Relaxation / Meditation – Sacred Group/Breathing Space – Sacred Earth
Alternative Hips Openers – Part 2(On the Run)(Instrumental) – Pistol of Zodiac
Once again thanks to Simon for pointing out the list. Check out his blog – you’ll find much more Les Mills stuff here!
We’ll get our first taste of Les Mills Body Balance release 64 at the GFX2014 Event in Glasgow. GFX2014 is like a Mega Super Quarterly for instructors and participants.
If you are a participant take a look at this linkand you could be in the hall with 1000 other chilled out mind and body people when Body Balance 64 hits the UK for the first time.
Now it’s your turn: What do you think of the tracklist for Les Mills Body Balance release 64? 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.
We are still feeling the amazing training effects from Les Mills Body Combat release 58 – so you might not want any spoilers about the next class which will arrive in March 2014.
If you don’t want to know what the track list is – look away now.
I’m still enjoying 58 and I think it has a long way to go yet but it’s good to get a feel for what comes next. We’ll get our first taste of Les Mills Body Combat release 59 at the GFX04 Event in Glasgow. GFX04 is like a Mega Super Quarterly for instructors and participants.
If you are a participant take a look at this linkand you could be in the hall with 1000 other nutters when Body Combat 59 hits the UK for the first time.
Now it’s your turn: If you want more spoilers you can click on the links above to see the music on Amazon. They might not be exactly the same mixes because Les Mills often edit the tracks. But it will give you a good feel for what’s on its way.
Is Les Mills Body Combat release 58 going down as well for you as it is for me?
I cannot remember an earlier release where I’ve received such consistently good feedback from participants. Usually with each release, one maybe two tracks, prompt people to ask me to mix them out as soon as. This time all comments received are positive for all tracks, both for the music and the moves.
But here’s the thing.
I have to admit that the first time I took part in this release I didn’t enjoy the music. When I first listened to the CD I liked it even less. There was a short time when I was genuinely disappointed. However once in the studio, with the sound system cranked up really loud and 35 smiling, sweaty, and determined faces lapping it up, I became a convert. I too now believe it’s one of the best, most accessible, and one of the toughest releases of Body Combat we’ve ever had.
This is a fabulously upbeat introduction. I love the 32 count intro where we simply pulse from side to side as the music builds to a crescendo and the heavy beat kicks in and we’re on the move and the fight begins. Simple punches, boxing shuffling and catchy sing along song make this a memorable opening number.
I love the Muay Thai descending elbows which fit the heavy drum sound perfectly, empowering our participants to success.
We have no time to rest between the upper body warmup and the lower body warmup. No Kata eases into the kicks. We just transition immediately from upper to lower.
The first move is the Shoot Lunge which I have to say is not the most popular move among my participants. And they have said so. However it’s a hell of a good way to warm up the legs quickly. The only problem I have with the Shoots in the warmup is that they do not appear in the rest of the track. I prefer to see moves previewed in the warmup tracks which feature in the power or combat tracks later in the release. However this is a minor quibble.
Musically it disappointed me on first listen but it’s a real grower. In fact it gets under your skin. The balancing roundhouse kicks, all 16 of them, are a real challenge testing balance and muscle endurance. The exercises are relentless as the body is on the move for the entire track with out a break.
If you’ve taught Body Combat for a several years you will recognise the song. It last appeared in Body Combat release number 30. Two very simple boxing combinations, first performed individually, combine at the end for a relentless shoulder blast. A very upbeat song with sing along lyrics and lots of opportunities to interact with the class participants.
And so to Capoeira. Here is a first. I can remember when Dan and Rachael first introduced Capoeira to Body Combat, people were resistant to this unique martial arts style. I can remember people threatening to boycott classes unless I dumped the Ginga.
I’m sure some of them had “Dump the Ginga” T-Shirts.
For the first time, some of my participants have revealed that this track is their best of the release. Yes that’s right! Finally a Caporeira track voted most favourite. We’ve crossed the line. Many years of hard work have led to the point where this Brazilian martial art tops the charts.
