Tag Archives: fitness classes

What is Body Combat – it’s the fitness class that thinks it’s a fight movie?

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Body Combat is the only fitness class that lifts you out of the real world and sets you down inside a blockbuster fight movie. Who do you want to be? It might be the martial arts king Bruce Lee, or modern tough guy Jason Bourne. It could be Captain Jack Sparrow, James Bond or the fighters from the recent Warrior film.

That’s why I like teaching Body Combat so much. It really does offer you an escape from the day to day routine and gets you fit in a fun and challenging way. If you are an instructor you will already know this. If you are thinking of giving the class a try I hope I can convince you with this review.

What is Body Combat fitness class fight movie

Choreographed to music, Body Combat is from New Zealand fitness class experts Les Mills. They describe the class as follows.

“The fiercely energetic martial arts workout where you are totally unleashed and empowered.”

It uses authentic moves from many different martial arts. Boxing provides jabs, hooks and upper cuts and intensely aerobic training moves. Karate and Taekwondo bring precise kicks. Kick boxing and Muay Thai unleash an arsenals of knee and elbow strikes. Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art introduces a flowing dancing style that’s tough on the legs and conditions the muscles.

All the while in the background the music drives your motivation. You’ll hear current top 40 hits, older chart toppers and of course those block buster movie themes. As with all Les Mills classes, they bring out new music and new moves every three months.

What is Body Combat fitness class fight movie

So here’s what to expect in an hour of Body Combat.

Lower Body Warm Up: You’ll try out basic boxing moves and become comfortable with simple punches and perhaps mix in some shuffles to increase the heart rate. The music is always uplifting maybe even sing along.

Lower Body Warm Up: Here we set up and try single kicks such as the roundhouse kick and side kicks along with knee strikes and other leg toning moves. Now we are ready for the work out to increase in intensity.

Combat 1: In Combat tracks you will mix punches with kicks. To provide you with an elements continuity so that you can get used to the moves from class to class, certain moves occur in certain tracks. So you can always expect the roundhouse kick in this section. The music here is often modern rock.

Power 1: Just punching and usually inspired purely by boxing training this section is usually choreographed to fast beat dance anthems. The beat drives the moves and pushes up the heart rates as the sweat starts to pour.

Combat 2: Side kicks make an appearance now but the signature move in this track is the jump front kick. Once mastered it provides great aerobic intensity. Musically expect chart hits, rock or more pounding dance grooves.

Power 2: More upper body focus, this section usually provides a physical peak. Like most power tracks the music tends to be driving beats from dance favourites, though we have heard modern takes on old school hits like Johnny Be Good, and Proud Mary.

Combat 3: The focus move in this segment is the back kick. Combat track number three often includes more intense leg conditioning moves especially from Caporeira. These tracks can be quite cinematic. Who could ever forget the awesome moves choreographed to an up beat version of The Pirates of the Caribbean theme?

Muay Thai: Here comes the cardio-peak of the class. Fast and often endless knee and elbow work set to either driving rock or hard core house and dance sounds. You’ll be breathless and sweaty and approaching fatigue by now.

Power 3: This might be a long one. Possibly up to 8 minutes of punching to condition and shape the shoulders. Always uplifting dance music which carries you towards the finishing line.

Conditioning: Despite having finished off the shoulders, expect press ups, sit ups, crunches, C-curls, hovers and planks. Expect your core muscles to be tested to burning point? See hints of Les Mills core strength class, CXWorx, reflected in these exercises.

Cool down: Finally the pace slows down and a slower chart hit or rock ballad accompany stretches and kata moves often taken from Tai Chi. You’ll be tired, dripping with sweat, but you will feel fulfilled, energetic and proud.

What is Body Combat fitness class fight movie

So if you want some fun whilst getting fit. Or if you’ve had a bad day at work and you want to let off some steam. If you want to get out of the real world and unleash your inner Jason Statham, give Body Combat a try. It’s addictive and always has you coming back for more.

