Bikini Body Challenge – She's a groupie

So as part of the Bikini Body Challenge, I set myself the task of doing as many different group classes at the gym as possible. A lot harder when you work full-time but nonetheless, there’s a great variety and it sure beats using the cross-trainer for an hour staring at the TV. So I took myself to the gym most days for a fortnight and now I’ve done: Pilates, BodyAttack, Abs Blitz, BodyStep, BodyPump, Boxing Circuit, Cycle, Yoga, THT, BodyBalance and BodyCombat. I did not make it to BodyJam, the Dance class or to Pilates Reformer. All of the Body* classes are Les Mills brand (www.lesmills.com.au) and have a specific format which is kind of interesting but the class does go quite quickly! So this is what was fun and what sucked…

BodyPump is a workout using weights like a barbell or lifting bar and the Step platform, at your own level and your whole body aches the next day from squats, lunges and essentially all-over toning. Which is great, but I put on muscle really quickly and it makes me really paranoid. Poledancing is the only weight workout I’m really comfortable with and it’s my own body weight. Apparently BodyPump burns 600 calories per class though, so since I know that I’m probably more likely to go again and just avoid using the weights as much as possible. Some people were pretty buff but not slender and it was kind of scary for an aerobics class.

BodyStep uses a height-adjustable step and “simple movements on, over and around the step”. My freaking arse! It was hard and everyone else seemed to get the idea quickly but obviously a newcomer was going to have to get used to the movements and I’m really not very coordinated. Having a chunky instructor kinda freaked me out but I sweated my arse off, so I felt like I’d had a good workout. For those easily discouraged, stay at the back of the class until you learn the steps.

BodyBalance is not really a workout so much a a meditation/easy listening fan’s exercise and it really cemented my idea that my Mum going to BodyBalance once a week as her exercise program doesn’t do shit. If you’re a stress-head this class might actually help you clam down and breathe and all of that but I had to go for a run afterwards because I felt like I’d wasted a trip to the gym. Never again. Namby pampy stuff in my opinion.

I was kind of pissed off that I didn’t get to go to BodyJam because being the aforementioned uncoordinated person, I thought it might actually help improve my dance skillz0rz. I might make it one day but it’s only on Tuesday & Friday mornings at my gym and I’m at work then. Alas, I am doomed to be a dance-floor loser for life.

BodyCombat on the other hand is a pretty masculine group fitness class and I was sore, tired and full of testosterone when I left. Not so good at remembering the movements but the repetitiveness made it a little bit easier. I don’t like partnering up though, so that part of the class kind of sucked. Might give this one another go, because I definitely thought it was a good workout. Probably in my top three calorie burners I think, and it’s totally guy-friendly.

I’m glad I hadn’t read a bit more about BodyAttack before I did it as the “sports-inspired cardio workout for building strength and stamina” would probably not have been up my alley. Lucky I didn’t though because it was probably it most fun I’ve had working out in ages. Apart form being a massive calorie burner, the class was full of Happy Hardcore, bizarre motivational Engrish from the instructor and his Karaoke renditions during routines, which had me cracking up the whole class and made for my favourite Group Class experience. Obviously a class for the body-concious as well because there wasn’t a single person in the class who was overweight and there were a few girls who I probably wouldn’t let into my gym more than every second day if I was the owner, they were tiny. Clearly the class for weight loss.

As much as I really wanted to love Boxing Circuit and be addicted to it and throw punches and get sweaty and all of that hot Christina Aguilera Dirrty imagery, I just wasn’t into it. There was pain, sort of, but mainly boredom. I had a sparring (is it called that in boxing too?) partner who knew what she was doing and had her own gear and stuff which really helped. She was great and I was almost tempted to come back because she was so enthusiastic. Basically there was too much technique needed and the fun level wasn’t high enough for me to commit.

So Pilates is the class that I think is really easy and not a good workout at all because my core strength is pretty good from Poledancing. Then the next day I hurt all around my abs, obliques and all those core muscles. Then the next day after that, I can barely move. So I know it’s awesome and the more you do it the better you get. I had a different instructor than the previous time I’d done Pilates and they were heaps better with monitoring technique and not making me feel like I should be on a Macrobiotic diet and only wearing organic cotton or some shit. Or a ballerina.

If you don’t like doing sit-ups/crunches/etc then don’t do AbsBlitz. Even though it makes you think it will be a piece of piss because it’s only half an hour, you’ll be grossly surprised. I was going to do Pilates afterward and I could barely move after half an hour even with my decent abs-strength. Half an hour is plenty, there were more guys than girls in the class and the results were clear. Hardcore.

Speaking of Abs, THT (Tummy Hips Thighs) was another massive Abs workout. Using the fit ball and other props as well as resistance work, squats, planks and all of your favourite moves (not). The Les Mills classes are structured really well and seem to go a lot faster than the stuff like THT. Definitely hurt a little bit the next day but I just wasn’t really in the zone for this one.

The surprise, however, was Cycle, known in some gyms as Spin or RPM. What sounds more boring than a room full of stationary bikes with people pedaling away all together on an imaginary course? Well, actually, between an instructor who was lovely and supportive as well as realistic and the ability to really control the tension and therefore the difficulty, I had no problem working up a massive sweat in what seemed like no time at all. You could almost call me a Cycle convert but I haven’t been back again yet.

Yoga was so-so. Obviously I like to work, not just sit there stretching while someone tries to tell me how to breathe, but I did feel a bit more limber afterwards. Probably helped that I preempted the feeling of not working out that I got from BodyBalance and ran before rather than after. I kind of enjoyed Yoga more when me and my old housemate were doing it on the WiiFit though, but I might go again just to try and build up my flexibility when I can’t be arsed doing Pilates (read: don’t want to hurt the next day). Kind of want to do Bikram Yoga though, the sweaty one!

So my favourites were definitely Cycle and BodyAttack and maybe a couple of the others will get another chance from me like BodyStep. Just from watching while I was waiting for Boxing, the Dance class… it looked amazing and they even did the Thriller dance at the end. Inspiring! So at the end of it I’m feeling pretty good about my body after all my hard work, I still have a couple of weeks left on the challenge and have found a few classes that will help me break up my gym routine. I call that a success!