Just an observation....
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what I have noticed... the old saying can be more true than we like to admit... you cant judge a book by its cover! I know we find comfort in doing so.. but often its not true... some of the sweating..working getting after it ladies are a a little on the big girl side.... some of the cant do a mile.. are on the small girl side (havent eat enough to walk on tredmill for a mile without getting light headed!)
My jogging buddy lst night ask me what I thought about this same type of thing your asking... it seems to be that yes basic calorie in and out will help us loose weight or maintain.... exercise is good and keeps us in OUR best shape.. but each person really is a little diffrent... She is a slender little thing.. I got my a big ol butt and some hips.. I have lot of estrogen.. LOL... We are equally in shape!
Would love to know the secret of those ladies on the muscle-y poster and such!!!:) I even calculate how much protein I need at each meal, and make sure the protein is good and healthy. Once a week I allow myself pizza, and I do fit in a sweet snack. I work out hard and am dedicated. I had to dial it back because I was working out for over 2 hours and I felt like a hamster on a wheel. I also have hips and thighs I can't get rid of--and on a shorter frame:( I want to get rid of all the jiggle and have that flawless definition I see on different sites. Maybe I have fluctuated too much over the years; maybe it is because I am 42 with 2 kids; could be that I am hypothyroid and fighting a losing battle. I feel strong and great; I just want to look better. I just assumed the instructors who are certified and go through all the training, and then teach and work out at each class should be that way by now.
I dunno, I think it's important to try hard and work towards your goals, but at the same time, I think it's important to retain perspective, as there are some things you can't change.
Let's be honest, it's tough to look like the models in magazines and on websites because the models don't event look like the models!
I think you need to continue on your journey, yes, but perhaps the effort should be more into changing your mind and they way you think about yourself as opposed to the aesthetics, which let's face it, will go as we all get older, no matter how much we exercise.
Yes it's important be heathtly, to feel confident, sexy, comfortable, motivated, proud and inspired, but all these things come from the way we address things mentally and not how tight or toned our skin is.
Measuring yourself against others and judging them and their competency as an instructor based on how ripped they are is just a symptom of needing to repriortise the balance between long term health and short term aesthetic.0 -
I've taken Body Pump classes, and classes similar to them. I have taken Boot camps and other weight lifting classes...I have never had a buff instructor. They are all just average. It makes me feel discouraged. With all the classes they teach--and workout along with the classes, why don't these ladies look...how I want to look?? No definition in arms and legs....I see lots of buff ladies on Ripped Goddess, but they don't go into what exactly they do to get so ripped. I am discouraged from taking anymore Body Pump, etc. classes because, if the instructor isn't looking buff by now, then there is a pretty good chance that I won't and that I am just wasting my time:/ Just had to put it out there. Anyone else observe this? I had 2 really buff Zumba instructors--one said she got that way from years of Spinning class. Makes me even more confused:/
Only ways I know to get buff (decent muscle mass plus low fat) is lifting "heavy" or HITT type exercises that use fast twitch muscles. Heavy means what weight you can lift under control for a set of 10 or less. HITT works too. The sprinters bodies are buff- muscle plus low fat. Most long distance runners have no muscle but low fat (however there are a few that lift weights and have some muscle mass). Next time you are at the gym, go ask a fit woman/man that has the body type you want what diet and exercise they follow.0 -
Another thing to remember is that instructors teach a lot of hours per week. As a fat but fit instructor I taught 15 - 20 classes per week plus another 5 - 10 post rehab sessions. There are ways to model exercise without putting 100% effort into them, most instructors find out how very, very quickly - that or they get injured.
I never had time or inclination to work out for myself, consequently I never managed to focus on the kind of exercise that would have benefitted me.
Some of the most 'ripped' instructors I met taught 3 or 4 classes a week and spent hour upon hour in the gym for themselves. I wouldn't say this was the case with all but some of those instructors had no specialist knowledge, just took a course, maybe online, and started teaching. Others, like myself, had degrees in physiology, I worked with vulnerable populations (vulnerable elders, post rehab etc), and may not have looked as good but certainly knew more about modifying classes for each individual in them.
