Passion is Thy Name!

The new LesMills releases *finally* hit our Penang shores! I’ve been waiting for MONTHS to check out the Body Pump (BP) # 68 and Body Combat (BC) # 38….and finally, it was launched at our gym last weekend.  Ori plan was to head over to the gym last Saturday to participate in the launches but ended up nursing a hangover and all workout plans flew out the window. Thx to a mad poolside party that started serving drinks *super* early. It was a first for me…to call it quits at the bar before midnite!

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Back to the new releases. Since I missed them over the weekend, tonight was the big nite for me. To get acquainted with BP68 and BC38, that is. However, fellow gymmies who managed to participate in the launches over the weekend had nothing but complaints abt them.

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“Horrible music!”
“No ‘kick’ at all, sien only”
“Lausee, lausee, lausee!!!”

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So I braced myself for the worst tonight…..and came out pleasantly surprised. Granted, some of the tracks aren’t that great but some, I rather enjoyed.

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Tracklist for BP68 :

1. Warmup track : “Perfect Day” - Indigo
2. Squat track : “Big Girls Don’t Cry” - Nick Skitz
3. Chest track : “It’s Not My Time” - 3 Doors Down
4. Back track : “What Do You Want From Me” - Cascada
5. Triceps track : “Hook Me Up” - Veronicas
6. Biceps track : “Start It” - Vanessa Amorosi
7. Lunge track : “Listen To Your Heart” - Nick Skitz
8. Shoulders track : “My Game” - Darude
9. Abs track : “Forever” - Chris Brown
10. Cooldown track : “Dare To Live” - Andrea Bocelli

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Eleen’s personal review of BP68 :

• First 3 tracks were rather boring. No new challenges.
• Sets of 4 clean & presses are real killers. I could only manage one set at the very end with 15kg (7.5kg each side) of weights. Had to do the first 3 sets with only 12.5kg (6.25kg each side).
• Lurve the tricep track. Totally couldn’t feel my triceps after the track but hey, it felt damn good not feelin anything! Hah….if that made any sense at all. LOL.
• The bottom halves for the biceps track seemed never-ending. Urgh. I had to stop several times to allow the fire burning in my biceps to cool down (for a max of 3 secs each time and also becos the instructor screamed at me “Hey you! Why stop?!?!” each time I stopped).
• Absolutely love the ‘forward-stepping pulsing lunges’. Altho it was damn hard balancing the 10kg weights (5kg on each side) while trying not to kill my knees!
• Overall, I rather enjoyed BP68.

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One hour flew by and it was then time for Body Combat. Again, not good reviews from fellow gymmies.

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“Crappy choreography!”
“Music and choreo do not match at all!”
“Damn tiring!”

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Again, I braced myself for some bad music and equally bad chorry. Again, I was pleasantly surprised. Unlike the rest, I actually enjoyed BC38. A lot.

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Tracklist for BC38 :

1. (a) Writing On The Wall - 2-4 Grooves
   (b) Because Of The Night - Cascada
2. Try It Again - The Hives
3. Like I Feel (Squad E Mix) - D:Code feat Emma
4. (a) Headbangerz Rock Da Club - Nick Skitz
   (b) Cold As Ice - Starsplash
5. The Best Damn Thing - Avril Lavigne
6. No Good (Start The Dance) - The Prodigy
7. Raver’s Paradise - Nick Skitz feat MC BB (Stadium Mix)
8. What Hurts The Most (Al Storm Remix) -  Cascada
9. When I Grow Up - The Pussycat Dolls
10. Say (All I Need) - One Republic

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Eleen’s personal review of BC38 :

• Lotsa karate movements (blocks, punches, sliding side kicks, etc).
• The combination of speed balls & jump jabs is FUN.
• Love love LURVE the 2nd power training track (Avril Lavigne’s The Best Damn Thing). Dubbed the ’shoulder killer’, I tot my shoulders were gonna drop off! So many upper cuts and jabs. Just when I heaved a huge sigh of relief as the right side ended, the music quickly moved us to the left shoulder. I so know that I will feel the pain in the next day or two. Altho I must say singing aloud with Avril helped to take my mind off the ache in my shoulders as I punched away. Hehe…
• So we tot that the Esquiva track from BC37 was tough. Then came track #6 in BC38. The combo of the Esquiva lunge with the double front kicks only spelt one thing : PAIN. So, I know without a doubt that this track’ll be one of those early ones to be swapped out by the instructors. Sad, coz I actually enjoyed it. Yes, the pain and all. Me masochist? Perhaps
• The knee sequence in track # 7. OMG. I counted a total of 128 knees in this single track! That’s 4 sets of 32 non-stop knees : 2 sets on the right and and another 2 sets on the left. Again, OMG.
• Absolutely LURVED the 3rd power training track (Cascada’s What Hurts The Most). The non-stop jabs, upper cuts and hooks. The intensity definitely makes up for the simple choreography. I was ready to call it quits by the 2nd set but noooooo, our instructor pushed us thru the final set amidst shouts, groans and moans.
• The abs plank was brought back in track # 9. I’ve always loved the abs plank (horizontally off the floor, standing on just our toes and elbows, with *ALL* concentration on our abs) and so, thoroughly enjoyed this track. Only one complaint. The track was too short. Would’ve loved to do the abs plank for a min more or so. That would’ve given us the ‘abs-fire’. Hehe…yea yea, another masochistic moment.
• I had to disagree with my fellow gymmies, Sweetheart included, and say that I really enjoyed BC38. They bitched abt the music but hey, I enjoyed it! Especially from track 5 onwards.

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My only hope is that the instructors will not swap out the tracks too soon. They tend to do that with the tougher releases, like how they did with BC37.

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Me likey these 2 releases. Really likey.