RickInOz

Apologies for the delay - this review would normally have appeared almost a month ago but we’ve been on holiday. Tonight was not the launch and the instructor was almost considering dropping it from his routine. Fortunately I got it just in time and so you get the review just in time for it to hit the UK next week. As usual I will give a run-through of the tracks, include the tracklisting and Youtube links.

Warmup: This starts off predictably enough with the expected dead-lifts and rows. The upright rows segue straight onto the legs without the usual overhead presses, which suits me as I don’t like working the shoulders too much in the warmup. The leg section starts with 2:2 lunges for a change, then moves onto a fair number of single squats before more lunges. The other innovation is the inclusion of underhand rows which transition well into bicep curls to finish. Music: Bleeding Love (Almight Anthem Radio Edit) - Jamie Knight.

Squats: This starts off simply enough with some slow reps and singles. The track is broken up into 3 rounds with the option of using a wide stance for the middle round. They bring back the bottom-half pulse from #61 in each round. Then the sting-in-the-tail is a whole heap of bottom-half pulses - 24 in all - right at the end. I was finding this fairly easy until then, but finished up pretty fatigued. The music has a faster beat than previous releases so drives the track along well: Piece of My Heart - Intermission feat. Grey & Frost.

Chest: This track will come as a welcome relief after the toughie in #66. It comprises 3 rounds punctuated by very brief breaks. There is barely time to sit up and catch you breath before you’re down again. Despite having some bottom-half reps there is nothing terribly difficult this time round and I didn’t really feel I had worked at all by the end. I suppose you could simply omit the breaks to make this more challenging. Music: Paralyzer - Finger Eleven.

Back: Another rather easy track by comparison to some of the other 60s releases. It is 4 rounds of (virtually) the same chore starting with rows and lifts as usual before the C&P sequence. Be warned that the transition to the C&Ps in the latter rounds is pretty quick and you can get caught out if not on the ball. There are 2 breaks, the first after round 2, the second after round 3 which allows more time to recover. Perhaps Glen has been listening to our feedback as the extra break takes some of the strain out of the forearms and should allow more weight on the bar. With the extra break I would have expected 6 C&Ps in the final round, but they stick to the 4 as with the previous rounds. Music is the predictable cookie-cutter trance affair: Eurofighter - E Type.

Triceps: For some reason I found this track fairly difficult, even though it shouldn’t be. It starts with two rounds of overhead presses with the pullover from #62 for the chorus. This means doing quite a lot of pullovers, but since they have featured in all the recent releases they shouldn’t present too much of a challenge. Then it’s off the box for some kickbacks. Nothing special here, but the round is fairly long so don’t pick up too much weight or your technique will suffer. Pink contributes yet another triceps track - Cuz I can.

Biceps: This starts with pretty much the same chore as #66 - slow reps, 3:1s, 1:3s and bottom-half pulses - for 2 rounds. So far, so good and I wasn’t feeling it too much by the break. Then they throw in a completely new move - the bicep row. This is similar to the dead row but the bar finishes mid-chest to put the strain in the upper biceps. You would be forgiven for thinking this will be easy, but believe me it isn’t. Then they serve up some bottom-half and top-half pulses before you get to rest. There is an option to put extra weight on at the break, but I wouldn’t advise it - you have been warned! This is one of the harder tracks of recent times even though there aren’t any regular singles in it, so technique should be maintained all the way through even if your biceps are complaining at the end. The music in isolation sounds a bit weak, but it complements the track well - We Got It Going On - Bon Jovi feat. Big & Rich.

Lunges: This is a spitting image of #66’s chore but fortunately this time they allow some room to get the bar up and down for the transitions between the static and dynamic lunges. The singles come early in the static lunges so your legs will be fatigued for the slower reps. However the dynamic lunges stick to the usual form of escalating pace. There is the option to use the box for either or both of the sets. Then, of course, swap legs and do it all over again. Music: Toca’s Miracle (2008 Version) - Fragma. I remember this song from when we used to go clubbing in the mid 90s but this recent remix doesn’t do really do it justice.

Shoulders: Another smorgasbord track from Glen. We race through press-ups, rear deltoid raises, forward raises, Mac raises, lateral raises, rotator cuffs, and finishes with overhead presses. It’s a lot to get through but it all fits in somehow. The result does feel a little rushed, but don’t be fooled, this isn’t an easy track. For the masochists there is the option to use the bar for the overhead presses. Music: Now You’re Gone - Basshunter.

Abs: It’s all fairly standard stuff to start with, as the first couple of rounds is just crunches and twists. Then the plank makes another appearance. This time though you have to balance on outstretched arms and legs. Then one knee is brought up towards the chest before extending that leg out straight so it finished in line with the body. It is much easier to do in practice than this sounds. I also found it wasn’t at all challenging for my core, but instead was murder on my arms. Having to support your bodyweight on fatigued shoulders and triceps is hard, and as such I wasn’t able to maintain form properly. I was hoping Glen had learnt from making a similar mistake in #65, but clearly not so. The music will offend the babyboomer generation being an atrocious Ronettes cover: B Boy Baby - Mutya Buena ft Amy Winehouse.

Warmdown: I liked the chore for this warmdown very much as they devote much more time than usual to each of the stretches. This way it actually behaves as a proper stretching track and not just the usual quick romp through. Pity then that the music isn’t at all relaxing and struck me as a rather poor choice: Angel - Aerosmith.

Overall impressions: Having previewed the music before doing this class I was ready to dislike it, however in tracks like Chest and Biceps it actually works. Therefore this release is good, perhaps not on a par with 66, but no lemon either. There are some interesting innovations like the underhand rows in the warmup, bicep rows and extended arm plank, but it is doubtful if any of these will make it into future releases. It is still nice to see Glen and his colleagues trying new things. Some have been good like the Mac-raise and twisting plank, other less so, but unless we try new things BodyPump will never evolve.

What do you think? Agree or disagree - please share your opinions below.