Les Mills Pump- (very) early impressions.

I have been so excited about this.

I arrived home from an 11 hour (!!!) car ride with 2 small children, and found my Les Mills Pump set waiting for me!

I remember around 10-11 years ago when "Body Pump" was first super popular, and other formats were popping up like it. Cathe Friedrich's "Power Hour" and Jeri Love's "Get Ripped" series are done in the style: one song per body part/movement. In the fitness world, there was 24 S.E.T. and Rep Reebok, that were both really similar.

I previewed a few of the workouts and decided to do PUMP and SHRED as my first workout. 

Since I've done this style of workout so much, my first PUMP workout seemed really familiar to me.

Now a couple of initial thoughts:

GOOD:
- Many of the coaches have New Zealand accents (this is where Les Mills originated). I enjoy those very much. So classy. And it doesn't at all remind me of "Flight of the Conchords". (Okay, maybe a little bit.)

-The music is GREAT! They really work with the music, which I appreciate a lot. If the music builds, the activity builds. It really helps with the energy. This group ex girl LOVES this kind of thing.

- It is REALLY a challenge! If you are a lifter (like me), you will be surprised at how much less weight you use. For example, I usually bench press 65 pounds. But during the Chest section, I got pretty tired with a 25 pound barbell, and had to go to 15.

Not as good:
- Some of the banter can get old. There are some cute, funny catchphrases they use.. but I can see myself getting tired of them by the 5th or 6th time to do the workout.

- In my Group Exercise days, I led squats that went right alone to the beat of the music. I was taught that you should squat only to parallel- no farther. But then I started lifting and heard the gospel of the full squat. I worked hard to increase my range of motion. But, in these workouts, I find that it's quite impossible to do a full squat in the tempo of the music. So, I'm torn. I'll still work on as much range of motion as I can, but I may have to go elsewhere to get my heavy full squat quota.

The set also comes with a barbell. It is nice. I don't think it weighs anything at all. But, what I found REALLY impressive is that my weight plates fit on it. So, I'm not limited to the 2 10s and 2 5s that came with the set. And that is SO awesome.

So, I'm sure as I do more of the workouts, I'll have more opinions. I may even have different opinions. I reserve that right. But, overall, I really like it. I know I'm going to look forward to doing it.

Anyone else done it and have something to add?

If you want to try it, go HERE.