Category Archives: Fitness and Yoga

Until You Hate Me – Review of Les Mills Body Combat release 64

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Dan and Rachael have changed Body Combat recently.

Massively.

They snuck the changes up on us. The format is the same at a high level but completely different if you dig deeper.

Warm ups so intense you feel you should warm up before the warm up. A “press ups” section in track 4 that’s here to stay (but we still need time to collect our mats please!). High Intensity Interval Training masquerading as Body Combat. A cutting back on “sing along songs” replaced with driving lyric free music, or at least repetitive lyrics. 

Body Combat is a tougher work out. More focus on drilling specific moves. Higher intensity. Sweatier. 

It gets results. 

But has it gone too far? I’ll come back to that. 

First, let’s have a look at the tracks.

Review of les mills body combat release 64

We begin the upper body warm up with a lower body move – the shoot lunge. Adding to the feeling this is beyond a warm up our legs begin training from the first beat. We segue into two combos which become repetitive but the music drives us through. “The Bass and the Tweeters make the speakers go to war”. Here’s a lyric we can hook on to. Are you ready to go to war?

Note the lack of any shuffling forward, back or sideways in this warmup or the whole release. Is that a feature of the new Combat format? Everything takes place on the spot.

A great lower body warm up. Drilling front kicks and side kicks in four explosive intervals. The slow side kicks are tricky to time but once the beat pounds in we’re away.

Is the first release ever not to feature the roundhouse kick? Come to think of it there aren’t any back kicks either.

  • Combat 1 – I’m Shipping Up To Boston – Sway Spice

At two minutes and 13 seconds this track is over before it’s begun. I feel the upper cuts do not flow into the jump kick and the reset is awkward. The first time I taught this I pulled a muscle in my back and needed a week off and physiotherapy. My fault. The weakest track in the release. Pointless.

I love power tracks like this. Practice the components of a combo separately them combine them for a relentless workout. It’s patented Dan and Rachael power training. I struggled with the music whilst learning this one. The vocals are so far back in the mix (strangely not in the PPL Free version) as to be inaudible. And the pauses in the synth riffs disorientates  you and make you feel you’ve missed a beat. Great moves and one of the longest track 3s ever. 

  • Combat 2 – Blast Off – The Basic Proton

Great guitar riff though I’ve failed to discover where they sampled it from. A repeat of the side kick drill from the warm up. We are hot now so we can kick harder and tone our glutes.

Down on the floor for press ups. Lack of time to fetch mats still means some participants prefer to perform squats instead. Those endless top half press ups hurt.

A completely new approach to a power track modelled on High Intensity Interval Training. Drilling upper cuts and sprints in incremental bursts builds up to a breathless crescendo.

I expected a lukewarm reaction from established participants, but some hard selling and motivational cueing means it is the highlight of the release. As good as it is thoug, that sprinting section isn’t Body Combat.

Smart Start seemed a little weird to me at first. The suggestion new participants should pack up and leave after track 5 rather than over do things and be put off for life. After this track I can see the logic behind the suggestion.

After the calorie annihilating interval track we’re offered no respite. Deep capoeira moves reduce our legs to jelly. “Until you hate me,” sings Rita Ora. I know the class hate me after this one. Those fast switch lunges at the end are manic.

  • Muay Thai – La Nina Mechanica – Engine Florida

Hard pumping techno beats. A simple set of Muay Thai moves. Another calorie blaster. The last set of running man knees underline the new tough direction Body Combat is headed in. A few tricky timing issues try to trip us up but it’s a mammoth workout. I’m a massive fan of rock music but I prefer techno Muay Thai tracks.

  • Power Training 3 – If You Surrender – The Truly

A good old-fashioned sing along power track song to finish with. We don’t surrender. Perhaps not as challenging as some finales (though we have worked hard in this release) but still sweaty. A euphoric way to finish.

  • Conditioning – Shell Shocked – The Proven Lab

A good combination of crunches and cycles ending with the lower back raises which help strengthen the core. What is the guy singing about? Butter Kist? “Knock Knock to the Butter Kist Shell Shock.” Maybe not.

Typical cool down stretches and a powerful Kata set to a great rock ballad. An uplifting ending to a tough, relentless and sweat drenched release.

To return to my earlier question though. Have Dan and Rachael taken things too far?

The answer is probably not. Because Body Combat 64 is popular. People have taken on the challenge. They’ve seen results. They like the sweat and the calorie burn.

