Boredworkers.com

Went for a Body Pump (Multilevel) class on Sunday with WL at California Fitness in Mid Valley. I’m glad to announce that I felt like crap when I woke up this morning.

The class was scheduled for 11.20am through to 12.20pm. So after a quick breakfast, WL and I made our way to Mid Valley. Now I’ve never been to a Body Pump group excercise class prior to this, so I didn’t know what to expect. From the tales I’ve heard, it sounded painful. The problem was that I had no idea just how painful.

We got there just as the 10.10am session of Body Combat drew to a close. Collecting a selection of weights from the side, we waited patiently for the instructor to arrive. The instructor, this hunky handsome dude, walked in at 11.20am sharp. He introduced himself as Ben and the class got underway.

BODYPUMP®(M)
The fastest way to tone and condition your body and get in shape! This is a barbell class set to awesome music while you are motivated by your instructor to push you to your limit! Non-impact and moderate to high intensity.
- Excerpt from California Fitness’ website -

California Fitness’ website lists Body Combat Body Pump classes under the Body Toning and Muscle Conditioning category. They were introducing a new set of routines and music, so I guess now was as good a time as any to jump in. The routine was simple enough. A quick warmup, followed by upright rows, squates, bench presses, clean and jerks, tricep curls, bicep curls, lunges, bicycle crunches, and a small combination of shoulder exercises.

Ok, so maybe its not as simple as I say it is. But it is straightforward. None of that complex coreography nuisance that you expect from cardio aerobics, steps, or dance style classes. And definitely none of that body bending curl-your-leg-over-your-head-and-kiss-your-ass tranquility that you get at Mind and Body classes like Yoga or BodyBalance.

Nope, none of that. Instead, what you get is a full hour’s worth of teeth gritting, iron pumping, muscle crunching, gut wrenching workout. And there’s absolutely nothing subtle about its approach either. Just pick up the weights and go. Pump away in time to the music until you’re weak in the knees and your muscle scream for you to stop. When that happens, do another ten!

Midway into the session, my brain was screaming at me to get out of the studio and threatening to go AWOL on me if I didn’t comply. Up front and 7 feet away from me, the instructor was yelling out words of encouragement to push for the final rep. I don’t know what it is about this guy, but Ben’s one charismatic dude. One look from him and a flash of his cheeky little grin, is enough to motivate you to push yourself beyond your normal threshold. Even when your muscles are cramping up, he needs only wink at you while asking how you’re doing and you’ll wind up pulling another 20 curls out of some reserves you never knew existed.

Damn! Everyone in the studio must have some masochistic tendencies, not excluding myself. There he was dishing out raw torture and here I was enjoying every single painful second of it. And the amazing thing about it all was that I actually managed to walk out of the class feeling tingly all over. Sure my legs were rubber and my arms were lead but I felt satisfied. Weird.

It really didn’t feel that bad. That is until I woke up this morning. Have you ever wondered why your muscles tend to feel fine after a long workout and don’t start to ache until the day after? I know its the adrenaline talking but I can’t help but feel that they are conspiring together and enjoy pulling a quick one on you while you’re asleep. When I woke up this morning, my arms and legs felt stiff and sore. Its actually difficult to lift my hands high enough to chat on the phone.

But inspite of all that suffering, I find myself actually looking forward to the next session. How about you? Do you have something painful that you’re strangely passionate about? I don’t know. Maybe like stabbing a fork in your eye or something? Tell me about it. Does pain rawks your sox? If yes, what form does it come in and what thrills do you get out of it?