Back to Body Pump

Today I took a Body Pump class for the first time since July. I used to love these classes, but stopped as the release in the summer had a lot of moves I struggled with. I enjoyed the class today and realised I have got a lot stronger since the summer, so Body Pump should be great for toning up and burning calories.

The current release was quite enjoyable - it only just started this week. The only track I struggled with was the triceps track as I was struggling to try and understand exactly how the instructor was moving.

The key to a good exercise class is a good instructor. The best ones for me actually say the moves and the counts and don't assume everyone knows what everything means. They demonstrate it for you and show/tell you where your hands should be, which way round etc... I couldn't figure out what the instructor today was doing, but I approached her at the end of the session to show me, and she did. I then realised I had my hands the wrong way round on bar which was why I had been struggling to complete the move. At no point had she said opposite grip!

With Body Pump it is hard to see on any of the tracks that are lying down on the bench, so instructors really should demo, especially at the start of a new release. Now they do ask if anyone is new to Body Pump and then do show newbies, but just because you have done two or three different releases, it doesn't mean you know the new moves, as you could be relatively new to exercise. One of the instructors who does the Body Pump in the week is brilliant. He constantly scans the room and looks straight at you and tells you to make corrections.

I struggle with classes like Body Combat because I cannot figure out what the instructor is doing quickly enough. By the time I have sussed it out they have moved to the next move. I think spin suits me because there are only a limited amount of combinations, although they can be mixed together in a variety of different ways, and you don't have to think about moving across the floor, left or right or bashing in to someone else.

I plan to try and take a Body Pump and swim class once a week and then carry on with my new gym work out (well I say new, I've had it for two weeks now). I'll book a reset during February half term. Probably some swimming thrown in at the end of some of the workouts or at the end of the week (Friday nights if I am tired). Plus walking at the weekend.

I need to remember to take my weight training gloves to Body Pump next time as it helps you to grip the bar better. I like the new Les Mills gear they have got too. The bars are a little heavier than the old Reebok ones and the plates push on. They can be tricky to change but I think there's a knack you have to learn. The plates are much easier to hold for side raises, squats and lunges.

Anyways need to make sure I carry on with this and increase some of the weights a little to make it more challenging... I'll keep you posted on how I get on.

Fitbit flex

I am loving my Fitbit flex. It is a gadget that you wear on your wrist and synch with your phone/tablet/computer and it records your steps during the day. You can also log exercises that aren't running and walking and you can log food, water intake and your sleep. It is brilliant and I am hoping it will help me towards my goal of losing another 4 stones. You can have challenges against your friends for the week, weekend or a day. It's not always about winning as everyone is at different levels but you get quite competitive with the people close to you - well I certainly do!

To find out me you can look here - Fitbit Flex UK

The positives are:
1. The challenges - it motivates you to do more or to go further.
2. The daily goal - again this motivates you to do a bit extra.
3. Monitoring calories - so you can make sure you are on track for weight loss.
4. Active minutes - it shows you how long you have actually been moving about for.
5. It makes you aware of what you are eating and your activity levels.
6. You can link it to other apps. In my case, I have linked it to Mapmyfitness (Maymywalk), Technogym's Mywellness and you can earn points on Bounts which mean you can earn money off vouchers (my referral code is o174 if you decide to join - Thank you).
7. Monitoring fluid intake. It has made me realise how little water I drink on work days and to stay properly hydrated.
8. It monitors you sleep, so you can see whether you are getting enough sleep or how restless you have been and how many times you have woken up - you can see what is normal for you and when it is different.

The negatives are:
1. The American food database. That said, you can add things manually and after a while you don't need to add as much because you have customised it to your diet.
2. You can't add classes like body pump - probably because they are licensed classes, so you have to pick the nearest thing to it, but that's a minor flaw, but one I may email them about as being able to add these would make the calorie counts much more accurate.

So as you can see, so far the positives outweight the negatives. There is also the Charge version which has a watch feature and then the Charge HR which has a heart rate monitor.

So far I have won the Workweek Hustle challenge but I am second on the weekend hustle, but that's cool. You can't win them all but it does help up those activity levels :-)