor in a hover and stepping out sideways to the beat with alternating legs. Just when you thought that’s as hard as i gets, we switch it up and use the arms instead of the legs to step out sideways. So, one arm is underneath you and the other is in pushup position. Yup, it’s as hard as it sounds :)

Cooldown: Love the lyrics on this one. ‘What do you want from me?’… Given the workout we just went through, apparently the answer is: Everything :). Slightly different format for the cooldown in this release. We’re only on the floor for the lower back stretches for the first minute. All the other stretches are done kneeling or standing up. As an instructor, i like this because it gives me much more chance to connect with the participants at the end of the workout. It’s nice to be able to look around the room and see some of the expressions ranging from ‘wow, what a workout’ to ‘dude, you’re crazy’

Overall, this is proably the strongest release we’ve had in the 70’s. Massive tracks to get the body temperature up at the start, a little breather in the middle through tracks 5 and 6 and then an absolutely over the top effort at the end to hit every muscle group as hard as we could have.

For the Australians affected by the PPCA ruling, our covers this time around are much, much better quality. Rather than replacing unique voices with bad copies (think Britney- 3 in release 74), where needed, the Less Mills team have opted to change the gender of the performing artist and give the song a slightly different feel. This actually works really well and doesn’t feel out of place. It makes the songs sound less like a cover and more like a deliberate remake. Well done guys.

Hot off the presses, here is the BODYPUMP 5 Sizzler to get you all excited :)

BODYPUMP fans are already describing the shoulder track on this release as the toughest ever and who could blame them ?

The opening track - Fever - serves as a preview of the carnage to come, as you find the perfect SET position over the big punchy beats. Game on!

Track 2 engages the legs with heavy Squats and sets the tone for the rest of the workout, with a barrage on the upper body and a chest section that lays down a challenge - Press ups of an elevated platform.

The first new element arrives in Track 4 - a wider lift grip for the Rows that has you feeling the intensity build-up behind the shoulders - then go slightly heavier than usual to target the triceps, culminating with one-arm kickbacks for best isolation.

In Track 6, Susan Renata straps on her spurs and holsters, an and has some fun riding the range, while working the ‘guns’ to Cowboy Casanova, the real showpiece of this release.

Then it’s time for yet another innovation - wider feet set in the Hover position to stabilise and challenge the core as you walk the hands, one by one, to Press-Up width and back.Wow, sounds amazing.

And since the track list is already out all over the internet, here it is again, shamelessly borrowed from nzglen :)

BODYPUMP 75 Track List

1. Fever – OneZeroOne
2. Watcha Say (B-Tastic Remix) – Henry Blank
3. Shut It Down – Pitbull featuring Akon
4. Wherever You Will Go (Handz Up Edit) – Jan Wayne
5. Bad Influence – P!nk
6. Cowboy Casanova – Carrie Underwood
7. I Will Be Here – DJ Lotus
8. Ravers In The UK (Hypasonic Remix) – Manian
9. More – Usher
10. Whataya Want From Me – Adam Lamber

Can’t wait! As usual, i’ll have the preview / review of this release up as soon as we finish the workshops.

Welcome along. Has it been 3 months already ? Apparently so. It’s time for a new release of our favourite Les Mills programs.

Get Ready. get Set. it’s time for BodyPump 74.

 BodyPump 74 features 3 areas of core focus:

* Timing - We have new timings and tempos.

* Supersetting - Lots of exercises on top of each other to attack the muscles from every angle.

* Transitions - Super short to keep the heat in the muscles

 Let’s get straight into it. 

 First thing you’ll notice, if you’re in Australia, is that this is the first release of BodyPump with all cover versions of the songs. As you most likely know, the PPCA have pretty much succeeded in their bid to try to shut down group exercise classes in Australia by increasing their music fees by 1500%. To work around that, we are all now using cover versions to avoid the monstrous fees. If you are outside Australia, your music will still be a mix of covers and originals. Us Aussies get a separate CD wit non-PPCA versions.

