Your thoughts on Les Mills body pump

entropicbeauty

Okay, so I have a very know-it-all friend who is going to school to be a Physician's Assistant (basically a doctor without the PHD), she did body pump with me once and thought it was pretty much the worst thing ever.

This weekend she tried to convince me that I was doing more harm to my body than good by participating in the class, so I'm wondering what you guys think? I know it's almost more like cardio, but is there really anything so bad about doing this class once a week? I feel like It still helps me develop muscles I wouldn't otherwise use, even though the reps are high and the weight is pretty low.

Thoughts?

(Side note: She also was trying to tell me I was losing weight "wrong" and that she could help me lose weight quicker by upping my calories even more and doing a lot less cardio - so I was already pretty irritated by the time she started in on the body pump thing)

firsttimersluck

First and foremost, Body Pump focuses all its energy on making sure participants do every move properly. Watch your toes, Don't go past your bench, keep your elbows in,TAKE THE OPTION IF YOU NEED IT!!!!!

Those are things you hear in Pump that you don't hear in the gym. I have worked with personal trainers that were teaching HORRIBLE technique. I have taken kick boxing classes that don't push the importance of proper pivoting (and as a result watched people tweek their knees) 

THAT'S why I love pump. 

It's form is near perfect. It's a class designed to help people understand the importance of strength training, and especially help women not be AFRAID to lift. 

It's a class that you can take out into the gym and use those techinques, moves, form to have a great well-informed work out on your own. 

For the record, I hate Pump. I hate lifting, but I love the feeling that it brings me so I do it. I love that my muscles surrounding my knee have built up so much that I no longer have knee issues. I love that my arms are my "trouble spot" but now they are well defined, lean, and I feel confident in a tank top. 

It's not the only lifting I do. It's important to mix it up. You need Muscular Strength and Muscular Endurance. Pump focuses first on endurance, so it's good to make it a point to go lift heavy on some days. 

The only reason it has a "cardio" aspect, is because the squat track and lunge track. Those are the BIG muscle groups in our bods, so whenever we work them, it gets the heart rate up. That's while you'll hear the instructor mention "pump cardio" or "let's get a little cardio work out in!" etc. It's not REALLY cardio, and it would be unnatural to lift legs and not get your heart rate up a bit. 

I do Body Pump 3 times a week. It's that class that pushed me over the edge into 16% from my plateau at 17% last year. Expect that even professionals have different opinions. I HATE ZUMBA> HATE

HATE HATE HATE HATE. I think it's the absolute worst group X class to ever exist and it's a complete JOKE to me. 

But I have my opinion on that. :P As does your friend on Pump. 

Do what you love, do what keeps you motivated, and do what you feel is working for YOU. We are all different. Pump works for me, even though I hate it :P 

entropicbeauty

I actually sort of hate doing pump as well but I do it because it forces me to incorporate weightlifting into my routine that I normally wouldn't. I don't really plan to stop going I just wanted to hear opinions from people on the board - particularly people who believe in lifting heavy to exhaustion.

firsttimersluck

Yeah, I feel ya. I totally believe in lifting heavy to exhaustion.. 

But I think muscular endurance is just as important. 

And I think balance and flexibility is just as important, which is why I'm a crazy obsessive yogini and encourage everyone to give yoga a chance. 

We ladies DO have a tendency to incorporate too much cardio. I'm totally guilty. Since moving to FL, I have been trying to adjust that. But I don't think Pump is cardio. Ultimately pump holds me accountable for my lifting and I like that.  

unchatenfrance

I've never done pump totally not my thing but I've done combat and flow. The only way I can see it being 'bad' is for people who have zero listening skills. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the flow instructors say "your left arm.... no, your left arm... THE LEFT ARM!" This applies to listening out for both the moves themselves and the technique. And so I guess op's friend thinks les mills is bad because the instructors don't normally walk around the class to correct individuals? I dunno. And agree on zumba! My mom loves it but I feel like a complete dork in that class.

entropicbeauty

I agree with you both on Zumba - much prefer combat myself

Thanks for the opinions - I figure any lifting is better than NO lifting!

strazzypants

I LOVE LOVE LOVE body pump - but I got hurt TERRIBLY from doing it.  

Yes, the instructor is supposed to make sure that you're not hurting yourself, but unfortunately it happens. I twisted just a little bit and sent my neck into spasm for 6 weeks. Always be in the front of the class, keep track of how much weight you're lifting (in a notebook), SLOWLY increase the amount of weight you use. (However, I used a light weight that day, but the twist was what did me in.) Try to stay in the front of the class so if you're doing anything wrong, the trainer can help you. Good luck!

Katoners

Im really late to this post (I just started reading this board) but I wanted to add my 2 cents anyways.

I LOVE Body Pump. It gets me moving, the music is great and I love how I feel after class. Also its a great way to lift weights without being embarassed. I hate the weight area in the gym because it is a bunch of big beefy men who are sweating and grunting and I feel like a moron cause I dont know what Im doing.

With anything if you arent doing it properly you can get hurt. You could be walkign and step funny and twist your ankle just as easily as you could hurt somethign during pump. As long as you listen to the instructors and follow the proper body mechanics you should be fine.