Good Morning & Welcome to the Middle of the Week!
I’m definitely looking forward to the weekend. I really feel like I could use a vacation, but don’t we all. 🙂
Yesterday I did something that I didn’t plan on doing. I woke up & was feeling pretty bad. My stomach was a diaster to put it nicely. I didn’t get much sleep because I was in a lot of pain…and really there was nothing I could do to make it feel better. Needless to say it was a bad night in the life of having Crohn’s disease. When the alarm went off, I made an attempt to get ready to go to the gym. As I was starting to get ready I was still experiencing quite a bit of pain & I knew what I needed to do. I NEEDED to get some more sleep (or at least try) & but the gym on hold for the morning. That’s exactly what I did. I listened to my body & crawled right back to bed.
As the morning went on, I started to feel a bit better. I brought all of my gym clothes to work (this is pretty typical) & decided that I would do my workout at lunch time. Otherwise I would have to do my workout after work, which I’m not really a fan of. I tend to just want to plop on the couch when I get home. I really give people credit who go to the gym after work! But maybe I would have some more energy if I wasn’t up at 5am every morning. 🙂
As I was sitting at my desk deciding on what I wanted to do for my workout, I had an idea. I remembered that there is a YMCA pretty close to my office & that they offered a BodyPump class. I checked online & saw that it was at noon. Even better! I called the Y to ask them if I could try out a BodyPump class, since I had never done it before. The receptionist was SUPER nice & just said ‘SURE! Come on in!’
I was pretty excited to finally try BodyPump.
I have seen it in the ‘blog world’ for the longest time, especially on this girl’s blog! We all know how much she LOVES her BodyPump!! 🙂
When I first got into the room, I had no idea what I was doing. There were a few other people in the classroom, so I just walked up to one of them & asked what I needed to get for the class. She was really nice & told me to grab an aerobics step, a mat, a bar, and various weights.
Once I was set up, it was time to start!
The class is 60 minutes long, and here is the order:
*Warm Up
*Squat Track
*Chest
*Back
*Triceps
*Biceps
*Lunges
*Shoulders
*Abs
TOTAL body workout! Can’t beat that.
The pros & cons of BodyPump for me…
Pros
-1 hour & you get an awesome workout
-You can choose the amount of weight you want to use. Honestly in the class that I was in, I was lifting the most weight. I was really surprised at how LITTLE some of the people were lifting. And it wasn’t because they couldn’t, I just think that they might fear bulking up…or they just were too afraid to lift more.
-The class always changes so that you don’t get bored with the same routine.
Cons
-There is really no cardio in the class. Don’t get me wrong, during the class your heart rate really gets up pretty high, but there is no ‘direct cardio.’ I ended up doing 10 minutes on the stairclimber (level 10) & 5 minutes on a stationary bike after the class.
-You lift a bit lighter than you would if you were doing regular strength training. Since you are doing such high reps, you don’t want to put on as much weight as you normally would. I still enjoy doing heavy lifting.
I did enjoy the class a lot though! The only thing is that I don’t think I will be doing it again. You see I already have a gym membership…and in order to be able to do these BodyPump classes I have to join the YMCA that it is at. It would be an additional $48/ month…on TOP of what I already pay for my current gym membership. And I would really just go to the Y on Tuesdays & Thursdays on my lunch break…so it doesn’t make any sense to have another gym membership just to go to BodyPump. It was fun though 🙂
Anyways, sorry this was kind of a rambling post..just thought I’d tell you about my first BodyPump experience. 🙂
Hope you have a great day! I’ll be back tomorrow with a more typical post.
Have you ever gone to a BodyPump class? What was your experience like? Did you enjoy it?
Greek Yogurt & Apple Slices 
notsodomesticated
/ September 14, 2011I’ve never tried a Body Pump class. Honestly, I don’t really like doing class workouts. I’ve tried many throughout the years, and I eventually go back to working out on my own. I don’t know why … maybe I don’t like having someone tell me what to do hahaha?! (Control freak??) 😉
Holly at Greek Yogurt and Apple Slices
/ September 16, 2011LOL! I was the same way, but honestly I really LOVED BP!! I was surprised at myself..
Pink Runner
/ September 14, 2011I’m OBSESSED with BodyPump!! I joined a Gold’s gym that has it at the end of May and I have been trying to go to at least 2 classes a week. I’ve toned up so much and love that it works everything in the hour. I never thought I would be a group class workout person, but I’m in love. The first class was kinda overwhelming to me with all the different weights but by the second class I was in love!
Life's Better With Freckles
/ September 14, 2011I LOVE Body Pump! I joined Gold’s Gym just because they offer Les Milles classes. If they have any of those besides Body Pump, try them. Body Combat, Body Attack and Body Pump are awesome workouts and they constantly change, so it’s fun.
In Sweetness and In Health
/ September 14, 2011I’ve never been able to try a body pump class! But I would love to someday…none of the gyms I’ve been at have ever offered them.
Shannon
/ September 14, 2011Ive never tried bodypump but i would love to 🙂
Alyssa @ Life of bLyss
/ September 14, 2011I LOOOOVE and miss bodypump so much now that I switched gyms after graduating! I used to go twice a week and never missed a class.
And to get my cardio in, I’d run a few miles before class!
Shanna, like Banana
/ September 14, 2011I have gone to Body Pump a few times and liked it, but didn’t love it. I do bulk up in my legs fast, so doing a bazillion squats and lunges isn’t right for my body..sometimes I did that at no weight just so I wouldn’t bulk up more. I also had to squeeze in 10-20 min of cardio before or after to feel “complete.”
christina
/ September 14, 2011So funny… I just did my first body pump class in months and totally forgot how many reps you do. I put two 5kgs (what is that like 11ish pounds?) on my bar and OMG i was dying and the end!!!! the teacher was like “um you have a lot of weigh ton there.” that weight is totally normal for me, but after that many reps, and an hours worth of lifting, holy crap. what did you use if you don’t mind me asking? i’m not afraid of bulking up!! i love baby muscles!
janae@hungryrunnergirl
/ September 14, 2011AHHHH I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU TRIED BODY PUMP!! I love it so so very much but I can’t find a time that works with my schedule! I agree about the lack of cardio…I wanted some!
janetha
/ September 14, 2011I still have not tried body pump! I want to.. plus, Candice (body of a mother) teaches it at my gym so I really need to give it a go.
runningismagical
/ September 14, 2011I have and I LOVE it. I’m not big on weight training alone, and I’m honestly not too knowledgeable on what is best for me. But I agree, not the best direct cardio workout, so I usually warm up with a couple miles before or after!
Grace
/ September 14, 2011I’ve obviously heard of it a lot but I don’t think they offer it at the UCF gym? Sounds good though because I’d be using bay weights!
Kjirsten- Balanced Healthy Life
/ September 14, 2011I have never gone to a body pump class but I hear they are super fun!!!
lovetotrain
/ September 15, 2011I started weight training years ago through body pump at the original Les Mills gym in New Zealand. i loved it!! Now I train heavy but then it was awesome! great way to learn good form.
fittingbackin
/ September 17, 2011Loved your pros & cons – good points for sure. I like it, but I prefer the classes that are more circuits so you’re mixing in more cardio!