The calm intensity of the winter release has warmed up many a cold and miserable evening. And so as spring finally arrives and summer beckons, it’s time to look ahead to the next Body Balance class from Les Mills.
Have a look at the sizzler video preview for Les Mills Body Balance release 61.
Delerium are back supplying the music for the Tai Chi warm up which I have to say looks very beautiful and flowing.
Sound’s like Pink’s, Try, for the standing strength. I wonder how challenging that will be this time?
It’s always exciting to see what’s in a new release. This little taster has me looking forward to trying out the full class in a few weeks time.
Your turn: What do you think of the sizzler video preview for Les Mills Body Balance release 61? Why not post a comment or share your thoughts? Let me know what you think.
Despite the torrential rain, thick fog and thunder storms, it’s almost summer and that means a new release of Body Combat from Les Mills.
Are you ready for another tough workout? Have a look at sizzler video preview for Les Mills Body Combat release 56.
I hear a few familiar tracks in there.
We had Hymn by Tina Cousins before back in release 28 (a song originally recorded by Ultravox back in the 1980s).
That’s Scooter’s version of Hello (Good to be Back) – and it is good that Scooter are back. The most used artist in the history of Body Combat.
And Silence, a Sarah MacLachlan songhas been in Body Balance before but this is obviously a really pumped up version.
Your turn: What do you think of the sizzler video preview for Les Mills Body Combat release 56? What moves would you like to see? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts. The build up begins now.
I didn’t go on the Quarterly Workshop training for Body Combat release 55. It’s harder to learn a release and to “connect” with it if you haven’t experienced the Masterclass first. At first I found some of the music a little strange but after much practicing in my living room I began to appreciate it more. And once I launched to my participants I realised that 55 was going to be very popular.
So let’s look at the tracks.
Upper Body Warm Up (Back in Time): This is a great start. There’s no Kata, no stretch, just straight into the first combination of upper cuts as the music builds up to a really catchy hummable melody. I find myself whistling this tune during the day, it has become engrained on my mind. Plenty of shuffling gets us warm very quickly. A very satisfying start.
Lower Body Warm Up (Call Me Maybe): More uplifting dance music as we shift our focus to our legs. I like the knee and then treble knee combination which we repeat three times punctuated my a great focus on front, side and roundhouse kicks. It’s also good to see the set up move for both the side and the roundhouse kick which serves as a good reminder for the class on the difference between these moves.
Combat 1 (Bad Girls): When I first heard the music for this track I thought it sounded like the inner workings of an insane machine. It’s Dubstep and actually suits the rhythm of the capoeira moves perfectly. Before I taught this for the first time I worried about the speed of the ginga lunges. I thought that if I lost the beat I would mess up the choreography. When I taught it however, I found the simple 1, 2, 3, 4 counts and moves simple. That worry out-of-the-way and I was able to focus on getting the class deeper into the ginga and master the evasive side kick. Some of the class are even adding the jump to the ESK. This might be the first track 2 in Body Combat history not to feature the roundhouse kick.
Power 1 (Don’t Feel Like Love): A full on combination of jabs, upper cuts and hooks built a layer at a time to a great piece of music. On the DVD they suggest we go off the beat of the music for part of the combination and I like the authenticity this brings to the fighting feel.
Combat 2 (Firestarter): This is a passable cover of a Prodigy song and the track has a completely different feel than we are used to. No jump kicks but plenty of shoot lunges and roundhouse knees. Although the mixed martial arts style stands out you do have to go very hard to feel challenged by this one. This track feels a little light weight.
Power 2 (We Speak No Americano): I hated the music when I first heard it. But everyone recognises it from “The Inbetweeners” movie and it is actually great fun to teach. And I love the wide leg run at the end – the so-called “Santa Monica staircase”. It has the class breathless and gasping by the end.
Combat 3 (Where Have You Been): I certainly like the big combination in this track. A double knife strike, a double block and then back kick, front kick, back kick, front kick. No matter how hard I try I don’t seem to be able to teach the class not to add another back kick in to the sequence. Everyone just seems to add it in. So know I just let them get on with it. Musically I find this track a little dull. It’s a dirge. And for that reason this might be the first track I will mix out.
Muay Thai (Let It Rock): Off the scale relentless and challenging this track makes you breathe out of every opening. There are millions of knee strikes here and you can really build up the intensity up to the point when we add in the jumping knees. I love the look of disbelief on people’s faces when you demo the jumping knee. And just what are the words during the high-pitched vocal ever time we return to the street brawl downward punch? It sounds like, “Ice Lolly! Ice Lolly!”
Power 3 (For a Lifetime): A very catchy sing along song to finish off the cardio section of the class. There are lots of words to latch on to motivate the class, “I believe in you and everything you do”. However it doesn’t feel as relentless as some of the previous track 8s. It’s good that it finishes on a combo and not endless jabs though.
Conditioning (You’re Gonna Love This): Short and surprisingly tough I like the variety of moves in this track. Shoulder taps give us core conditioning and the power clamber keeps the heart rate up.
Cool down (Battle Scars): A fine end to Body Combat release 55. It’s always good to see a downward facing dog in the cool down.
So Body Combat release 55 is another solid class which certainly creates a cardio high. Track 2 smashes your legs early on and the Muay Thai is absolutely mental. Only the music from track 6 let’s the release down in my opinion.
Your turn: Are you a Body Combat instructor? What do you think of my review of Body Combat release 55? Do you agree? Please share your thoughts. If you are a participant let me know what you think as well. Click below where it says “Leave a reply” and share!
