Body Pump 49

Ask and you shall recieve - here is my review of the Body Pump 49 program that I did last night. This morning I'm - surprisingly - not quite as dead as I thought I would be after over six months lack of any kind of weight training. So looks like ashtanga keeps me in good shape.

If you've never been to a Body Pump class, here's how it works: you have a bar and selection of weights (1/2,5/5 kg), and you lift the weights accoring to the teacher's instructions. You have ten tracks, and each track concentrates on working on one muscle group, and streches in between. The choreography (if you can call it that) is typically very simple - the most skill is really needed for changing the weights between each track in under a minute - it takes a bit of time to get used to that.

It's also worth pointing out that the weights I use and my opinions on them are mine only, and shouldn't be used as a guide. For anything. I mention them only to keep some kind of record on my progress.

But here's what #49 was like.

Warmup: Warmup consists of doing a bit of everything to get the pulse up and get the muscles warm for the rest of the class. I used to do this with 10 kg weights, but decided take it easy and start with 7 kg this time - which turned out to be a good choice. This warmup had basic back moves, squats, upright rows, lunges and biceps - warmed me up but not the point of exhaustion. Music was Jackie O's Wonderwall.

Squats: Now I hate doing squats in the gym - I just find it very boring and painful. But I enjoy doing them in Pump - I was going to chicken out on the weights on this one but Gary looked at me sternly and told me that I should put my weights up... so I went with 10 kg (my old weight used be 17 kg, and I think I could have used some more on this one). Squat track is the one where you can really try yourself and put the biggest weights on, my problems are usually more to do with the fact that the weights that my legs can do are much bigger than what I can lift over my shoulders. But as always with squats, you can make them easier or harder by changing how low you squat. Choreography is like this: you squat: fast ones and slow ones and everything in between. The #49 music for squats is Lionel Richie's All Night Long - but Gary changed this to #47 which is Enrique Iglesias' Escape, one of my personal favourites: in fact so much so that whenever I hear this song I feel like I should immediately start squatting. This is the track that I sing along with, until I get to exhausted to do so... but it's lot of fun.

Chest: Chest track is done on the floor, and it consists of, well bench presses: again, slow ones, quick ones, upstairs, downstairs. It can be painful, but there is a little streching break in the middle. I used 5 kg weights for this one, but I had to skip some reps later as my shoulders were burning. In the end there are some push-ups, but I can't do those because of my wrist. Music was Madonna's Don't Cry For Me Argentina.

Back: Back track is fun, and there are a bit more moves here. There's the Pump core move "knees and squeeze" bent over rows, and full and partial deadlifts. I used a 5 kg weights for this, but didn't get too much out of it, so next time I'll have to go back to 7 kg, although that can be quite challenging for the full deadlifts, especially towards the end. Music was DJ Bobo's Pray.

Triceps: My triceps are puny little muscles so I picked the lightest weights possible (2kg), but I've never done this with much more than that. Tricep track is done on the floor again with two basic types of tricep curls, all done in different speeds. It wasn't painful, not with such light weights, but my muscles were trembling like crazy from start to finish. Music was TOF's Funk It Up.

Biceps: Ah, bicep track - this is a one that you can dance to if you have a good track, and funnily enough since you do all the work with you biceps you actually can have the energy to do that. I continued this with the 2 kg weights, but I have to say it wasn't very challenging - on the other hand I don't think I could have done it with my old 5 kg. The track is all about bicep curls, again done in different speeds. Music was Bobby Brown's Humping Around.

Lunges: Lunges are like squats - I hate doing them in the gym, but in Pump they are bearable. Not much of a choreography here, it's all about lunges, one side at a time, in different speeds. You can do this with weights if you want, but I've always found that lunges can be very challenging without weights too, so I never use any. Music was Stay by Sash.

Shoulders: I like to shoulder track, and although it is very challenging it's also good fun. There are two sections in this - first part is done with dumbells or plates, and the second one with the bar. For this I used 1 kg plates for the first part which consists mainly of different lateral raises. For the second part I used 2 kg bar to do the upright rows, front raises and the killers military presses in the end. Music was inspiring Thunderstuck by AC/DC.

Abs: At this point you're totally ready to lie down again, so abs at this point feel like heaven. Track consisted of just bog-standard abs and a plank in the middle. I also realised why I used to hate abs: it's because at school there was only one type of abs excercise and that was the horrible sitting up move that I've never ever been able to do... another pleaseure killer from those days. Music is Missing by Everything But The Girl.

Streching: Last track is the streching track, and it contains streching of all major muscle groups both on the floor and standing. Good cooldown to finish the workout. Music was Nothing Like The Rain by 2 Unlimited.

All in all - and I'm sorry to say this Chu darling, but it's true - it's a really good workout. Challenging, yes, but in a good way. It's much more suitable for me than for example normal aerobics which make me hot and bothered - Pump makes you hot without a doubt, but not with burning lungs which is the feeling I hate most. If you want to spice up your gym routine and like working out to music, this is a good one to try.

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