RickInOz

That time has come again and the new BodyPump release 69 was launched this week. I missed out on Monday due to work commitments but managed to catch it this morning instead. To follow, my customary review – now the 10th in the series – for those who won’t get this release for another month or two.

Warmup:
Time to get those muscles going. Nothing special to start with as we have the usual fare of rows, dead lifts and shoulder work. Then, to follow the pattern from the last couple of releases, lunges come before squats. The transition between legs in lunges is quick again, but since there are only slow ranges, it shouldn’t inconvenience too much. Then the track finishes with some bicep curls and underhand rows. Music: Better In Time – Jamie Knight.

Squats:
Get ready to work hard as this is a toughie. The track starts with a short and gentle intro track almost working as a continuation of the warmup. After a long break we get three working rounds. Each follows the same pattern with slow ranges, then bottom-half pulses and finishing with singles. This combination works well with 3 x 4 bottom-halves acting as a pre-fatigue before 16 singles. There are only very brief breaks between rounds so, by the end of the track, your legs are guaranteed to be on fire. Therefore this track is more of a cardio blast than strength training, and, while my legs had more to give at the end, my heart-rate was over 170. Music is Dan Winter’s cover of the Pink track Get This Party Started.

Chest:
A moderately hard track this time round. It features 4 rounds with a break before the final round. There’s nothing new this time round and the slow bottom-half from 68 doesn’t reappear unfortunately. Instead we get an energy-packed track with 8 singles and 6 bottom-half pulses in the first three rounds, which each feature essentially the same chore. The track finishes on more singles (10 for the last burst) which just about reached my fatigue point. Music: I Don’t Care – Fall Out Boy.

Back:
Be prepared to punish your forearms in this release as we return to similar chore to the mid-60 releases with lots of rows. The first round is another warmup intro just to get your heart-rate up, simply consisting of underhand single rows. Then a longish break before the three working rounds which are all identical. Each round starts with a couple of slow dead-lifts before the clean&press&single-rows kick in, then finishes on rows. The first C&P seems to start before the music really kicks in, and on the first round I wound up being late and having to rush to catch up. On subsequent rounds you can anticipate when to start the upright row, but the lack of musical cue puts a bit too much pressure on the instructor to get the timing spot-on. This isn’t a hard cardio workout, unlike 68, so you won’t be that fatigued by the end, however the final set of triple rows just becomes a test of grip strength and endurance unfortunately. Music is a cover of the Ian Van Dahl track Castles In the Sky by Liz Kay.

Triceps:
If you arms are sore from the last track you won’t find this triceps track much fun. It consists of 4 rounds, the first 3 on the bench. Each of the supine rounds features overhead extensions and then the new combo – a bottom-half pulse then overhead extension – repeated 4 times before finishing with more bottom-halves. Then the final round is seated overhead extensions as seen in 68. I found this a tough track expecially since we haven’t done much bench work in triceps for a while, and struggled to push out the singles in the final round. Music: Shut up and Drive – Rhianna.

Biceps:
Now for the jewel in the release. This track is nothing special chore-wise, in fact most of it seems to be lifted straight from 68, but the music carries it. So expect 3 main rounds with 2:2s, 3:1s, bottom-halves, then 1:3s. There is no break this time out, but in the middle there are a couple of rests to shake some of that lactic acid out before hitting the bottom-halves in the final round. There are also no full-range singles again so weight should be the same as for 68. Music is the great rock song So What by Pink.

Lunges:
And now for something different. This track starts off simply enough with the usual fare of slow and single rep lunges. Then we get the new feature – the three-quarter squat. This involves a normal squat to the bottom, then when coming up stop at the 3/4 range mark before going down again. This stops you taking that micro-break at the top and really takes full advantage of the “time under tension” principle. We repeat the lunges again for the opposite leg before another set of the 3/4 squats. Then the tracks finishes with some tame 2:2 dynamic lunges, which come as a welcome warm-down after those squats. Since we do squats as well as lunges there is no excuse for going lighter on weights. Music: Stand Alone – Dyce.

Shoulders:
This shouldn’t be that difficult a track, but I found it hard as I was getting fatigued from working hard in previous tracks, so probably didn’t do it justice. We start with some push-ups before moving onto the weighted disciplines. This time the bar work comes first and consists of upright rows and overhead presses. There are no singles so again, keep that weight up. Then we transition to lateral raises before repeating the whole process again. If that wasn’t enough we get more push-ups to finish including a set of 8 singles as a challenge at the end. Music: All I Ever Wanted – Basshunter.

Abs:
This is a very easy track so I’d strongly advocate taking some options to make it worth doing. We start with some leg extensions with option to hold a weight and do an overhead extension. Then there are twisting crunches, with again option to use a weight and also keep going with leg extensions. A few simple crunches follow before the plank section. We start in a prone hover before moving to lateral planks for each side. The hold is not long each side so they can be done up on toes and even with the top leg raised. The track is pretty short so you have to work hard to get a decent abs workout from this release. However, for noobs, this should be a accessible introductory track. Music samples Sweet Home Alabama (for all the BP59 fans): All Summer Long – Kid Rock.

Warmdown:
Not much to say on this one. The usual mucle groups get stretched in typical order from lower body to upper. It seemed a very short track again and the music was a bit insipid, so wasn’t really that enjoyable as a wind down from the intensity of the rest of the release. Music: Let Me Be Myself – 3 Doors Down.

Overall impressions:
Another very strong release with mainly simple repetitive choreography which should make the instructors’ job easier. A couple of new moves (the triceps combo and the 3/4 squat in lunges) seemed to blend in well with the rest of the release. There was nothing complicated so this release will be suitable for all levels of experience with the class.

On balance I found most of the tracks challenging, and by the end of the class was glad to relax. It came as a stark contrast to 68 which, while still being a good release, had a few too many tame tracks. The music helped too and should be more accepted with it’s wider mix of rock and dance tracks. The tempo in most tracks was a little slower than in many other releases which will help with getting technique right and tone those muscles.

I just have a couple of grumbles. The back track really shouldn’t just be a test of forearm stamina. There were too many rows and this limits what can go on the bar, hence you won’t get maximum results out of clean-and-presses. Another gripe is the quick transitions they keep putting in lunges. Either reps have to be dropped, rushed or it’s a scrabble to get swapped round. I’d advocate a format like 62′s lunges with a definite pause before starting each round.

Anyway, that’s my 2 penceworth. Feel free to agree or disagree below. Kia Kaha till next time.