beachbody (les mills) pump: pump challenge

[Guest guest]

so i finally convinced myself that i need to formally workout my

upper body with weights. ive been leaving it alone due to sore

ribs and concentrating on endurance in the lower body. i have

been successful with the lower body, but i am concerned about

losing too much muscle in the upper body. so i think that i

can do some high rep/light weight training.... the legs can

certainly take it.

i put in 20 minute beachbody pump 'pump challenge'. not sure

why they call it that, it is not a challenge at all, but is

mainly an instructional workout for real beginners. an

introduction to the les mills method i guess. squats, lunges,

deadlifts with rows, chest press, triceps press, shoulder flies,

clean & press. one combo of front shoulder raise on one side,

other arm is doing side raise. nothing was done for very long

and there was lots of talking.... basically a demonstration of

the different tempos that les mills uses and how they like to

combine moves, the music they use and what the instructors are

like.

no warmup, no cooldown, no abs, and the schedule they provide

wants me to do this 3 times this week! LOLOL. maybe i will do

it one more time, with a bit heavier weights, to build confidence

before moving on. also there is a rest day scheduled for

tomorrow! LOLOL. nope, dont need a rest day after doing that

workout. the funny thing is, there is another 'workout' they

provide called 'basics' which is similar, but there is no

music... it is all talking about the barbell and how to do basic

exercises. so both of those are not useful to me... i hate how

sets brag that they contain x number of dvds and then two of them

contain footage like this.

i dont have a barbell so i just used dumbells which is fine.

rachael from the UK is in this so that makes me happy. dan is

in some of these workouts too... dan and rachael are the les

mills body combat program directors and are awesome together.

unfortunately ive heard that they were married but have divorced.

however they still work together for les mills doing body

combat and other programs.

tonight i hope to walk and then do a les mills 'body balance'

routine, as per the BB pump rotation. i can knock off a whole

week of their plan in 2 days, it is so beginner. next week

schedule looks better.

i tweaked my right ribs a bit at work yesterday... cutting

through the rind on a cold slab of parmesan. i realized that my

form was bad and it was better when i kept my elbow close to my

body. i also think i should stand on something to make myself

taller and get a better angle when i do that. live and learn!

:*carolyn.