The good news is that this current crop of cover versions is really quite good. I know a few people weren’t too happy with some of the covers in the last release, but all those concerns are gone now. Well done guys. It’s up to all of us now to show the greedy PPCA that we can do quite well without them.

What’s in store for us this release ? Let’s have a look:

Warmup: As usual, the warmup gets us in the mood for the work. This one gives us a nice slow start with a great windup. When we hit the first set of dead rows, the music rises and fills the room with energy. Nothing terribly new or unusual this time around in terms of moves. If anything, because the music is so uplifting, it feels like we’re flying through the song in no time.

Squats: Ok, we’ve seen a few tough squat tracks in the past few releases and this one does not let up. 5 Rounds. Short breaks. Extra weight. And a new, punishing tempo: 1 down, 1 hold and 2 up. We don’t even get the usual easy warmup round to get us going. Right from the word go, we’re straight into it. Huge singles in a massive chorus before we hit the bottom-hold move. Then, straight into round 2. Would like a quick break. Sure… How does just under 5 seconds sound ? No, i’m not kidding! Rounds 3 and 4 smack you in the face with more 2’s, 3’s, singles and bottom-holds before we get another measly 5 seconds to stuff our hearts back into our chest. Here’s a tip: suck in as much oxygen as you can in your break, you’re going to need it. The last round is only a minute long, but it drags every last bit of energy out of you. Just wait for the singles at the end. Ouch.

Chest: Ahh yeah, some great rocking sounds from Bon Jovi (cover) to push the chest. This one is once again about the timing and quick transitions. 4 Rounds with a quick break after the third. We get the usual assortment of 2’s, singles and bottom halves. I like how the rounds really flow into each other without missing a beat. By the time we get the break, your chest is on fire. As always, the last round is the hardest. Just when you think you’ve pushed through the last set of bottom halves, we still have another half a round to go.

Back: Oh man, what a great start to a back track. You know the song, that’s a guarantee. You’ve never heard it with that beat though. I don’t think we’ve ever started a back track so gently. The slow deadlift at the start makes those little hairs on the back of your neck stand up because you know what’s coming up. 3 simple but powerful rounds of clean and press combos, wide single rows and triple rows. Not much else I can say about it. We’ve done it a thousand times before. Doesn’t mean it’s any less fun though :) It’s the sort of sequencing that an instructor can learn with one listen to the song :) My only complaint about this one is that I think it could do with a little more ‘body’ in the clean and press phase. There’s a lot of bass, but not as much personality as we normally get.

 Triceps: Nothing better than a triceps track that hits the muscles from every angle. Today, we get 4 different exercises: Pushups, kickbacks, dips and seated overhead extensions. The best thing about the pushups in this release ? There is no knee option. That’s right, you’re on your toes the whole time. Before you get scared though, there’s only a few of them. You can do this, trust me. Once the pushups are out of the way, we go for some bench supported kickbacks. When you’re just getting used to them, it’s already time for the dips. The bench is a little lower today so we need to make sure we step out a lot further than usual to get the full effect. 20 dips later and it’s time for the extensions. Grab yourself a nice big plate and take a seat. Now, before I did this track for the first time, i thought that I could not get enough of a workout out of this one as each phase is less than a minute long. By the end of the first time doing it, I have definitely changed my mind :)

Biceps: Remember the mid-range pulse from the mid-sixties ? Awesome move and it’s back today along with some bicep rows. I know we have bicep rows and normally we would go heavier when they’re in the mix, but not today. If you’re an instructor, you’l know… during the workshops, everyone likes to show off and we all stick an extra kilo or two on their bar for the big tracks. This time around though, there was this quiet whisper that went out before the track started and everyone noticed that noone was going heavy for the bicep track…why ? Let me tell you why.. Because this is the bicep track from hell! That’s why. It’s only a bit over 4 minutes long but we don’t let up. When a track starts with bottom halves, you know you’re in trouble. Oh, and instead of a break, you’ll just get some bicep rows and maybe a shoulder roll if you’re lucky. Thank goodness the massive bass beat of Boom Bom Pow gets us through this one. The bottom halves and mid range pulses just don’t stop. I don’t think there is a single second in this track where the arms are not under tension. Oh, you know how normally the super-slows are 4 up and 4 down ? How about we finish up with 8 up and 8 down ? Ouch.

