Body Pump: What It Is and Why You Should Try It?
If you’ve been looking for a workout that builds strength, burns fat, and tones your body, you might have heard of Body Pump. It’s a popular fitness class that focuses on resistance training with light weights, making it ideal for all fitness levels. Whether you’re new to exercise or experienced in the gym, Body Pump offers a unique way to strengthen your muscles and improve your overall fitness.
In this blog, we’ll break down what BodyPump is, how it works, and why it’s worth giving it a try.
What Is a Body Pump?
Body Pump is a full-body, barbell-based workout that focuses on using light to moderate weights with high repetitions. It’s a form of resistance training that was created by Les Mills, a fitness company known for group classes like BodyCombat and RPM. Unlike traditional weightlifting, which often involves heavy weights and low reps, Body Pump takes the opposite approach. The goal is to challenge your muscles with a lot of repetitions using lighter weights.
Each Body Pump class is set to energetic music, and the workout is led by a certified instructor who guides you through various exercises that target different muscle groups. This includes exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts, chest presses, and more. The class usually lasts around 55 minutes, with each track focusing on a different area of the body.
How Does Body Pump Work?
The effectiveness of Body Pump lies in its use of high repetitions. During the class, you perform between 70 to 100 repetitions per muscle group, which is significantly higher than in traditional strength training. This high-rep training helps to build endurance and strength, and it keeps your muscles under tension for longer periods, promoting muscle toning.
Here’s a typical structure of a Body Pump class:
1. Warm-up:
The class begins with a light warm-up to get your body moving. You’ll use a barbell with little to no weight to practice the movements you’ll be doing during the workout.
2. Legs:
The first major exercise usually focuses on the legs, with squats and lunges being the main moves. This part of the workout is intense and works your lower body.
3. Chest:
Next, the workout shifts to chest exercises, often including bench presses or push-ups. You’ll lie on a bench or the floor and use your barbell to strengthen your chest muscles.
4. Back and Shoulders:
After the chest track, you’ll move on to exercises like deadlifts, clean and presses, and overhead presses to target your back and shoulder muscles.
5. Arms:
The arms section focuses on biceps and triceps. You will use lesser weights and perform exercises such as bicep curls and tricep extensions.
6. Core:
Toward the end of the class, you’ll work your core muscles with exercises like planks, crunches, or leg lifts.
7. Cool-down:
The class finishes with a cool-down stretch to help your muscles recover and improve flexibility.
Why Should You Try Body Pump?
There are many reasons why Body Pump is worth trying, whether you’re aiming to get stronger, leaner, or simply add variety to your workout routine. Here are some of the top benefits:
1. Builds Muscle Endurance
Body Pump helps improve muscle endurance, which is your muscles’ ability to perform an activity for an extended period. Because of the high-rep, low-weight structure, your muscles are challenged to work for longer, which builds stamina over time. You may not see huge increases in muscle size (like with heavy lifting), but you’ll notice that your muscles become more toned and defined.
2. Burns Calories and Fat
While Body Pump focuses on strength training, it’s also a fantastic calorie burner. During a typical class, you can burn anywhere from 400 to 600 calories, depending on your weight and effort level. This makes it a great workout for fat loss, especially when combined with a healthy diet. Additionally, the afterburn effect (also known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC) helps your body continue burning calories after the workout has ended.
3. Improves Muscle Tone
If your goal is to get a lean, sculpted look, Body Pump can help. The high number of repetitions creates constant tension on your muscles, which promotes muscle toning. Over time, you’ll notice improvements in muscle definition, particularly in your arms, legs, and core.
4. Strengthens Your Core
Throughout the class, many of the exercises engage your core muscles. Whether you’re doing squats, deadlifts, or shoulder presses, your core is constantly being activated to help stabilize your body. This not only increases core strength but also improves posture and balance.
5. Great for All Fitness Levels
One of the best things about Body Pump is that it’s suitable for everyone, regardless of your fitness level. The weights are adjustable, so you can start light if you’re new and gradually increase the load as you get stronger. The instructor also demonstrates modifications, so if a certain move feels too challenging, you can modify it to suit your ability.
6. Provides Structure and Motivation
For many people, one of the most difficult parts of working out is deciding what to do and remaining motivated. Body Pump takes care of both of these issues. The class structure is designed to give you a well-rounded, full-body workout, and the motivating music and instructor help keep you energized and focused. There’s something about working out in a group setting that can push you to go harder than you would on your own.
7. Quick Results
Because Body Pump targets all major muscle groups in one session, you can start seeing results relatively quickly. After just a few weeks of consistent classes, many people notice improvements in strength, muscle tone, and endurance. Plus, the mix of strength training and cardio helps with fat loss, which can enhance the visibility of your muscle definition.
How to Get Started with Body Pump?
Getting started with Body Pump is easy! Most gyms that offer Les Mills classes include Body Pump on their group fitness schedule. If you prefer working out at home, Les Mills also offers an on-demand service where you can stream Body Pump classes anytime. You’ll need a barbell, weight plates, and a mat, but you can also use dumbbells if you don’t have access to a barbell.
Here are a few tips for beginners:
1. Start with Light Weights:
It’s better to start light and focus on your form than to go too heavy and risk injury. You can progressively raise the weight as your strength improves.
2. Listen to Your Instructor:
The instructor will guide you through the proper form for each exercise. Pay attention to their cues and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you’re unsure about something.
3. Be Consistent:
To see the best results, aim to do Body Pump two to three times per week, with rest days in between for recovery.
Conclusion
Body Pump is an effective, fun, and motivating way to build muscle endurance, burn fat, and tone your body. Whether you’re new to strength training or a seasoned gym-goer, it offers something for everyone. With its high-energy atmosphere, organized training, and visible results, it’s no surprise that Body Pump has become a popular choice among fitness aficionados. So, if you’re looking for a workout that will challenge you and keep you coming back for more, give Body Pump a try—you won’t regret it!