Christmas is almost here. In my Body Combat classes I’m dusting down old classic favourites and we’re having great fun as everyone winds down for the holidays.
But Les Mills Body Combat release 62 is out, and I’ve started learning it for a January launch. It’s certainly going to kick-start 2015 with a bang.
Check out those Side Kicks.
Here are my first impressions.
If you enjoyed the last few releases, you’d love this. It’s similar in feel and intensity.
The Upper Body Warm up demos the basic punches in simple fashion. It may be the first ever Upper Body Warm Up not to feature shuffling in any direction at all.
Track 3 is shorter than normal but packs power. You’ll be sweating like a tap by now.
I can’t believe how many kicks and knee strikes there are in Track 4. Cool Kata at the start too.
More Capoeira in Track 6 and that means more muscle burning leg conditioning. Like the “slow motion front kick”.
I love the music for the Muay Thai. It’s almost upbeat progressive rock.
An abs only conditioning is going to hurt.
Look out for Les Mills Body Combat release 62 coming to a club near you in the New Year. Until then, as programme directors Dan and Rach always say, “Keep it real and stay with the fight.”
Now it’s your turn:
Did you go to the Quarterly Workshops? What do you think of Les Mills Body Combat release 62? Please leave a comment below or a link to your review.
Weighing in at over 8 minutes the upper and lower body warm-ups are a challenge in themselves. We try punches, upper cuts and hooks before dropping into the legs for “shoot lunges”. Roundhouse kicks follow, then a barrage of endless back kicks and an arsenal of Muay Thai knees.
This shows how the programme has evolved over the years. Early warm-up tracks were just that. An easy way into the class before the work started properly in track 2. Now the warm ups are immediately intense. We’re straight into the hard work.
And two uplifting techno tracks as well. Body Combat release 61 is a beautiful monster.
Track 2 is a surprise. Rather than the usual rock music, roundhouse kicks and strikes we face a slower leg conditioning experience. And it hurts.
Watch the DVD and think, “That looks easy and short.”
Try it and you’ll say, “Ouch I’m glad it’s a short track.”
From the balancing front kicks, to the “toe tap” squats, to the knees and side kicks a fire ignites in your supporting leg until the muscles scream for a rest by the end. Awesome leg conditioning.
Fast travelling jabs
Power training 1 – Every Breath You Take – Praying Hunk
Every kick you take. Every fist you make. Every slip you fake. A techno update of an ancient song by The Police. We experience the theme of Body Combat release 61 here. Explosive speed. I love the fast travelling jabs and upper cuts section and the one simple combo that bookends it. Go hard here and you get breathless fast.
Combat 2 – So What! (M Edit) – Independence Days
“So What” first appeared in release 27 as a Muay Thai track (the first to feature the Street Brawl Downward Punch in fact). Almost the same mix it’s therefore familiar but different. Building up to the jump kick raises our heart rates. The sharp, powerful karate punches continue the explosive speed theme. More jump kicks at the end of each section bring us close to fatigue.
Great lyrics to hook into as well. “You know karate and kick me in the eye!”
Not an update of Led Zepplin’s classic, “Stairway to Heaven” feels like we’re climbing to another exhausting peak. After two long rounds of upper cuts and the hook cross hook combo we finish with a flurry of jabs that feel they should belong in the last power track and not at the halfway point of the class.
Breathless again and we transition into another leg conditioning track. Yes more tough leg action this time based on capoeira moves. Switch lunges, esquiva and those agonising low “shoot lunges”. You need to grit your teeth during this one. And like track 2 aren’t we relieved its short?
Before our legs can recover the Muay Thai track hits us like a runaway locomotive. I’m not usually a fan of heavy rock Muay Thai tracks but “Are You Ready” hits the spot for me. A couple of fast combinations, relentless knee strikes and a breathless finale with double knees and an optional leap to the ceiling jump knee guarantee to take you to your cardio peak.
After the guitar solo and before the last chorus we revisit the “Superman Punch”. Controlled and powerful we do the punch using explosive speed. It’s still taking time to perfect the footwork that accompanies this punch but al least we get to work up through the levels here.
A finale that feels like there’s no end in sight. Your shoulders and upper arms will burn after only a few minutes of this hard-core upper body blaster.
It’s like the “Groundhog Day” of power tracks. Just when you think it might be over, we start the entire sequence again. And again. And again.
A great work out if a little too long and repetitive. It needs good coaching and motivation to get people all the way to the end.
Jaguar
Conditioning – Watch Out For This (Bumaye) – Since Ten
In my opinion this could be the strangest conditioning track in Body Combat history. Some say that “animal forms” are the future of training. The “Jaguar” moves certainly isolate the core in a way most people haven’t experienced before. It just takes ages to master it and I’ve found many frustrated people deciding they’ll stick to a hover instead.
I actually think the problem isn’t mastering the move. It just doesn’t work on most studio gym mats (in fact a Yoga mat might work better but most venues don’t have these in their main studios). The standard gym mat is too small to do the move properly and most people do not want to be “matless” and work on the wooden floor.
Sadly therefore this track has the most votes for an early mix out.
A catchy chorus and stretches we desperately need (including the Downward Facing Dog) brings this beautiful monster of a class to a swift end. As Body Combat release 61 is so long, at venues that don’t have a 5 minute gap between classes I have to cut the cooldown short. After that everyone staggers out of the room, T-Shirts dripping wet with sweat, exhausted smiles on their faces.
Now it’s your turn:
Do you agree with my review of Les Mills Body Combat release 61? What do you think of the Jaguar moves? Please leave a comment below or post a link to your own review.
As always thanks to Simon Philp for pointing out the list. 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 62 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. But it will give you a good feel for what’s on its way.
Another blistering martial arts workout descends on Edinburgh after a very short summer.
It only seems a few weeks ago I was raving about the 15th Anniversary Body Combat release. And now here’s another one.
But is it a worthy follow-up to the intensity of that last one?
Yes I think it is.
In a packed out studio, instructors from across Scotland sweated, grunted, groaned and shouted their way through the masterclass and education.
So here are my thoughts on the tracks.
A couple of upbeat warm up tracks take our heart rates up high immediately. The Muay Tai knees section felt particularly intense for a warm up.
We fact two lower tempo leg conditioning tracks and again feel the burn of the “Switch Lunge”
The song “So What” from track 4 was originally in Body Combat release 27. In the notes programme directors Dan and Rachael acknowledge that “you might remember this music from way back”. I do remember it from way back and I remember paying for it. Whilst it’s a great piece of music I’m left a little grumpy at having to pay for it again. It’s not even a different mix.
More “Superman Punches” in another long heavy rock Muay Thai from Airbourne.
Track 8 is different from the usual format and all the better for it. A relentless mix of different punches which genuinely blasts the shoulders.
There are Jaguar’s (the animal not the car) in what is perhaps the weirdest ever conditioning track. I works though.
Les Mills Body Combat release 61 will exhaust you. Take plenty of water to the launch classes and for goodness sake don’t forget to breathe.
Now it’s your turn:
Are you a Body Combat instructor? What do you think of Les Mills Body Combat release 61? Please leave a comment or a link to your own thoughts.
