What weight should I use durning Les Mills Pump workouts?

 I have been ask by some people about how much weight they should use during Les Mills Pump workouts. When people are interested in the program they see that it comes with only 30lbs of weight all together ( two 5lb plates and two 10lb plates) and do not think this is enough. Coming from someone who is currently using the program this is my thoughts on your weight selection durning the workouts.

Les Mills Pumps workouts target every muscle in your body. It is a total body workout hitting every muscle head to toe. Depending on what muscle group you are working out will depend on how much weight you can lift. If you are hitting the big muscles in your body like back or legs then you can go heavier then if your doing smaller muscles like shoulders. When I am working out I have found that the weights that came with the program are not heavy enough to get a super effective workout in certain areas like squats, back, and chest. Due to this I got the additional 25lb plates to add to what I already had. With this additional weight I have the perfect amount of weight to get the best possible workout with perfect form.

I must stress one very important thing about this workout. This workout is designed for high repetitions with the use of lower weight. In some workouts you are doing over 800 reps! That's a lot of reps my friends! So before you decide to go heavy with the weights first leave your ego at the door at first. The most important thing here durning these workouts is FORM! If you do not have perfect form durning the entire workout you can run the risk of hurting yourself and we do not want that. I highly suggest to everyone I coach and enquire about this program is start off light until your perfect your form once that is perfected then you can move onto higher weights.

I have been lifting for a long time now and the moves performed durning this workout are moves that I have done many times. I have perfected the form so this is the reason why I lift heavier weights then what is advised. Here are my top tips for weight selection durning Les Mills Pump works.

- Before starting the workouts make sure you can perform each move with just the bar itself with perfect form. From there add weight until your form begins to become unsteady. At this point you should stop at this weight until perfect form is reached and then raise your weight again.

- This program is designed for low weights high repetitions so if you do not feel the burn in the targeted muscle at first it will come towards the end of the session. If you do not feel the burn and your form is perfect you can then add additional weight to get a better workout and better burn in your muscles.

- For those of you who love lifting heavy please for your safety leave your ego at the door! If you try and lift very heavy right out of the gate with these workouts your are one: going to wear yourself out very quickly due to the high repetitions. Second: lifting very heavy right out of the gate will highly increase your risk of injury. Again I can't stress enough perfect your form before adding on the weight.

- There is nothing wrong with not using weights and just using the bar. If you are just starting out and even using the 5lb plates make you unsteady on your feet then just start off with the bar. By doing this will help you prefect your form in the safest way possible, and you can still get a great workout with just the bar.

i hope these tips can help some of you out there who are about to start or currently using Les Mills Pump to get a better experience out of the program and help prevent any unnecessary injuries. If you would like to purchase additional weights for the program Click here

                                                                                                                                  KIA KAHA
                                                                                                                                ( BE STRONG)


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Les Mills Pump review Pump and Burn

   Today starts week 2 of Les Mills Pump and a brand new workout Pump and Burn. Here is my review on this workout.

    Pump and Burn is the first workout of the second week of the program. It is different then the previous Pump Challenge workout in a few ways. First off this workout is 35 min long instead of 20 min. like Pump Challenge. On top of that you are performing the different exercises for 5 min each 2 min longer then the previous workouts. The moves during this workout are the same as the Pump Challenge, but longer.

    When I started the workout I noticed a few differences. First the location of the workouts was moved onto a stage with a group of people standing in front of the trainers. Also there were new trainers introduced into the program. You begin with a warm up with lighter weights. Once that is completed you move onto the following moves for 5 minutes each. They include squats, chest, back, hamstrings, shoulders, and abs.

    Just like Pump Challenge this workout gave me a great pump and got me sweating quickly. At first you do not seem to be doing that much but I promise you, you will start to feel the burn in your muscles very quickly once you get into it. I have found the most difficult out of all the moves in the workout is hamstrings. This section requires balance and the ability to push past your comfort zone to create the change you want in your body. All of the trainers once again were great motivators and I found that I did not have to look at the screen to know what to do. That is how well they instruct this workout!

    My overall thought on this workout are very positive. I was very impressed with the design of the program, the trainers, and the workout that I got out of it. Like the rest of the program thus far I would personally highly recommend this workout to anyone.

Les Mills Pump review Hard Core Abs

Today was the first time I tried out the Les Mills Pump workout Hard Core Abs. Here is my thoughts and review of this workout.

Like the rest of the workouts in week one Hard Core Abs was 20 min long. When I went into the workout I had the mindset of it being similar to Ab Ripper X from P90X. All you needed for this workout was your own body weight no weights required. When you began you start off at a slow pace and I did not feel much at all in my abs in regards to the abs burning. the moves were very simple to do and the tempo went along with the music in the background.

As the workout progressed the moves began to get a little bit harder and I started to feel the burn in the abs half way thorough. At this point my entire core was on fire and I could really feel my abs working. The combination of moves was working the entire abdominal section and felt great.