As an instructor this was a difficult track to teach. Catching the first beat of the song by stepping on the right leg for the first ginga is essential otherwise the entire track can fall apart. Once mastered however it flows together perfectly.
Track 5 – Power training 2 – Cold As Ice (Weaver and Suae Intro Mix) – East Coast Masif
An epic power track. More like a track eight than a track five because of the long section of powerful punches towards the end. This leaves participants breathless but uplifted at the same time.
Track 6 – Combat 3 – Action – Score And The Finger
Here’s another track which has appeared in Body Combat before. The original Def Leppard version of Action featured in release 29. This is a very passable cover version of the song with a very strong karate feel to it. The lyrics are very quotable.
Another track which is difficult to teach simply because the moves are so fast and furious and the musical cues are hidden beneath an onslaught of bass beats and drums. A long track, endlessly tiring, endlessly energetic with the “It’s a Fight” theme running through it.
And they do sing, “Busting Heads. Busting Heads.” Don’t they?
You seriously need to remember to breathe during this track. But even when you remember, it’s still difficult because there is so much happening in terms of physical moves and information to give to your participants.
For the last few years track eights have been distinctive by their length. They often last up to eight or nine minutes. This, therefore, is one of the shortest track eights we have had for a while. However it’s fast and powerful with an extremely catchy chorus. I cannot help singing along to the words and neither can my participants. And of course as always it culminates in a shoulder blasting jab fest right at the end. This to me is a perfect ending to the main cardio phase.
Dan and Rachael often include rap tracks for our conditioning. “People Like Us” provides a welcome change. A great pop ballad from Kelly Clarkson. But it’s still tough. Two rounds of crunches followed by an extensive round of single press ups and shoulder taps which annihilate the shoulders and tighten up the core. This is one of my favourite core conditioning tracks for many releases.
Karate Kata
Track 10 – Cool down – Till I Collapse – The Junkyard Scoller
And finally a longer than normal cool down which manages to distil all the different sensations and feelings from the entire release into one strong Karate Kata which we repeat several times during the song. This has a perfect martial arts feel and to my mind ends the release on a martial arts high.
I have taught Les Mills body combat release 58 for three weeks now. Classes are rammed full, participants love the music and the moves and its popularity shows no sign of waning.
Despite my first misgivings about the music quality, this one has definitely turned out to be one of the best releases ever.
Now it’s your turn: Do you agree with my review of Les Mills body combat release 58. Are you a participant? Do you agree that this is a tough workout? Are you an instructor? How has this release gone down in your clubs? Please leave a comment or a link to your own review and share your thoughts.
Back in December, at the Dunfermline Quarterly Workshop, the intensity of Body Balance release 63 blew me away. The room we were in simmered with heat, mirrors clouded up and everyone slid around on the swampy floor. But we all put great effort in and felt the effect on our muscles the following day.
Having spent the Christmas holidays learning this release, it’s been an absolute joy to launch it to my classes in early 2014. I’ve received amazing feedback from my participants. Everyone loves the moves, the music and the effect this release is having on their bodies. Yes it’s tough. Yes it’s painful. But it gets results. Groans are always accompanied by smiling faces.
So let’s have a look at the tracks.
Tai Chi Warm Up
Tai Chi Warm Up (Insane): This is a short simple Tai Chi Warmup with two sequences. A lovely figure 8 arm swinging sequence which warms up the legs as we shift the body weight from side to side. And another sequence involving a circular arm movement with a bird’s tail and snake lunge sideways.
I like the music although it seems it’s about somebody going insane which might not actually fit with the calmness this track should invoke, but it is at the same time strangely haunting.
Sun Salutations (Breathing): Now the hard work starts. Normally in a Body Balance Sun Salutation, each sequence includes a move from downward facing dog into high plank, followed by low plank, followed by upward facing dog, followed by downward facing dog. In this track we complete this Vinyassa twice in each sequence. By the end of four rounds of Sun Salutations our shoulders and arms are burning with the effort. We are all warm and already feeling fatigued. Everyone knows by this point that they face a challenging class.
