Most weeks, I will be trying out a new exercise class for this column. This week, however, I decided to inflict this ordeal on my friend, Cherry, instead. I dragged her along to a Les Mills Body Pump class in the hopes that she’d fall in love with it. I like to force my obsessions on other people, you see.
Body Pump is a choreographed, weight-based class using low weights and high reps. No matter where you go in the world, you’ll find Body Pump classes made up of the same moves. A new set of tracks is released every three months to keep it fresh and instructors can mix and match the songs they use so it’s not the same class every time. Most of the tracks are fairly inoffensive, but there is an alarming amount of Nickelback and euro-dance that creeps into the mix as well.
Cherry was petrified, it’s fair to say. I took her inside the studio and began stacking up a few 5kg weights on top of each other when she started backing away, mumbling something about the class being very busy and perhaps she’d come another day. After talking her out of bailing, she nervously picked up a few small weights and a barbell.
It’s true that when you’re not used to training with a barbell, you feel like a little bit of an idiot at first. The key is to swallow your pride, put teeny tiny weights on the bar (I usually tell my friends to start with 4kg for the whole class), work on getting your form right and then increase as and when you can as the weeks go on. The weight range in the room is always hugely diverse, with some people lunging without any weight at all and others loading up to 30kgs on their bar.
Cherry went a little goopy-eyed over our instructor, Boy, a very likeable guy who makes squats mesmerizing for the girls crammed into the front row of his classes. While Boy is undoubtedly very beautiful to watch, he’s also great for reminding you about proper form, gently suggesting that you “keep your elbows forward” during squats and that you “keep your upper body still” during bicep curls.
I could see Cherry go from feeling like a fool as she watched herself squat in the mirror (everyone looks like an idiot when they’re not used to squatting or lunging) to feeling like a champ as she did “clean and press” and bicep curls. If you’ve never dabbled in weights before, it’s hard not to feel pretty damned cool doing so, even if you are only curling 4kgs.
One of the mistakes a fellow newcomer made (despite Boy’s warnings to opt for small weights) was to dive right in with the big ones. A tall, muscular guy, he was clearly no stranger to pumping iron. But Body Pump is entirely different than most weights workouts. It’s made up of 10 tracks that each focus on a different muscle group (warm up, squats, chest, back, triceps, biceps, lunges, shoulders, abs, stretching). So, even if you’re used to bench pressing 80kgs for eight reps in the free weights room, benching for four minutes in Body Pump class means you’re going to have to opt for a much, much smaller weight or spend the entire track looking a bit silly wielding a weight that’s far too big for you. Body Pump values endurance over brute strength.
Cherry made it to the end of the class (but not without a few whispered threats to leave after a particularly evil “lunges” track) and declared herself converted, despite “aching like a mother,” the next day.
Our class was at Fitness First Landmark Plaza, but you can find Body Pump classes at any Fitness Firsts franchise.
If you’re interested, you can sing up for a free three-day trial at the gym’s website.