It’s the only fitness class that takes you out of the real world and puts you into a block buster movie.

Over to you: Are you thinking of trying a Body Combat class? Have I convinced you to give it a try? Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

First impressions of Body Balance Release 57 after Dunfermline quarterly workshop

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Body Balance Release 57 brought a little sunshine to Scotland today. A good job because as I drove over the Forth Bridge on the way to the Dunfermline quarterly workshop, the rain was torrential and the clouds so low it was like driving through fog.

body balance release 57 dunfermline quarterly workshop

Our trainer was Giovanni Sacco (who also took my Body Combat Quarterly in Glasgow last week – I’m not a stalker honest) and he delivered a polished class. Les Mills are always telling us to script our classes and not to simply reproduce what’s said on the DVD. I’ve seen some trainers who are almost word perfect to the DVD script, so great to hear Gio’s own words. I picked up some great cues today.

So what is Body Balance Release 57 like? Here are my initial impressions.

  • Great music. A real cross section of styles including a rockier feel in the core abs track.
  • One of the songs used to be the theme music for Top of The Pops a long time ago.
  • The Tai Chi warm up is stunning. Beautiful flowing moves and a lovely song by SleepThief.
  • The Sun Salutation has a very long sequence with varied elements. It isn’t what we are used to. This will take a lot of remembering as well as teaching.
  • The balance track feels very balletic.
  • Gate Pose appears in the hips track. We haven’t had this one in Body Balance before but I love to teach it in Yoga.
  • The abs and back tracks are hard core tough. It was like turning a tap on. Sweat was pouring out of my head by the end of these.

After we finished the class with it’s chilled final phase there was a education session looking at “feeling” the yoga elements of Body Balance. How do you do this? Hold a pose for 5 long endless minutes, in this case downward facing dog. A simple and effective method of getting us to feel the moves. So more moans and groans from the room full of instructors who all committed to trying this with a pose a week from now on.

At the risk of sounding like a stuck record it looks like we have yet another amazing release continuing an unbroken run of top quality since way back at number 39. I’m going to really enjoy learning and teaching this one.

Watch out for a full review of the class once I have learned it and taught it a few times.

Over to you: Are you a Body Balance instructor? What were your first impressions of release 57. Please leave a comment by clicking below, I’d love to know what you think.

Are you wondering which designer clothes to wear for a yoga class?

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Some people agonise every morning about which outfit to wear for work. They may have laid awake for part of the night juggling outfits, colours, shoes, fabrics and accessories into the best combination. Then during the day at work their concern switches to what to put on for the night out. A dilemma which might occupy their attention throughout an afternoon of meetings.

But surely these deliberations do not extend to what to wear in a yoga class? Well apparently so.

which designer clothes to wear for a yoga class?

I’ve never been that fashion conscious. I knock about in jeans and a T-Shirt. I’ll dress smart for nights out and reluctantly don “black tie” for a posh do (actually the tie is usually bright magenta – but that’s another story). But I never spend long wondering what to wear in class – whether as a participant or as the instructor. I’m comfy in shorts and a sleeveless T-Shirt. If it has a Nike “swoosh” on it, fine. If it doesn’t I don’t lose sleep over it. On the whole comfy is more important than whether it has a Puma or an Adidas logo on it.

Occasionally I’ve bought branded Body Combat or Body Balance gear. I’ve found it over-priced and in some cases poorly made and unable to stand up to repeat washing. It may make me look the part but it doesn’t improve my skills as an instructor.

which designer clothes to wear for a yoga class?

So when I get asked what you should wear in a yoga class I give a practical answer. Tops and pants or shorts should be comfortable and allow a fairly wide range of motion. So not too tight. Sports bras for women (or tops that incorporate equivalent support). And sensible thigh or knee length shorts for the men because we don’t want it to all hanging out do we?

which designer clothes to wear for a yoga class?

