RickInOz

Three months have gone by and it’s that time again. This morning we were treated to the launch of BodyPump 66. As before I present my review, complete with tracklisting, for those who will have yet to experience it or are simply interested.

Warmup: A nicely paced track on this release working all the usual muscle groups. Two new features are bottom-half biceps curls and, most importantly, a pause while swapping legs in the lunge sets. Normally there is a bit of a scramble to switch legs while doing the lunges to it’s nice to see Glen has found a way to solve this problem. Music: Rain Down Love - Freemasons Feat. Siedah Garrett.

Squats: Don’t expect anything new here, as this is a typical by-the-numbers affair. That’s not so say it’s an easy track as I was moderately fatigued at the end. It’s three rounds of slow ranges, singles and bottom-halves punctuated by short breaks. The music is fairly slow-paced so this is a good opportunity to do full range even on the singles. Unfortunately it is a truly awful remix of Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer namely Cisko Disko - Rico Bass Vs DJ Bonito.

Chest: Anyone who is a glutton for punishment on chest, and enjoyed this track in 65, will not be dissappointed here. It is a fast-paced track with 4 quick rounds of slow and fast reps, a quick break then back down for one last round of the same. I was just about done for by this point, but to finish us off there was a round of press-ups. My stamina saw me to the end, but pushing out the last few singles was a struggle. A new choreography feature is the quick down, hold, then slow push up in multiple sets to maximise loading. Back to the 90s with an old techno classic: Get Up - Technotronic.

Back: Yet another back track that is murder on the forearms. It starts with a quick underhand grip round before the first break. Thereafter the track consists of two duplicate rounds with a break in the middle. Be warned: these are long rounds with dead lifts, C&Ps, rows, more C&Ps before finishing on lots of wide-grip dead rows. I was struggling badly enough by the end of the first and almost dropped my bar at the end of the track. As before it failed to get my heart rate above the 165 mark, which contrasted with the 180 max I acheived doing 52’s back track last Saturday. LM really need to find the way with the back track as it is supposed to be the big calorie killer track, but recent ones have simply become a test of participants’ forearm stamina. LM pillage Cascada’s back catalogue (again!) for What Hurts The Most.

Triceps: I found this a slighly confusing track. There are a lot of moves with quick transitions that don’t seem to fit that well with the music. It starts on the box with some overhead extensions, then lots of bottom-half presses. The pullover move returns again with 4:4:4 and 2:2:2 reps just to mix up the speed a little. Then the track finishes with our old favourite - dips! Fortunately we’ve been doing 55 a lot recently so I didn’t find 66’s set too bad. Cyndi Lauper’s classic Time after Time is murdered by QuietDrive. I’m surprised they didn’t use the cheesy, but better version by NovaSpace.

Biceps: Every release tends to have an easy track and this is 66’s lull after the previous intensity. It’s 3 short rounds of mostly slow ranges. Each round finishes with an 8-rep bottom-half set, and there is a break between rounds 2 and 3. Even though I was generally having an “off” day today I wasn’t too fatigued on my usual 10kg per side. Since this track isn’t that challenging it should provide good opportunity to concentrate on perfecting technique. Music: On Your Way To The Disco - Rogue Traders.

Lunges: If you do this track as cued it is fairly difficult. It follows a simple choreography routine with 4 sets - 1 static and weighted, 1 dynamic with weight as an option, per leg. The additional challenge is to have the front foot up on the step all the way through. I’m sure this is ringing some bells and I did wonder if they had simply hijacked the cueing from 62 for this one. My only criticism of this track (an in fact the whole release) is that there is no pause to allow transition between the weighted and unweighted rounds. As a result I wound up missing the first rep of each weighted round while hoicking the bar onto my shoulders. Cardio-wise it is fairly intense and my heart-rate monitor peaked out at just over 180bpm. Music is a surprisingly acceptable remix of Maria McKee’s Show Me Heaven by Micky Modelle vs Jessy.

Shoulders: Another track that will require concentration as well as strength and stamina. It starts with a short round of press-ups before stepping up to rear-deltoid lifts. Then stand for the special feature - the Arnold Press from 62 is back. This time though we do them forwards and backwards alternately. It’s hard to describe how this looks but it may take a few classes to get it right. Finally the rotator cuff gets a battering before finishing with some simple overhead shoulder presses. As always there is the option to use the bar, and I would advise this, as the set is only short so you can go all out to the finish. Music: Where Are You 2007 - Paffendorf vs The Real Booty Babes Club Mix.

Abs: It would be nice to think Glen O listened to those of us who criticised 65’s abs track as this one has a quick set of crunches before the hover to give the shoulders a reprieve. This time the plank has a variation. It consists of side-planks only with the option to reach the free hand from stretching right out, to curling it under the body. If you keep your hips static while doing it, this move engages the obliques in a way I’ve never done before. It sounds easy but, believe me, isn’t. You will need great core strength to execute the move properly. As if the obliques hadn’t been worked enough it finishes with some twisting crunches. Fans of Matt Damon will like this track as the music is Moby’s Extreme Ways from the Bourne Ultimatum.

Warmdown: After working hard during the class I enjoyed the relaxing vibe this warmdown track has. While Sheryl Crow’s Always on your Side is a bit sappy it works well but was a little short for my liking. We ended up finishing up the stretches after the music finished so instructors may like to play it twice to cover all the muscle groups.

So, overall impressions? On the whole this is another good release. It is on a par with 65 and musically suited me far better as I liked the dance/disco theme running through all the tracks. In terms of difficulty this certainly is no slouch. Aside from biceps, all the tracks were challenging in their own way, so this release provides a good balanced workout. There is sufficient variation in the choreography with the new bottom holds in chest, pullover combo in triceps and Arnold press back-and-forth in shoulders spicing things up a little. I’m sure it is difficult to keep a class like this fresh when the choreography can only contain a finite range of sets and reps, but Glen and team have kept my interest.

As always I look forward to hearing comments from fellow BodyPumpers. Feel free to throw your 2 pence/cents worth in!