Lunges: What would a BodyPump release be without Cascada (or at least a good sounding cover version)… it’s time to get Dangerous. The title of the song should tell you something about the track. This is easily one of the most intense lunge tracks we have ever done. A couple slow moves before we hit a set of 32(!) singles delivered as a combination of full range, bottom pulses and bottom 8’s. at the end of those, there are still a whole set of 2’s and 3’s to go. And that’s only a quarter of the track. No kidding. How about some backward stepping alternating lunges off the bench. 24 you say ? Sure, why not. You didn’t really need that leg to walk with anyway…Uh oh, we forgot that we’re only half way there. Do the whole thing again on the other leg and then see if you can still stand. You may like to lean up against a wall at the end of the track when you do your stretches.

Shoulders: I love the supersetting and super short tansitions. We’ll be working for the whole duration of the track. Pushups to get moving before the rear delt raises take over. More pushups, side raises and more pushups to finish off the first phase. It’s not often that we get three sets of pushups in a single track. Make sure you keep your timing tight so that you don’t miss any. Next, grab your bar as quick as you can for upright rows, a short break and a whole heap of overhead presses.

 Abs: How do you make a grown man cry ? Make him do this Ab track with the correct posture. We start on the bench with a new move. It’s called a Lower Ab Alternating Leg Extension. What does that mean ? The deepest burn you’re going to feel in your abs for a long time. It works just like a normal leg extension, but this time we’re lifting our tail bone into the air at the same time. It’s feels like hovering in mid air and holding your whole body up with your abs. When you add that to the walking hover at the end, this is easily the hardest Ab track we have ever seen in BodyPump.

 Cooldown: After that workout, we need to cool down properly. No new moves or timing today, just time to relax and recover. Great duet from Guy Sebastian and Jordin Sparks to take us home.

  So what’s the verdict ? You’re probably sick of me saying this, but it’s another awesome workout from the Les Mills team. If I had to pick on anything, I would have liked a different mix for the back tracks with a bit more oomph in the power phase.

  Aside from that, I love this release and can’t wait to launch it. The beat is great, the moves are punishing and even the cover versions of the songs are great.

Well done.  

Hot off the presses, here is the sizzler for BodyPump 74:

Get ready for what may be our fiercest release yet. Right from Track 2, the hammer goes down and the intensity does not back off. Watch out for exciting new tempos and some killer supersets. Quick transitions and the shortest recoveries in the history of BodyPump mean you muscles are working from start to finish.

The massive energy and drive of This Is Who I Am sets the pace upfront. The new tempo challenges the legs, driving the heart rat up. We Weren’t Born To Follow and we prove it in Track 3 as the classic Rock sounds grounds the workout into the bench, bringing great muscle isolation to the chest.

Track 6 delivers a Boom Boom Pow to the biceps. This was a massive hit for the Black Eyed Peas originally - this one breaks the mold and you’re gonna love it!. We’re getting Dangerous in Track 7 with some Static Lunges followed straight up by some Dynamic Backward-Stepping Lunges for explosive glute training.

Track 9 brings the introduction of an exciting new move. The cool R&B sounds of this cruisy number creates massive contrast from the Shoulder Track. then, just in case you thought it was time to relax, there’s Walking Hovers to challenge even the strongest abdominals.

Can’t wait! bodyPump has been getting better and better with every release lately. I reckon the 70’s are going to be remembered as some of BodyPump’s greatest releases.

Well, I have finally gone and done it. I am now an actual LesMills RPM instructor as well.

I know a lot of people like my So you want to be a BodyPump Instructor page, so I have written up something similar on my experience in becoming an RPM instructor.

Here it is: So you want to be an RPM Instructor

Let me know what you think. send me an email or leave a comment.

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

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

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

OK, let’s get straight into it:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stay tuned for the full review coming early November…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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