I love trying out new types of workouts and fitness equipment – but I am much more enthusiastic at home and much more reluctant in public. I have to give myself a real push to try out things the first time, especially if I do not know exactly what to expect.
Even though I am a fitness enthusiastic, doing some kind of exercise almost every day and sometimes doing 2-3 hours per day, I still have a real fear of trying out a class for the first time and simply not being able to keep up, huffing and puffing like a lunatic and having to take a million breaks while everyone else is soldering on. This has never happened to me in a class before though at home some dvd workouts I’ve attempted I couldn’t get through them all on the first try – and I hated that feeling…in public it would be a lot worse!!
But you shouldn’t let things like that hold you back. I have tried out many new things in my fitness adventures and the majority of the time they are much less intimidating than I expected, and a lot of fun. A few times they have turned out to be worse than I imagined, but I say to myself, I will give it another go at least a few more times and sure enough I learn to adjust and appreciate all the new ways to work my body!
Back to Les Mills Body Attack. This class is a high energy, high intensity cardio interval program. It has things like jump lunges/split lunges, squat jacks, high knees, running around everywhere possible, and basically not stopping for even a second during the track. I have tried almost every other Les Mills Program available because I love mixing it up, but I had put off Body Attack for so long because of its reputation as being the hardest. Their website says its not for the faint of heart and I mean just look at this:
Anyway today I finally got around to doing it. At Fitness First it is currently the workout of the month allowing you to bring a friend along for free which I did, so I had no excuses!
And….?
I loved it, it was so much fun!!
I didn’t really have anything to be worried about, there were plenty of low-intensity options that I could have slowed down to and easily gotten through with even if my fitness level was much lower. But I kept it high intensity the entire way through and wow, I felt so energetic! What an endorphin rush! The music, the atmosphere and the moves kept my mind occupied enough that I didn’t even feel any pain.
Actually the intensity was nowhere near as high as I expected, I didn’t really get out of breath or feel my heart beating too hard, I know I was definitely doing something right because of the amazing energy surge and endorphin rush I felt. It could also be that I was familiar with many of these types of moves from doing Jillian Michaels cardio workouts at home – she loves things like squat jumps and lunges and high knees!
I think the hardest thing was really getting my co-ordination right with all the arm and leg movements. Some of the leg movements you had to be quite agile this kind of co-ordination and fast feet does not come naturally to me, but it’s always good to practice your weak points when it comes to fitness and the instructor did assure us that no one gets it right or picks it up straight away so not to worry!
Actually I found Les Mills Body Step to be more of a challenge, because you are constantly on the step with very little rest whereas there were 2 tracks in the Body Attack where you are on the floor doing muscle conditioning like arms and abs.
Never the less I could tell it was a tough workout though because afterwards my legs were wobbly and it was a lot of fun, definitely I will do it again and more people should give it a go!
Tomorrow I am going to finally try a spin class…I’ve been avoiding the bike for too long also…personally I find it the hardest to set up comfortably of all the cardio machines.
What’s your favourite Les Mills Class?
Veganlosophy 