What is BodyPump?
For those who don’t know, BodyPump is an exercise class built by Les Mills. It’s a form of strength training, using some weights, and it exercises major muscle groups throughout the body – from chest, back, quads, glutes, biceps, core, etc.
6 years ago, I was introduced to BodyPump through a work friend. I immediately fell in love, but my first question was, does this actually work? There weren’t so many articles in the first place, but the ones I found tend to be quite negative. Some reddit posts mentioned that it isn’t really for gains, it’s not optimal, there are many much better alternatives, etc. There wasn’t much studies on it, and many people thought that the research done by Les Mills itself must be quite biased. However, at that time I couldn’t really go to the gym anyway due to pandemic, so I ended up sticking with it.
Here’s what I found:
Consistency trumps Perfection!
Perhaps BodyPump is not the most optimum strength exercise ever out there. But because I enjoyed it, and I still do it quite often nowadays, 6 years later.
It didn’t take the full 6 years to see the results, of course. It took me about a year to see the difference in my core strength and seeing the muscle lines on my shoulder and back. However, it definitely took me longer to see my abs muscle and develop my two-pack, perhaps a 3 years in, and with improvement on diet too.
The Result
Less Injury
I have no six-pack, but I have stayed pretty much injury free since due to strengthening my major muscle groups.
I used to get injured pretty much every year, especially on my lower back, knees and ankle. I inherited hypermobile joint, so I tend to be a bit more injury prone. My lower back got injured multiple times for over half of my life due to weak core, and Les Mills Core (used to be CX worx) once a week has strengthened it enough that I haven’t had any injury in 3 years.
Built Muscle
I stay slim and build muscle. I kmow this because I have more defined muscles now. I weigh 10 kgs heavier, but stayed the same size, even gone slightly smaller (I was size 10, but nowadays sometimes I can fit to a size 8).
Look and Feel Better
I love my body, and BodyPump has sculpted my body to the shape I love. I now have a butt I’m proud of, which I have grown through BodyPump! I also have a line in the middle of my abs which I have never seen. And I can see the muscle on the side of my tummy now. On a good day (after my period, in the morning before I eat anything), I have a 2 pack which I am so proud of.
I also can see the muscle lines on my arms, shoulders and back that I didn’t see before.
Conclusion
Many articles think that standard weightlifting is better form of exercise. It probably is, but the thing is that, I hate going to the gym regularly. When I tried this, I ended up going to the gym once a week. Which is nothing compared exercising everyday when I do BodyPump Not BodyPump every day, of course, as that’s not recommended (recovery is important!!) but I happen to like exercise class, so I do other classes (cardio, core, even yoga) in between.
Want to have a try? Well, if you use this link, you can have 30 days free trial! Hope you find something that works for you ! :)