Body Pump paired with a little Workout Rant

78 Launch Shoulder Track

Some of you may be asking, What is this Body Pump you speak of?? Well I'll tell ya.....It's a 1 hour strength conditioning class using a barbell, and hits every major muscle group! The instructors receive notes and a DVD with the material to learn every quarter. So everytime you go to class you know just about what your gonna get. With each new release the music changes as well as the moves, but not by much and the sequence of muscle groups remains the same. I personally LOVE body pump or any class put out by Les Mills (Body Combat, Body Flow, Body Attack, CX30, etc.) its a great way to get in your strength training in one hour and hitting everything that counts. Its also great for beginners who are absolutely lost in the weight room. All fitness levels are welcomed with open arms. We offer several modifications for every track. I've had women in their 60's in my class as well as teens and all shapes and sizes for sure!  Body Pump is recommended 2-3 times per week paired with cardio and a clean diet! Here are a few pics from our 78 Launch last night. I taught with my good friend Andie and it was a blast as usual!!!!

Body Pump Peeps!

Squats

Andie Rocking it out to Sweet Child of Mine during the
Chest Track that never seems to end!!

LOVE LOVE this

As far as my personal workouts go, I really only have one or maybe two rules that I follow....ok make that three! I don't discriminate when it comes to exercise, I love to try it all, all classes as well as stuff on the cardio deck and in the weight room.  Never get stuck doing the same thing over and over. I believe its best to always keep your muscles guessing what you'll be doing next and offering little to no rest during the workout itself. Also I usually only take one rest day per week. And keep in mind that "Life begins right outside the comfort zone!" It's true though, if you can carry on a conversation or God forbid be able to read a magazine while your on a machine, you are clearly NOT working hard enough if you ask me. People that just go plug their ear buds into a cardio machine, and work up a decent sweat and call it a day.....No....nothing will get accomplished by doing that. Is it better than doing nothing at all?....of course it is, but we all have goals and would like to make certain areas less giggly sooo why not strive for that! I'm a huge fan of interval training, in fact I believe its the only way to go no matter what type of exercise your doing. If your running for miles and miles at a time preparing for a race or something...thats fine but don't really expect to see any real changes in your body at all. So what do you do instead of just running on the treadmill....well try Sprints, go as hard and as fast as you can for 30 sec, straddle the belt and rest for a minute. Try doing it 8-10times. Next add an incline of something crazy like 12 and walk for a min and rest for a min. Keep changing it up to see what works for you.

This weekend I plan on working on a post that is full of NO EQUIPMENT workouts or exercises for all you folks who have asked :)

Today's Workout
~ Taught Body Pump
~ Cardio Circuit 3 exercises, 6 sets, 15 reps
   Squat/wall ball throw using 12lb weighted ball, Jump Straddles using a bench, Reverse Pull Ups!
Food for the Day
~ 3 egg whites with kale and chickpeas with black coffee
~ 2 leftover Oscar Burgers , no bun, with cantaloupe and cottage cheese
~ Dinner will be Clean BBQ chicken with baked sweet potato and asparagus!

~ Snacks...1 whey protein shake with unsweetened almond milk and 1 oatmeal raisin ball with hot green tea for this sore throat of mine! (yes the oatmeal raisin balls are still in the fridge, they keep really well)

I feel like I might be catching what the boys had, ugh....so say a lil prayer that its just in my head! Ha!