TUESDAY'S TRY IT
Before my oldest was born, she's 10 yrs old, I had a gym membership. Ahhh....the sweet memories of being able to pick and choose whatever class I wanted to attend without having to juggle anyone's schedule but my own....but I digress... In those days my class of choice was BodyPump. Fast forward a decade and I've forgotten everything. Having recently acquired another gym membership, I thought, "Oh yeah. I remember liking those classes, I should try them again." And so I did. I must have really been thinking, "Oh hey, it's been a while since it hurt to pick up a pencil from the floor, maybe I should try that BodyPump class again."
BodyPump has been around for a long time, but for those of you who are wondering, "Body what?" I'll give you the low-down.
It's a 60 minute class that uses 8 separate muscle-group specific songs or "tracks" to get you sweating, then of course, the warm up and cool down tracks.
The equipment? free weights-plates, barbells and an aerobic step.
Track 1 - The warmup. The instructor recommends using your lowest weights. Most people follow this recommendation, unless you're my husband and decide that you're real tough and load up the bar, then want to die half way through....but I digress again. ;) (Love you, babe and your competitive spirit)
Track 2 - Squats. Oh, lovely squats. Now's the time to load up on the weights and just work through the burn!
Track 3 - Chest. The first time I did this after my decade of time off from Body Pump, I thought to myself, "Oh I lift. I can do this. No problem, let's load it up!" 5 minutes into this track I was pretty certain that my arms were going to fall off and my chest might actually catch fire. Go slow, people, go slow!
Track 4 - Back. Deadlifts, dead rows and clean-and-presses, OH MY!
Track 5 - Triceps. I thought my triceps might actually drop me when attempting the tricep pushups and dips. I guess I haven't been lifting enough lately.
Track 6 - Biceps. This one wasn't so bad for me (surprise!).
Track 7 - Lunges. Load it up, baby, they're going to whip our glutes into shape with lots and lots of lunges and then plyometrics by jumping at the end of the lunge.
Track 8 - Shoulders. Ow...in a good way.
Track 9 - Abdominals and core. This doesn't usually include weights but the last class I attended did. You hold a large plate then we did this combo move which was a lot like a bicyle without the twist. I'm still a little sore in my upper abs and I did this class LAST Wednesday.
Track 10 - Cool down and stretching. My favorite part of any class. :)
I didn't know this, but apparently BodyPump releases new music/choreography to health clubs and instructors every three months, so you don't get too used to a routine. Sounds like a good plan to me!
If you're looking to mix up your workouts or want to try weights but are hesitant to go it alone, I'd say this is a decent class to get you moving. If you want to learn the moves before heading to the class you can check out this video. Have you tried BodyPump? Tell us what you thought.