The second half of the workout consisted of working strictly on your oblique muscles. This half like the previous started off slow, but began to pick up quickly. after a short time I could start to feel the burn in my obliques and knew they were working hard. some of the moves during this part requires a bit of balance. The great thing is every move during the workout like the rest of the program has a modified  option to follow for beginners.  

Overall I was very impressed with this workout. I was able to feel a great burn in my abs and my obliques  I also felt like my abs were very tight which is a great indication that it was a great workout. I would again highly suggest this workout to anyone.



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Day 1 Les Mills Pump Pump Challenge

   Today I received Les Mills Pump in the mail and I decided that I would blog about my first round of the program and let everyone know what I think of it. I decided I will write a review about each workout and from then on a review at the end of each phase. So here is my day 1 review.

   The first workout in phase 1 of Les Mills Pump is called Pump Challenge and is 20 min. long. At first I was skeptical can you get a good workout in with light weight in only 20 min? Let me tell you yes you can! lol. After the 20 min every muscle in my body was super pumped and I felt the burn in every muscle of my body especially my legs.

  The moves included squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, clean and presses, chest press, triceps presses, standing lunges, and a combination of shoulder flies and presses with the weighted plates. Each phase lasted about 3 minutes with different tempos throughout each set. These changes really got the muscles pumped up and really made the muscles burn.  

   The toughest move in my opinion was the lunges. With the lunges you need balance and focus to keep perfect form. Also the legs start to burn very quickly with this move so go light on the weight. A big thing with this workout is leave your ego at the door and use light weights especially with the lunges. I am the type of person who loves to lift heavy, but how this program is designed you only need light weight. Along with that the most important thing is keep perfect form during every exercise so you do not get hurt. My suggestions is start light until you have perfect form then work your way up in weight slowly.

   Overall I was very impressed with the first workout from Les Mills Pump. I did not think that I would get such a great workout in such a small amount of time and with such little weight. This proves you do not have to lift heavy weights all the time to get results. I highly recommend this workout for anyone who is interested in trying Les Mills Pump. You can click the link below to get started with Les Mills Pump and transform your body.      



Click here to start your transformation with Les Mills Pump!







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Body Beast Update

  Are you ready to build muscle and put some serious size on right in your own home in just 90 days? Well Beachbody finally has the answer for this and this answer is called Body Beast. After years of customers of Beachbody asking of ways to bulk up and gain muscle mass the workout is finally here. Some brand new information has just been released and here is what we know so far.

  Body Beast will be a 90 day muscle building program that will build muscle and burn fat to put some serious mass on. This program will come with a 90 day diet plan with everything laid out for you to fuel your body to get that muscle on. Though there is very little information available yet for Body Beast, there is a new video just released that gives us a sneak preview of what Body Beast will be like. After watching this video I am personally very excited for this program to come out. Body Beast will be available this summer so if your looking to put on some serious size get ready the Beast is coming!



 

  

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Workout Update

     Over the winter I decided to change things up a bit and try and bulk up using P90X and lifting heavy at the local gym. over that time I was able to put on 12lbs, but of course it was not all muscle. Knowing that the summer months are fast approaching and I would be heading to the beach quite a bit I wanted to start cutting so I decided to start a round of INSANITY. Here is my review on my third round of INSANITY.

     As you all know INSANITY is one of the tougher workouts from Beachbody and can be difficult to complete. I had not done INSANITY for about 8 months and was not to sure how I would do after such a long break from the workouts. On the first day it felt like it was the first time I have ever done the workout! It is shocking what time away from a program like this can do to you. The first week was the toughest just like the first round. As I got to the second week and third week I was able to jump right back into it like I have never left the workouts.

    Once I began the second month of INSANITY I was excited and a bit curious how I would respond to the Max Interval workouts. Surprisingly it was not as bad as I thought it would be. The first time I did these workouts it felt like day one all over again taking a lot of breaks and not being able to get through the entire workout. This time around it was just as difficult, but I was able to get through all the workouts occasionally taking breaks but nothing like the first round. This shows how important it is to be overall fit in strength training and also cardio.

   I currently have 2 more weeks left of this round of INSANITY and I am very happy with the results. It looks like I will be back to 5% body fat by the end of the program and over all have gained 6lbs of muscle. Comparing my before pictures to my most recent I can tell that I have put more size and definition on my body. Once I complete my third round I will start INSANITY ASYLUM to get ready for Tough Mudder and the Spartan Beast race that I will be running the the next few months. Below are my before and after from my second round of INSANITY before my bulking phase and my most recent picture taken today.        



                   Before                                                                                                  After                                                                            

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Healthy Turkey meatloaf with pasta

     Here is a list of heathy meals that are very easy to make 

Pasta primavera with feta

Turkey meatloaf with whole wheat pasta

Seasoned turkey meatloaf with seasoned brown rice and asparagus