Standing Strength
Standing Strength (Only You): This chart topping song by Ellie Goulding provides an immense challenge very early in this Body Balance release. We hear the song twice once for the right side of the body and once for the left. We are working our legs for just short of nine minutes.
Within that time we have three rounds of Warrior 2 pose, three-legged downward dogs, Extended Warrior pose and Sun Warrior pose plus a very low crouching animal pose which burns the inner thighs. The first time I taught this track my class thought that I had messed up the choreography by not changing to the left leg halfway through the song. Of course they realised once we got to the end of the song that the left side was going to be the entire song played through yet again.
This is possibly one of the most challenging standing strength tracks we have had a very long time. It invokes memories of God’s Top 10 from release 33.
Diver’s Pose
Balance (Skinny Love): After challenging our legs in that standing strength track, it’s only fair that the balance track is short. Here is a beautiful piece of music called “Skinny Love” and a new yoga pose called Divers. You have to trust yourself that you are not going to fall forward in this new pose but the stretch it creates up the back of the legs, in the calves and the hamstrings is exquisite. I also love the variation of Dancers Pose. Very short but certainly very sweet
Hip openers (Open): Finally we get to sit down on the floor and progress view through some beautiful hip opening moves. Seated star pose, modified half lotus and a simple series of hip stretches set to another beautiful piece of music with a very appropriate title.
Core abdominals (Gone Gone Gone): I remember this one from the Quarterly Workshop and remember how tough it was in that very sweaty room. It’s a relentless abdominal track starting in a plank and finishing on our backs with Pilates hundreds. It never lets up but carries us through it by a very catchy tune. Another relatively short track it does its work creating massive fires burning in the abdominal muscles.
Bizarre Breast Stroke
Core Back (True Love): Starting in Horse Stance with hands under shoulders and knees under hips, we do a Scorpion tricep push-up. This is difficult enough on our knees. For those who choose the “on their toes” option, it represents an even tougher challenge. After a modified camel pose we’re down on the floor for some back work. This is a bizarre variation of breaststroke. By the end of the track my participants are groaning and judging by the sweat on the faces this track is also delivering results.
Twists (Beneath your Beautiful): A very beautiful twist track with only two poses. Twisted lunge and twisted intense pose. However musically this is possibly the standout track of Body Balance release 63.
Downward Dog Flip to Table Top/Full Back Bend
Forward bends and Hamstrings Part One (Young and Beautiful): In this track we have what I would call the “dodgy” pose for this release of Body Balance. We start in a three-legged downward facing dog then attempt to flip that downward facing dog into either a tabletop pose or a full back bend.
This is a very challenging advanced yoga pose. It is vital to build up to this gradually over a few weeks. At the start I am only offering my participants the three-legged dog option. Not many people can flip over to fall back bend. In fact not many people can flip over to tabletop pose. In fact I can’t recall many types of yoga where I’ve seen this move performed other than Baron Baptiste Power yoga in the USA.
Forward Bends and Hamstrings Part Two (Blue Ocean Floor): This very long and seductive song by Justin Timberlake lasting nearly 8 minutes. It takes us slowly into our relaxation and meditation. We have plenty of time to experience seated twists, seated forward bends and finally Happy Baby pose what a beautiful and relaxing way to finish the energetic parts of this Body Balance release.
Relaxation/meditation (Caelum Meun): After that powerful series of strength, flexibility and stretching exercises we finally spend a few moments trying to relax the body and slow the breath. This beautiful piece of piano music soothes us and eases as back to a calmness.
Once again Diana and Jackie Mills have produced a very challenging very beautiful Body Balance class combining moves which flow perfectly together with a truly stunning collection of music. All my participants have given me extremely positive feedback and I expect this release will remain popular throughout the entire three months.
Now it’s Your Turn: Do you agree with my review of Les Mills Body Balance release 63? Are you a participant? Is this the hardest Body Balance class yet? Are you an instructor? How are you coping with the Downward Dog Flip? Please share your views or post a link to your own review.