But I think they might appreciate the odd nod to the past. So Dan and Racheal, let’s not forget that fun tracks also motivate and burn.  There’s no sign anymore of the odd cheesy fun track. Will Dan and Rachael ever lower themselves to another “Pirates of the Caribbean” style track. Rejected by those that take all this “One Tribe” marketing hype too seriously, as slow and cheesy, let’s not forget that Pirates is still the most requested old track.

Yes focus on technique is good. Yes the essence of martial arts is the core of the programme. But don’t adhere too strictly to your new format that you lose an army of fans who want to have a laugh as well as a workout. 

It’s only bloody aerobics after all.

Now it’s your turn:

Do you agree with my review of Les Mills Body Combat release 64? Why not comment below. And do please share using the social media buttons.

 

Seriously! The Tracklist for Les Mills Body Combat release 65 out already.

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It’s out already.

The Track List for Les Mills Body Combat release 65. And I’ve only taught release 64 and not reviewed that yet.

Do you want to know? Fancy spoilers? You can find the track list for Les Mills Body Combat release 63 below.

Look away now if you don’t want spoilers.

Les Mills Body Combat release 65

Coming to a fitness club near you in September 2015.

As always thanks to Simon Philp for finding this list first. Check out his blog  – you’ll find much more Les Mills stuff here!

Now it’s your turn:

What do you think of the Les Mills Body Combat release 65 tracklist? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

If you want more spoilers you can click on the links above to see the music on Amazon. They won’t be exactly the same mixes because Les Mills often edit the tracks, and some are Les Mills cover versions and not available commercially.

Spoiler Time! Here’s the Track List for Les Mills Body Balance release 70.

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I’m not joking. It’s out already.

I haven’t posted my review of the current Body Balance release yet. And here is the track list for Les Mills Body Balance release 70. We’ll get to see this in September.

If you don’t want spoiling DON’T READ any further. Otherwise have a look.

Les Mills Body Balance release 70

Now it’s your turn:

What do you think of the Les Mills Body Balance release 70 track list? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Listen on Amazon:

If you want more spoilers you can click on the links above to see the music on Amazon. They won’t be exactly the same mixes because Les Mills often edit the tracks, and some are Les Mills cover versions and not available commercially. But it will give you a good feel for what’s on its way.

First Impressions of Les Mills Body Balance release 69 after Edinburgh Quarterly Workshop

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What do you think of the new release of Les Mills Body Balance?

Les Mills Body Balance release 69

If you’re an instructor you’re probably already teaching it. If you are a participant you’ve probably already done it.

Which means I’m late with my first impressions post. Although my full review will follow shortly, here for completeness were my impressions of the new class I experienced at the Quarterly Workshop.

  • An energetic Tai Chi set to Fat Boy Slim’s Praise You feels like a full aerobic workout. A shock to the system. Only settling into a true Tai Chi flow in the last section the track is a tough one.
  • By contrast the Sun Salutations is mellow to the point of slumber. Were the first two tracks meant to be such polar opposites?
  • Standing Strength presents two warrior pose sequences bookended by three-legged dogs set to a piece of music repeated twice.
  • Balances are tough. Moving from half-moon pose to aeroplane to twisted half-moon pose brings on serious wobbles. A short but interesting sequence.
  • After some tough Core Abs tracks in recent releases, at the Quarterly Workshop I felt this was an easier set of exercises. Having since practiced and then taught the sequence it’s deceptive. Short and tough. Without proper form though participants might feel this one in their legs. We need to focus coaching on the lower back and core.
  • A double Twist Track with revolved triangle pose which is always a challenge.
  • Forward Bends is a long mellow track with plenty of time to explore deep stretches.
  • Good to hear Stanton Lanier back in the relaxation. Though the “plink plink” of his piano is perhaps to similar to the forward bends music and doesn’t offer enough of a contrast.

Les Mills gave us a bonus Balance track this time around with the infamous bird in a basket pose. It’s optional. Those instructors teaching less advanced participants may never even use the bonus track. It’s a good idea to keep it separate in my opinion.

But in a release I would describe as plain and unremarkable it’s ironic that the attention grabbing track is the one that most people won’t see.

Now it’s your turn:

What do you think of Les Mills Body Balance release 69? Please share your thoughts. Why not click one of the social media share buttons below?