Les Mills BODYPUMP Review

I've been writing a lot about food because I a) eat a lot of food and b) think a lot about food.  But another thing I love a lot is exercise! Yay endorphins! Last night, I took my first Les Mills BODYPUMP class, which is a barbell-based weight class that focuses on high reps.  I walked in not really knowing what to expect- it’s a fairly new offering at New York Sports Clubs. 

There were 2 reasons I really liked the class:

1) It focuses on each major muscle group individually- going through legs (squats), chest, back, biceps, triceps, shoulders, legs again (lunges), and abs.  For each muscle, you go through 3 “tracks” with 304 different exercises and a high number of reps.

2) The instructor was great at her quest, counting and explaining what weight you should have on your barbell based on your warm-up weight and how new you were to class.  So for instance, she wouldn’t say- “Do shoulders with 5 pound plates on your bar.”  Instead, she would say, “Go up 2.5 to 5 pounds from your warm up weight for shoulders.”

There were also some things I didn’t love:

1) I didn’t really sweat.  I wish there was some type of cardio element worked into the tracks to get my heart rate up. 

2)It’s hard for me to choose a weight for the barbell and stick with it for the full 3 tracks per muscle.  I like that with dumbbells I can easily switch between 5s and 10s based on how I’m feeling.  That being said- I can see how the barbell method can add to the challenge if you choose a challenging weight because then you’re stuck with it.  Unfortunately, I think I was a little wimpy last night!  I could have pushed myself more.

3) I’m not sure I’m sold on the fact that high reps/light weight > heavy weight/lower reps.  I think I need to do some research.  Any reading suggestions?

4) The ab section was super lame.

Afterwards, I felt like I needed some cardio so I did this routine:

(Love me some burpees...not)

I got my sweat on and naturally snapped a selfie when I spotted some arm definition in the mirror! (No shame). 

(Hey arms!)

I'm glad I pushed myself to do the extra cardio at the end, because after the gym I headed to V-Note Vegan Bistro for dinner! Check back for a review soon!