I suppose I am saying don't judge a book by its cover. Find a class you like, admiring the instructor's body is not always a good criteria to go by.0 -
That wouldn't bother me. I've known many quite fit women who weren't "ripped". Personally....I'm not a fan of the muscular look in women anyway - Madonna for example - I think her arms are way over-defined - to the point that they don't look feminine. I thought she looked better 20 years ago. I think women should be a little softer. JMO0
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I've said it a bunch of times on this forum-Body Pump IS NOT a weight lifting class, it's a cardio class, as well as Zumba, Turbo Kick, etc. If you train for cardio, you won't be ripped. You lift heavy weights for 3-5 reps, you will. Simply put, your appearance will reflect how you train.0
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I've said it a bunch of times on this forum-Body Pump IS NOT a weight lifting class, it's a cardio class, as well as Zumba, Turbo Kick, etc. If you train for cardio, you won't be ripped. You lift heavy weights for 3-5 reps, you will. Simply put, your appearance will reflect how you train.
How do you define a heavy weight? I can now use 8 pounds for biceps, tricep extensions and go to 12 pounds for chest press--it's still not easy, if it feels too easy, I go for a heavier weight. Had no idea Body Pump was considered cardio. I tried it for the first time over a year ago and liked it, but found it wasn't doing much for me. Tried it again recently and stuck with it for a month (every mon, wed and friday) and it was just 'eh' to me. I prefer doing reps and sets with dumb bells. If my appearance will reflect how I train, I should train harder!:) Instead of that Body Pump I was taking, I just do weights instead. Also--the program that I follow, it takes me roughly a half hour on those weight training days. Should I do more than half hour?0 -
I don't do Body Pump, but I know most of the instructors at my gym who teach it since they teach TRX and Spin which I both do and daaaammmnnn. Both are old enough to be my mom and I would kill to have their body now. They are both amazing looking.0
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I don't think you can Zumba or BodyPump your way to looking ripped. As they say...abs are made in the kitchen. So I could teach whatever classes I want, but if my goal isn't to build muscle and lower body fat I won't eat that way or progressively up my weights.0
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I've said it a bunch of times on this forum-Body Pump IS NOT a weight lifting class, it's a cardio class, as well as Zumba, Turbo Kick, etc. If you train for cardio, you won't be ripped. You lift heavy weights for 3-5 reps, you will. Simply put, your appearance will reflect how you train.
How do you define a heavy weight? I can now use 8 pounds for biceps, tricep extensions and go to 12 pounds for chest press--it's still not easy, if it feels too easy, I go for a heavier weight. Had no idea Body Pump was considered cardio. I tried it for the first time over a year ago and liked it, but found it wasn't doing much for me. Tried it again recently and stuck with it for a month (every mon, wed and friday) and it was just 'eh' to me. I prefer doing reps and sets with dumb bells. If my appearance will reflect how I train, I should train harder!:) Instead of that Body Pump I was taking, I just do weights instead. Also--the program that I follow, it takes me roughly a half hour on those weight training days. Should I do more than half hour?
A heavy weight is one where you fatigue after 6 reps.
I did body pump and tore my rotator cuff doing clean and press...lots of momentum going on there. If you want to build muscle, you need to lift heavy. You don't need to do 25 reps....you want strength, not endurance.0 -
My gym has 4 pump instructors and they look amazing, totally ripped in an awesome female way. They all do the Les Mills classes at various gyms all day everyday so maybe that has something to do with it.0
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Good point:) I have been doing 25 reps each set for a total of 3 sets. How many reps do you recommend for good muscle definition? With regards to Body Pump, I felt that it was pulling on my back===I had a lumbar sprain not to long ago, and while I got it taken care of, sometimes it sneaks up on me and there is that pulling. I take that as a little warning sign to dial it back--the clean and press bothered my back.I've said it a bunch of times on this forum-Body Pump IS NOT a weight lifting class, it's a cardio class, as well as Zumba, Turbo Kick, etc. If you train for cardio, you won't be ripped. You lift heavy weights for 3-5 reps, you will. Simply put, your appearance will reflect how you train.
