body pump class and muscle bulk?

daveainsworth

Murfinz, you are a woman and will find it extremely hard to bulk up, even if you're trying to. You certainly won't gain much muscle if you're on any sort of normal diet.

I'm a bloke, and until a week or two ago, I was doing weights three times a week and running three times a week, and not bulking up, because I just wasn't eating enough to do so.

If you are building muscle, good. You almost certainly do not have enough muscle for your overall health.

I say stick with what you're doing. Increase it if you like. It's extremely rare that you'll end up looking worse because you've done plenty of exercise. Although I might make an exception for Jodie Marsh.

jgibson2

This is straight from the website:
BODYPUMP™, the original LES MILLS™ barbell class, will sculpt, tone and strengthen your entire body, fast!
Great bodies aren’t born, they are transformed, using the proven BODYPUMP™ formula: THE REP EFFECT™ a breakthrough in resistance workout training. Focusing on low weight loads and high repetition movements, you’ll burn fat, gain strength and quickly produce lean body muscle conditioning.
BODYPUMP™ is one of the world’s fastest ways to get in shape as it challenges all of your major muscle groups while you squat, press, lift and curl.

The cutting-edge BODYPUMP™ choreography, and chart-topping music is refreshed every three months, so with your choice of weight and highly-trained instructors you can get the group effect and the results you’ve been looking for!

BODYPUMP™ is enjoyed by millions of people around the world!

A typical class
•Improve your strength---Strength no endurance yes
•Perform 70-100 repetitions per body part totaling up to 800 repetitions in a single workout- at 30-40% of your 1RM who cares how many reps you’re doing?
•Improve your general fitness---if a novice then yes
•Shape and tone your muscles—if you are overweight/obese then yes b/c you should lose bodyfat which will reveal the underlying muscle
•Protect your bones and joints from injury—yes it is better than nothing but strength training heavier at 70-80%+ of your 1RM for 8-12 reps per exercise going through the FULL ROM will yield much better results increasing your bone mineral density and joint ROM
•Get into shape fast—I suppose if this is the only thing you can/will do

Overall I’m not a fan of BodyPump classes for several reasons.
Firstly, due to the low weights/high rep combo, you are working on muscle endurance, as opposed to muscle strength or hypertrophy, which is fine if that is your goal but most people actually want to gain a bit of muscle too. Women in particular love this class b/c they don’t want to gain weight but “tone”. Guess what it’s ok if you don’t lose tons of weight. What’s wrong with losing very little weight but gaining muscle and losing inches everywhere? You should focus on the mirror, not the scale, especially the very beginning or if you don’t have a lot of weight to lose in the first place.

Secondly, the reps are way too fast that in the end, you end up using momentum or crap form to keep up with the music, losing any potential effectiveness of the workout and putting you at risk of injury.

Not a bad way to get introduced to weight training. At least they do something for your endurance.
In short, if you want to get stronger and/or gain muscle/”tone”, stick to the heavy weights in the weight room.

eeebee

Really sound advice and input. I do agree that the reps do seem a bit fast at times. I can see how that affects your form and how it winds up you using more momentum as opposed to controlled strength.
The only problem is, at my gym, all the weights and machines sections are constantly full of men in groups who not only hog the machines but also stare at any woman who attempts to use them - it actually puts me off using them so body pump seems a good way to get into it.

mbourke8

mbourke8

I was searching for Body Pump threads and found this. I wondered if the research I found online about it was correct.

For my weight (approx 150lb) apparently I apparently burn around 348cals for a 50 minute class (NB. I would rather under estimate than over estimate cals burned, so I always subtract 10 mins for every class I do at the gym).

I do not own an HRM (intend to get one when I've saved enough ££ for a Polar) so for those who use an HRM, what are the average cals you guys burn (for your weight)?

Any answers would be appreciated, thanks.

I am around 150 lb and consider myself to be pretty "fit". My HRM shows around 3-400 calories burned after BP

swilk627

IMO, BodyPump is more about muscle ENDURANCE than it is about building muscle. Doing the same moves 5 dozen times over the course of a 5 minute song won't really build that much muscle - unless you're brand new to lifting. It just teaches your muscles endurance.

RebeccaGowing

Awesome inquiry! I naturally have larger thighs as well, and at one time thought that my thighs got 'bigger' if I went too heavy. But after doing some cross-training and watching my caloric intake for a period of time, my over-all size went down. My weight didn't drop too drastically, but in my fat-loss journey, the number isn't as important as it was when I was much heavier. Also, I now can lift heavier in BodyPump, and my thighs don't get 'bigger' anymore. Basically I know it's my diet, not the 'weight'. So with that said, my only advice is to be consistent with the whole picture (cardio, resistance/strength training, flexibility, food intake), not just squat/lunge weight, and you'll notice that everything will start shrinking, even if it's just a tiny amount! I commend you for being active! In the end, that's what matters.

--BodyPump Instructor (6+ years)

Yogi_Carl

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