RickInOz

Here it is, hot of the press, or at least the gym floor! We had the launch of 62, the latest release, after a couple of weeks of waiting. As promised here’s a rundown of what to expect:

Warm-up: This has virtually the same choreography as 61 and works the major muscle groups. It got my heart rate up a little but, since it was cold tonight, didn’t really get me warm. I know the warm-up isn’t one of the star tracks, but a little variety would be nice! Music: I Believe In Dreams – Jackie Raw.

Squats: For some reason I found this track quite hard. It’s not that special with 3 rounds of 2:2s, 3:1s and singles. There are a fair number of slow reps, but the tempo is quite quick which made me feel rushed in the singles. A short break before the final round helped a bit, but not for long as there are 16 bottom-halves right at the end. Music is: Run To Paradise – Nick Skitz vs. The Choirboys.

Chest: At last an interesting track! There was quite a mixture of choreography with some twin bottom-half pulses similar to those in 61’s squats. These featured in 2 rounds of otherwise usual stuff before a break. The final round had some of those 4:4s punctuated by singles that last cropped up in the Love Shack chest track. Despite being quite a long track I didn’t pull up too tired. Glen Ostergaard must be reliving his youth as the music is a cover of C+C Music Factory’s Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now) by Bob Sinclar & Cutee B feat. Dollarman, Big Ali & Makedah.

Back: More repetition for this track. Three rounds of the same. Dead rows (except on the final round), then lots of dead lifts before finishing on the clean and presses, a quick break and then round again. Nothing else to say! Music: How Long – Jessy.

Triceps: Hooray, a decent triceps track this time. I was rather scathing of 61’s triceps, both for the easiness and the music. All is corrected for this release. It starts innocuously enough with some overhead extensions. Then they’ve added in a new move – a pullover. It starts from the bottom of an extension and, keeping the elbow at 90°, moves forwards to finish at the bottom of a tricep press. Then stand for some overhead presses before finishing on tricep press-ups. 4 different moves in one track makes this the most interesting and challenging for a while. It’s pretty hard too and by the end I was feeling rather sore. Music is Wind It Up by Gwen Stefani.

Biceps: Another short track again, clocking in at only 3 and a half minutes. Unlike the previous release it’s actually still quite hard for two reasons. Firstly it has a slow beat so the 2:2s seem to take for ever. Secondly there is no break, just a 5 second rest holding the bar. The previous release was too easy as you got a break in a short track that didn’t need one. This time round it keeps the muscles under tension to make the final stretch a little harder. There is an new combo of a 3:1 followed by 2 bottom-half pulses to add interest. I did it on a red, blue and yellow but will probably go up to the 2 reds on Weds. Music: Weight Of The World – Evanescence.

Lunges: As I had been warned – this is a bit of a b*st*rd. It starts with some typical static lunges before turning ugly. The second half is backward dynamic lunges stepping off the box. There’s an awful lot of singles and I pulled up at the end of the track with my heart rate in the high 170s and panting like an asthmatic. Whether you do the dynamic lunges off the box is optional. Obviously it makes them harder, but will unbalance many so may be best avoided. Music is: I Go Crazy – DHT feat. Edmée.

Shoulders: Another chance to do something new! The track starts with a few more press-ups than normal before kneeling to do shoulder lifts and lateral raises. Then the new move – a modified Arnold press. There are a lot of these, both slow ones and singles. Make sure you don’t let the weight tip backwards on the downward movement as the triceps will take the strain rather than isolating the anterior deltoids. We’re back to 1990 again with a cover of Snap! – I Got the Power (The Power Of Bhangra 2003 – Snap! vs. Motivo).

Abs: This is a fairly easy track. It starts with single leg extensions before moving onto twists with a bicycle kick. Then there are some lateral rolls before turning onto your front. To make the leg extensions harder, try doing each with both legs rather than alternating as the choreography suggests. The track finishes with a lateral plank each side and then a front plank. Les Mills seem obsessed with Justin Timberlake as he contributes yet another track: My Love feat. T.I.

Cool-down: This was very welcome as I found this release tougher than the previous one. The stretch track starts with a long period on your back which gives time to enjoy the endorphin rush. Unfortunately the track doesn’t go for long enough and the music is pretty forgettable. I enjoyed 61’s warm-down music as a familiar track relaxes you, but I’d never heard this one before and it wasn’t that soothing – Lips Of An Angel – Hinde

Overall impressions: This is a welcome return to form after losing their way with 61. However I got the impression that the choreographers had put a lot of effort into some of the tracks (Chest, Triceps, Biceps and Shoulders), then ran out of time to do the others (Squats, Back and Abs) so just cobbled something together at the last minute. I think generally it is a good release, with a lot dance-inspired music which suits my taste. The inclusion of some retro covers brought a smile to my face, but many younger gym-goers may not recognise them. Certainly it works you hard enough to be on a par with most of the better releases.

Let me know when you have done 61 too, and whether your opinions agree with mine! Kia Kaha.