How do you define a heavy weight? I can now use 8 pounds for biceps, tricep extensions and go to 12 pounds for chest press--it's still not easy, if it feels too easy, I go for a heavier weight. Had no idea Body Pump was considered cardio. I tried it for the first time over a year ago and liked it, but found it wasn't doing much for me. Tried it again recently and stuck with it for a month (every mon, wed and friday) and it was just 'eh' to me. I prefer doing reps and sets with dumb bells. If my appearance will reflect how I train, I should train harder!:) Instead of that Body Pump I was taking, I just do weights instead. Also--the program that I follow, it takes me roughly a half hour on those weight training days. Should I do more than half hour?
A heavy weight is one where you fatigue after 6 reps.
I did body pump and tore my rotator cuff doing clean and press...lots of momentum going on there. If you want to build muscle, you need to lift heavy. You don't need to do 25 reps....you want strength, not endurance.0 -
Good point:) I have been doing 25 reps each set for a total of 3 sets. How many reps do you recommend for good muscle definition? With regards to Body Pump, I felt that it was pulling on my back===I had a lumbar sprain not to long ago, and while I got it taken care of, sometimes it sneaks up on me and there is that pulling. I take that as a little warning sign to dial it back--the clean and press bothered my back.I've said it a bunch of times on this forum-Body Pump IS NOT a weight lifting class, it's a cardio class, as well as Zumba, Turbo Kick, etc. If you train for cardio, you won't be ripped. You lift heavy weights for 3-5 reps, you will. Simply put, your appearance will reflect how you train.
How do you define a heavy weight? I can now use 8 pounds for biceps, tricep extensions and go to 12 pounds for chest press--it's still not easy, if it feels too easy, I go for a heavier weight. Had no idea Body Pump was considered cardio. I tried it for the first time over a year ago and liked it, but found it wasn't doing much for me. Tried it again recently and stuck with it for a month (every mon, wed and friday) and it was just 'eh' to me. I prefer doing reps and sets with dumb bells. If my appearance will reflect how I train, I should train harder!:) Instead of that Body Pump I was taking, I just do weights instead. Also--the program that I follow, it takes me roughly a half hour on those weight training days. Should I do more than half hour?
A heavy weight is one where you fatigue after 6 reps.
I did body pump and tore my rotator cuff doing clean and press...lots of momentum going on there. If you want to build muscle, you need to lift heavy. You don't need to do 25 reps....you want strength, not endurance.
From what I've heard, 5 sets of 5 is good for strength, 3 sets of 10 is good for muscle growth. But your mileage may vary and there are all kinda of recommendations in between.0 -
Most important thing is going to the classes regardless and getting what you want out of it; for me, spinning makes you work hard, its cardio and you need to push yourself. I found (3) simple things worked to lose pounds and actually I have some abs now, which I didn't even have while playing sports while younger: 1) MFP really helped me track nutrition and calories 2) you gotta move, break it up with circuit training, elliptical, spin classes, weights etc. No boring routines and 3) if you haven't joined a local gym for those who commute during the week, do so...working from home is not an invitation to eat all day and relax.
I think spin if you push yourself is a great way to sweat out and burn calories which combined with MFP, you will be hitting your net numbers and dropping weight. Good luck.0 -
8 and 12 lb aren't very heavy. I am trying to work up to heavier weights (slowly) and I use 30-40 lb bar for biceps and 40 lb bar for bench. I think this is pretty low. If you can do 25 reps its too low.I've said it a bunch of times on this forum-Body Pump IS NOT a weight lifting class, it's a cardio class, as well as Zumba, Turbo Kick, etc. If you train for cardio, you won't be ripped. You lift heavy weights for 3-5 reps, you will. Simply put, your appearance will reflect how you train.
How do you define a heavy weight? I can now use 8 pounds for biceps, tricep extensions and go to 12 pounds for chest press--it's still not easy, if it feels too easy, I go for a heavier weight. Had no idea Body Pump was considered cardio. I tried it for the first time over a year ago and liked it, but found it wasn't doing much for me. Tried it again recently and stuck with it for a month (every mon, wed and friday) and it was just 'eh' to me. I prefer doing reps and sets with dumb bells. If my appearance will reflect how I train, I should train harder!:) Instead of that Body Pump I was taking, I just do weights instead. Also--the program that I follow, it takes me roughly a half hour on those weight training days. Should I do more than half hour?0 -
You can exercise all you want - if you're eating too much (of the wrong things), you won't end up looking like a model for sports advertising. Chances are even if you tried you might not be able to pull it off.