I knew that this new release of Body Balance would include some challenges. About 6 months ago the programme director, Jackie Mills, put up a short video on Facebook. In it she demonstrated a yoga pose which she called “Bird in a Basket” and the even harder “Bird in Flight”. Yoga participants, especially those who practice Ashtanga yoga, will recognise this as arm pressure pose.
Jackie’s question was simple. “Should we include this pose in Body Balance release 60?” I don’t know how many responses she got but here it is. Question is, can you do it?
Let’s have a look at the tracks.
Tai Chi Warm Up (All of the Lights): Ever since I have taught Body Balance I have loved tai chi arm circles and this track is arm circle overload. It’s graceful and flows beautifully. I also like the warrior style bow and arrow lunges which really warm up your legs quickly. And we have a very interesting piece of music with various rhythms and tones.
Sun Salutation (If I Ever Lose My Faith in You): A very short Sun Salutations track necessitating a short sequence of poses. It passes by unremarkably and does its job of completing the warm up phase. There are much bigger challenges to come so I guess we should welcome this simplicity.
Standing Strength (Grenade): Bruno Mars delivers a very catchy song with some lyrics which are likely to upset those who have a nervous disposition. Les Mills felt it necessary to also give us an instrumental version to deploy should we find our participants running for the exits in horror. I haven’t had anyone comment on the lyrics at all but the instrumental version is nice to play before class begins.
This is a short but tough series of Warrior I and II, sun warrior and extended warrior poses. The quads certainly start to scream quickly. I am not too keen on the arm lines here with hands behind head in extended warrior. I know they are trying to introduce variety but it feels awkward. I would have preferred the traditional yoga arm lines.
My Saturday Class in the Standing Strength Track
Balance 1 (Give Me Love): A stunning ballad and some gentle balances to begin with which builds up to a tougher sequence at the end. I love tree pose and we get to explore it for longer than usual here. Asking the class to lift their gaze up to the ceiling causes wobbles and topples and a few laughs as well. As the music becomes more upbeat we enter an extensive series of knee lifts into aeroplane pose. The wobbles and topples continue here but now the participants replace laughs with looks of determination.
Balance 2 (The Parting Glass): From leg balances to arm balances. To a haunting and beautiful piece of music we explore three poses. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Most people can do Hindi squat. The problems begin when we try to balance in bird pose. I find it an infuriating pose. I can do it, and hold it, about one time in five. Finally the big challenge of bird in a basket. I cannot do this as my arms are two short. Very few people in any of my classes can rest their palms on the floor and only one has been able to lift their legs so far.
It is good to be tested and to be taken out of our comfort zones. Everyone is trying hard to do this. But sometimes the attraction of the alternative, easier, happy baby pose, wins.
Hip Openers (Tonight (The Best You’ve Ever Had): I cannot remember a hips track ever starting with frog pose (they usually end with them). It is such an intense hip stretch it always makes participants groan. The rest of the track with modified half lotus and torso circling are pleasant but not particularly memorable.
Core Abs (Warrior): You can guarantee tough core work out if the music begins with a heavy drum beat. It’s another short track but it’s hard. I like the kneeling side plank with side crunches. And the hovers with weight shifting forward and back and hovers with diagonal reaches get those core muscles burning.
Core Back (Next to You): Another heavy drum beat, striking cobra to upward facing dog and strong camel poses create a great sequence of back extensions. I always like to see bridge pose with leg extensions and this time we have the space to stay in the pose for longer. It’s also good to see more people achieving the full back bend at the end.
Twists (Lost and Found): This is my favourite piece of music in Body Balance release 60. We start with some gentle supine twists and seated twists and then rise to our feet for the more challenging twisting triangle and intense pose twist. I can’t help singing along to the “Oh Oh” section of the song. I do however apologise to the class for being out of tune.
Once again people seem to have trouble stepping the correct leg forward here. It doesn’t matter whether I cue back leg or front leg, left or right; twist tracks turn people’s brains to mush. Best solution is to use the mid-track down dog to get everyone facing the same way otherwise the twisting triangles become too confusing.
My Saturday Class in the Standing Strength Track
Hamstrings 1 (A Thousand Years): Another stunning piece of music with beautiful lyrics. We finally end up on the floor for an extended sequence of seated forward folds and supine hamstring stretches. The moves fit perfectly with the delightful music.
Hamstrings 2 (Perth): At the end of the first hamstrings track we are lying on the floor. It feels as if we should go straight into the relaxation at this point. So the first time I heard the quite frankly bizarre music for this second half I really felt like it ruined the mood that “A Thousand Years” creates. But I was lucky enough to have UK Trainer Ann-See Yeoh come along to one of my classes for a team teach and she explained how the track allows us to explore even deeper stretches and how to interpret the music. It still feels like we are up and down like yo-yos in the last few tracks but I feel more comfortable with it now.
Relaxation/Meditation (Finely Balanced): An aptly named calming piece of music that lets us reflect on the challenges we faced during the class whilst we relax our bodies and focus on our breath.
Body Balance release 60 is another great class, combining challenging pose sequences with a winning collection of songs. If I was to teach this release for “A Thousand Years” I might just be able to do bird in flight pose.
Your turn: Do you agree with my review of Body Balance release 60? Are you an instructor? Can you do “bird in flight pose”? Are you a participant? What do you think of the challenges of this release? Does it go to far or are you enjoying it?
