Les Mills Pump & Combat.....reviews?

The gym I go to has Les Mills Body Pump classes. I definitely recommend it. A LOT of squats! A LOT of reps! It definitely works your whole body. I went to a class a couple weeks ago and there was about 800 reps worth of exercises altogether.You should be sore the next day! Starting out I'd only try it once or twice a week. But it'll definitely give you a good sweat!

I haven't done them myself, but am part of an online group where several women are doing the DVDs and from my experience with classes, they are very very similar and they love the DVDs.

Combat's a lot of almost kick boxing and martial arts like stuff. Again with the songs to kind of break the class up. The one I REALLY like is actually Attack. I think it does the best job for the weightloss while incorporating plyometrics.

Yes it does. This is a new type of workout to me.

I'm not sure if I want to do combat first for weight loss and pump after to strengthen muscle or both intermittenly.

Thanks.

I do BodyStep followed by BodyPump, back to back.
Attack is too high impact for my knees.
But everyone is different.

Bodypump is great to learn about weightlifting. If you have never lifted before or don't have the opportunity to hire a trainer, I definitely recommend it.

Combat is a super fun cardio class. You can do both in a row if you want but that is over 2 hours of working out. I'd suggest alternating them throughout the week to mix it up and not get bored.

Pump will make you sore the first few times.

I will put in my $0.02 about Les Mills Combat. I have now been through about 45 days of Combat. Before starting, I had knee and back issues that prevented my from doing Insanity. I really love the workouts of Combat. They are fast paced, high calorie burn workouts. The music is pretty good in them, I actually now do all of the workouts with "Music Pumped Up" option and you can barely here the trainers anymore. My wife wasn't as big of a fan, she thought it sounded a bit too much like European Techno. For most of the songs, they are pretty popular songs that have a bit of a techno beat mixed in.
After 45 days, I know that I am in better shape. The first thing is that my back and my knees don't hurt any more. The workouts have stabilized my core so much that it has taken a lot of pressure off my low back. I know this because I recently did the P90X Plyo X workout "just for fun." I previously always had issues with that workout. I could barely do the modified moves without causing pain. This time though, I kept up with "Dom" for the entire workout. (If you don't know who Dom is, he is well known for the Plyo X move of jumping knee tucks. He does 30 seconds of jumping almost to the ceiling and tucking his knees to his chest at a super fast pace.) I was exhausted after, but it felt good and I had no pain.
Now, though, I am actually starting to add in a bunch of the P90X workouts because the main thing that Combat lacks is weight training. The cardio from Combat is great, but the weights based workouts are more of light weights in a HIIT format. But that is part of the "theory" behind Combat. They are trying to train the "fast twitch" muscle fibers.
I have never done Pump, so I can't comment on that. You can't go wrong with Combat. I love the high intensity (without a ton of impact) and the high calorie burn it gives.

Ok but how do the DVDs compare to the class and what is the makeup like? 800 reps of what? How is the workout structured? I know NOTHING about this guy or his format. Gyms around here don't offer them and I don't use the gyms around here.

I've done Body Pump in the gyms since the early 2000's. I love it becuase its a total body strength workout, that has very easy "choreography". anyone can do it. (unlike step class or zumba where you feel like an idiot when you can't do the moves and have two left feet like me!) I think Les Mills is from New Zealand. His programs have been around since the 80's or 90's (?)
In the DVD's there are about 5 instructors from around the world guiding you though. You tube it, maybe you can see a clip of what it looks like.

I bought the Les Mills Pump dvd system that comes with the barbell. it come with two 5lbs plates and two 10lbs plates. (For a max of 30lbs plus the bar. but for a beginner that is plenty of weight!) I started with just 5lbs plates, and I was sore for days! You do a total of about 800 reps through the whole 60 minutes, so for example: 100 squats, 100 dead lifts, 75 shoulder press etc etc... You can buy more weight through them or at any sporting goods place.
I really like the dvd's because it's very easy to follow, and you really do get a great workout. I think it has 6 dvd's total.
So for example the 60 minute dvd would have squats, lunges, chest press, biceps, triceps, dead lift, clean & press, shoulders, abs and a stretch. You will be breathing hard, and sweating! and sore!
I have a HRM and it says I burn about 600 calories per 60 minute PUMP workout.
Hope this helped

(OOPS! SORRY ABOUT THE DOUBLE POST! )

Thanks for all the replies!

I bit the bullet and ordered Pump. I figured I have 30 days to try it. I will know by then if its a good fit for me.

I'm still interested in Combat but may add that later. I have a treadmill and like to run on that for added cardio so I'm thinking I will do pump with treadmill days in between.

Any other comments/reviews are welcome!!!

That's how I started, doing the elliptical and treadmill first and then going to the Pump class.
I thought two classes in a row would be too much for me initially.
And actually, learning the flow of one Les Mills class made it easier to do the other because I kind of knew what to expect.
Let us know how it goes

Love the BodyPump class. I do it once a week with a group at the gym, along with two other training days -- one on my own and one with a personal trainer. Cardio only on other days, plus one Les Mills core class (CXWORX). It makes for a good mix and I never get bored.

The Pump class challenges me to keep up and keep pushing, unlike my solo workouts, where I can rest between series, etc.