As long as the instructors are a good bit more knowledgeable than you, and do a good job teaching / motivating you, it should be worth taking the class, no matter what they look like.0 -
I think it really depends on how good of a workout they give you.
The best yoga teacher I ever had was completely overweight and not at all what I would want to look like - but she loved yoga, knew her stuff, and really cared about giving one on one attention in a way that was positive, helpful, and caring.
The worst pilates instructor I ever had was in perfect shape, totally inspirational to look at, but was really annoying and embarrassed me in class trying to get me to "lift up" so she could put her hand under my stomach when doing some sort of plank position. Would not hear that I was lifting as best I could, straining to stay up at all, that it was my freaking FAT touching the ground, and that I didn't want a complete stranger touching my stomach in front of a room of 20-30 people. She was basically yelling at me in front of the entire class for being too fat and weak to get my stomach all the way off the floor (umm... isn't that why I'm working out in the first place?). Getting nothing out of the workout AND being publicly humiliated? No thanks. I never went back to her class again.
I don't think the appearance of the instructor is necessarily going to dictate what you get out of the class. It's more about their knowledge level and their ability to inspire and lead you in a way that you find constructive and helpful.0 -
OP, you are right. I read the Les Mills forums and even those instructors will tell you that BodyPump won't give guys the huge, massive muscle look and they need to lift truly heavy in the weight room. Of course, females are encouraged to lift and lift heavy for the simple fact that we cannot bulk up like the men do, so I'm not sure if you're up against seeing your instructors not do the type of weight training that'll produce the results you wish to see, OR if the women in particular simply cannot get that way.
That said, most of my female instructors are very slender and have muscle definition in what I would call a very feminine sort of way. I would kill to have any of their bodies. The one overweight one had actually been losing weight and got encouraged to get her BodyPump certification -- she's a hoot and my favorite BodyPump instructor, so go figure!!
All in all, I still wish I was you because you can go out to the weight room and do your own thing at your own time with your own results in mind. I couldn't do it for more than five minutes on my own so I'm addicted to all these damn classes. Gotta have my BodyPump fix 2-4 times a week; personally I have a blast and I know it's doing at least *something* for me! If there was something else I could actually stick with, saw better results and overall liked better, like you I just might quit BodyPump too. 0 -
Body Pump started to get monotonous for me; they do change it up every 4 weeks---at my gym it is called Group Power. I find that I don't get much out of a large class like that. I am in the weight room every other day--I was able to work with 15 pound weights; no easy feat for me. I could do all the moves, but not biceps. I went back to 10's since the 12's were being used. It was still a challenge for me and I feel accomplished. I was getting discouraged because I see wonderful physiques on Ripped Goddess and the like, but.....not at the gym. That's the confusing thing. I figured if the instructor was doing all these moves every day along with the classes, they would have that ripped physique. One of the instructors, a great lady is very tall, lean and lithe. When I asked what workout moves/weights she used to get that way, she said she was born that way; all her family is tall and very lean:/ Made me feel that no matter what I do/how I lift, I am doomed to look like the bottom half of a fertility urn....0
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Not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but it's also something to keep in mind:
They might not look how you "expect" them to because they themselves aren't after that look. There's a lot more to achieving certain body compositions/looks than simply teaching a lot classes designed to help strength/cardio.
All of the instructors I've ever had all have different body compositions...I think the important thing to keep in mind is whether or not these classes and workouts are getting you to where YOU want to be, regardless of what they are doing for other people.0 -
You don't get "buff" doing cardio...which is essentially what all of those DVDs are. To get "buff" you have to lift weights. Hypertrophy (buffness) occurs most efficiently in the 3-5 sets of 8-12 rep range where you are close to failure on your final rep(s).0
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