Then I hear people wondering which designer clothes to wear for a yoga class? And when the conversation strays into brands like Fit Couture, Rogiani, Lululemon and New Balance I get quickly out of my comfort zone. Having looked at some of these websites though, I do like the look of the clothes on display. Some of it is ethically produced which fits with the yoga ethos. And I would never discourage anyone from buying something they look and feel good in.

But here’s the thing.

Wear what you want in a yoga class as long as it ticks the practical boxes. But don’t make wondering what to wear in class a reason to not to practice.

Because a logo won’t make you more flexible than you are now. Expensive hallmarks will not increase your range of movement and improve your strength and posture. Designer labels might dress you up well but they won’t improve you physically.

Yoga can do all of these things.

If you work hard (especially if it’s Power yoga, or Ashtanga yoga, or Bikram yoga), you’ll sweat just as much in a £80 top as you would in a £10 top. Put the practice first and maybe make the designer gear your reward later.

Over to you: What do you wear to your yoga classes? There are some great clothes out there. Which are your favourite brands? Please share your thoughts and comments by leaving a reply.

6 Ways to sculpt your core with CXWorx

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I finally got to try CXWorx, the 30 minute core work out class recently launched in the UK by Les Mills the creators of Body Pump.

CXWorx for your core

Many clubs run classes sporting titles such as “Ab Attack” or “Core Extreme”. These too run for 30 minutes and feature endless sit ups and oblique curls. On paper CXWorx promises a similar experience but with the added Les Mills standard accompaniment of the hottest musical sounds from charts around the planet.

It is not the same believe me. The creators of this class have crammed much variety of exercise into the allotted time to work your core from every angle. You start by realising your core is not just the abs. As the instructor said, “What is your core? Well chop of your head, your arms and your legs and what is left is your core.”

So it includes the shoulders, the glutes, the obliques, and the muscular slings that criss-cross the body creating the X-shape of muscles referred to in the class’s title.

I was already tired having just taught a very busy Body Combat class but I promised myself I would stay as the CXWorx instructor came in. She started by giving out resistance tubes. There are three levels and I inadvertently chose the hardest one. They have handles because you need to hold on tight. Another optional extra is a weight plate.

We got started lying down on mats on the floor as the music kicked in.

  1. Warm Up: A rapid combination of leg extensions, crunches and oblique crunches. Even as early as this you learn the importance of a flat back against the floor and a strong belly and how easy it is to lose technique and arch the back. Don’t. It stops the exercises or from working.
  2. Core strength 1: Here come the hovers. This is tough stuff. The instructor introduces arm and leg movements but you have to keep the hover strong and centred. It only takes a few minutes for this to start burning.
  3. Standing strength 1: A series of lunges, squats and stretches using the resistance tubes and weight plate to heavily work the glutes and top half of the legs. I had started to shake by now.
  4. Standing strength 2: The resistance tube becomes more of a focus in this one. Range of movement is small but the tubes make it hurt. By now, only 20 minutes in, I am starting to struggle.
  5. Core strength 2: More hovers, side planks, and leg raises test you almost to the limit.
  6. Core strength 3: Lying on the belly or up on hands and knees, we finish with diagonal pointers, leg extensions, shoulder and leg raises with moves that tighten the butt. A few quick stretches and your half hour is over. And you feel elated but broken.

The people in the class were of all ages and all shapes. Judging by the moans and groans and pools of sweat, everyone was happy with their performance and would be feeling the results the following day.

“CXWorx – A great work out for your core.”

I loved the class. Will it take off all over the UK? I imagine there might be resistance initially from clubs. They won’t want to pay another licence fee when they can convince themselves that their PTs can produce a similar experience for free. I think ultimately their attitude might change as people hear about CXWorx through word of mouth.

So CXWorx is a great express workout, not at all sure about the name though.

Over to you: Have you tried CXWorx yet? How did you feel afterwards? Have you seen results in your core? Please leave a comment and let me know.