Pump Pump Pump It Up

Have you been hearing too much chatter about Les Mills' Body Pump class and wondering....WTH?  I was. So I finally mustered up enough confidence and found a willing victim to endure the torture with me. Not realizing that my uber peppy, blonde TurboKick instructor is on vacation for the next 2 weeks (she also lives, eats and breathes Body Pump), I entered my Thursday night class only to be surprised by Kim. I swear this chick must smoke mushrooms before coming to the gym. I've never seen anyone this amped about workouts. We commence to speed ball-energy infused kickboxing class in the dark (including glo-sticks). Kim has a thing for glo-sticks. Luckily, she was NOT teaching Body Pump.

I slunk out the door when she hit the floor for abs in order to bring my heart rate back down to beating inside my chest. I swear C2-5K has sucked all my stamina and tossed it underneath the treadmill. I know understand the importance of cross-training versus running/weights and no cardio classes (oh how I missed my cardio classes).

So what's Body Pump?  Honestly, it's the same strength class you've taken before BUT using a barbell and it is supposed to be the same format for each class regardless of the instructor or gym location. It's supposed to choreographed to music and the instructor is supposed to focus on form over the stacked number of reps.

I didn't get a lot of instruction because I was too busy trying to drop weights, add weights, grab mats, etc. I can say that my upper body is SORE and I know DOMs for my lower body will sink in in about another 2 hours. When I got home last night all I wanted was to grab something quick to eat, shower, and go to bed. I was asleep by 9pm. I was excited to finally see the scale go in the right direction this morning (maybe by some stroke of genius I will see the 161s again by NYE). I am looking forward to Liza's return (she's my peppy blonde) and I can see incorporating this class into my routine at least 2 times a week (screw that nightclub cardio class).

However, checking out the Les Mills website, you'll see a wide array of prepacked classes from spinning to step to kickboxing to even a dance cardio and yoga-ish class. It will be interesting to see if these will catch on.

Do you Body Pump?

It's so....

Sweaty!!!

I've got to say I'm proud of myself, workout-wise, because I finally made it to Wk5 of C25K. I've even done the run 1-1/2 times through. My next run, I will shoot for the Day 3 schedule of straight 20mins.

I got home all sweaty and ready to dig in to the 2nd hour (the elimination hour) of Biggest Loser.  I hear Jillian say "I want a 10-min mile".  WTH! I am barely doing a 14-min mile (and I was so happy to finally get my mile time to 14mins) and she has these folks doing 10-min miles. I also noticed the amount of weights lifted. I thought I was doing well even made it to 3 sets of 21s with 8lb dumbbells (that darn bicep challenge). These chicks are lifting much more than that.

So I came down from my 3-mile high and had a glass of wine to cover the pain.

Then, Merry's post really hit home. There will always be someone fitter than me, so stop comparing myself to others, especially those on BL. I will continue to make the strides I am making.  Yes, I probably could run faster and I may challenge myself on the next run. Yes, I probably could lift heavier weights, so I will take the BodyPump class on Saturday. Check out the promo below, I'm in for a world of hurt - hurt so good!