It’s that time of year again!

I had planned to do a New Rules of Lifting for Women workout this morning but then I remembered it’s new release week at GoodLife. They were doing the latest Body Pump release and how could I possibly embark on a lonesome free weights workout knowing there was a strength training party going on in the next room? The decision was a fairly straightforward one.

I had already googled the tracklist prior to going (for the same reason I already know what happens in all five Game of Throne books even though I’ve only read 1.5 — I have no discipline when it comes to spoilers) so no surprises there. But there was some new choreography to keep things interesting. Here’s my review of Body Pump 78.

Warm up – I’m not familiar with the song but it’s a dance-y one similar to the warm up track in Body Pump 77.  Pretty standard warm up track except there are fewer squats than usual. Not to worry, there are plenty of extra squats throughout this release to make up for it.

Squats – once again, pretty standard stuff here. The music is a remix of Ne-Yo’s “Beautiful Monster,” a song I was never crazy about to begin with. But I have to admit I sure did feel like a monster doing a million squats with 47 lbs of weight on my back (although I’m not quite how beautiful I looked by the end of it).

Chest – I was having a great time during the first two sets just pumping and enjoying the music (“Sweet Child O’ Mine”) but by the halfway mark, the burn started to set in. Still, there aren’t any push ups here so I’d say this is one of the easier chest tracks.

Back – they switched up the choreography a bit for this one. For each set, you do deadlifts followed by four clean and presses, bent over rows and then another four clean and presses. That’s right – eight clean and presses per set. It’s a tough one.

Triceps – exercises include overhead tricep extensions and tricep presses with the bar followed by tricep kickbacks. Nothing crazy here.

Biceps – it just wouldn’t be Body Pump without the token Pink song (in this case “Raise Your Glass”). I found this easier than most bicep tracks since there are fewer full single reps. But they do psyche you out at the end by making you think the track is over and then throwing in an extra set for fun. Bastards.

Lunges – instructors have been warning us about this track for the past few weeks and they weren’t kidding. The basic breakdown is this: squats, lunges, squats, lunges, squats… and more squats. Beastly.

Shoulders – this is one of those superset shoulder tracks where you’re constantly switching back and forth between exercises. However, there are only three slow push ups to start so it’s not as challenging as some releases that include push ups between each set. 

Abs - crunches with a plank at the end. Nothing too challenging.

In short – the back and lunges tracks are evil; the squat, chest and triceps  tracks are par for the course; and you get a little break with biceps, shoulders and abs.

After Body Pump, I had planned to do a 3km easy run at the gym but I just could not bear to get on the treadmill.  Instead, I told myself I’d go for an outdoor run after dinner. I was worried that I’d lose my motivation by planning it so late in the day but that’s the great thing about training for a specific event – it really prevents you from flaking out on a workout. After dinner, I (reluctantly) followed through with my plan and, surprise, surprise, it wasn’t that bad. In fact, I was home before I knew it.  

Have you tried Body Pump 78 yet? What did you think?