Body pump as weight training ?

This thread is hilarious, I am particularly enjoying reading the haughty comments of heavy lifters who clearly have never been to a class. I've been doing pump for several years now and I can tell you that my favourite moments are when those like these cocky 'heavy lifters' come to class and think they know it all. Yet halfway through the second track, the squat track, they realise they don't. They struggle so much with endurance, their form is appalling and they have to put their weights down well before the breaks. Yet they are probably lifting a fraction of what they would lift usually. They never come back.

Giving advice on classes you don't attend makes as much sense as me giving advice on heavy lifting which I don't do.

Ultimately I would like to combine the endurance benefits of pump with the strength gains of low reps, but I have so much more fun in pump than I would ever have lifting on my own in the gym. I have substantially increased my upper body strength through pump and it is very good for teaching technique.

I used to do pump actually and it's from that and my own research that I've learnt it is THE biggest waste of time. It's good for learning technique and that's it. That's great that you have more fun doing pump but I don't go to the gym to have a ball, I go there to get results so I avoid pump like the plague. Yes it's good for muscle endurance but I have, and will never have, a need to do 50 Bicepccurls in a row. I want to burn fat, preserve and build muscle and the best way is to lift heavy, NOT pump, so tthat's what I will continue to do and recommend to others who have the same goals.

I wonder if anyone has done a study on how different training types affect the others:
ie for a couple of months have, Low weight-High reps, Medium Weight-Medium Reps and High weight-Low reps groups - then look at them at the end and for everyone see their improvement in strength, muscle size and muscular endurance.
So that we could see which one has the most affect on others.
Also, then; ideally some mixed groups doing different types of exercise to see if this does help or hinder.

@DavPul (sorry I don't know how to quote aha)
I would like to lift, but it's really embarrassing to go in this section full of men without knowing anything about lifting. Maybe you can't understand because you're a man, I don't know, but I am sure a lot of women lifting here had the same problem I have in the beginning. You cannot get how annoying it is when men look at you like this.
Plus I don't wanna be bulky, just toned.

I've been lifting for 2 years.. Men still look at me like I'm a piece of meat. Put in headphones, put on good music and get going.

Also, a lot of people don't know what they are doing when they first start, but they still try instead of making excuses to why they cannot. Today I was trying to do super mans where you raise opposite arm/leg, and trust me, I looked like a fish out of water while doing it.. but I still did it.

Besides, if said man really does bother you, then hit him over the head with a dumbbell and run.... problem solved

Whatever it is, I love this class and regularly burn 400+ calories in an hour doing it. Judging by the soreness factor, and the fact that I am continually upping my weights, and that IMHO I am looking rather stacked, my muscles are working, HARD! That being said, I always put on the absolute MAX weight I can handle, and I see a lot of women with those little Barbie weights in that class -- can pretty much guarantee that that's not going to do anything. It's energetic and the music is fun and it's just a great atmosphere. I'd say if you like it, do it! It's certainly not doing me any harm.

Whatever it is, I love this class and regularly burn 400+ calories in an hour doing it. Judging by the soreness factor, and the fact that I am continually upping my weights, and that IMHO I am looking rather stacked, my muscles are working, HARD! That being said, I always put on the absolute MAX weight I can handle, and I see a lot of women with those little Barbie weights in that class -- can pretty much guarantee that that's not going to do anything. It's energetic and the music is fun and it's just a great atmosphere. I'd say if you like it, do it! It's certainly not doing me any harm.

First...you do look great .

Second...as you said yourself, you're not performing it as its designed to be performed...which is a good thing! What you're doing though isn't really 'building' muscle. If you're eating on a caloric surplus, you might build some very small amount of muscle with higher weight endurance stuff...what's most likely going on is that your body is storing substantial amounts of glycogen in anticipation of the extensive work you're doing regularly. Glycogen is carried in water, and the mix is what makes your muscles swell and look/feel larger/firmer when you're working out and eating at a deficit.

Third...after the first week or two of strength training, I'm never 'sore' beyond a wicked feeling of tightness and strength. I also never 'feel the burn' lol. When my muscles are out of energy...they just...stop. I have about a one rep warning that this is going to happen lol.

Anyhow...I'm in no way belittling your efforts! I'm glad its working for you...and even moreso that you enjoy it . I would absolutely LOVE to see your response to a true strength training routine though lol.

You can do bodyweight exercise and dance using zumba

Actually, a few people here are insisting it's just cardio. If you have weights in your hand, it can be considered weight training, low rep, high rep, it doesn't matter. Everyone's definition of "weight training" is different. I have moved away from these kind of classes as my primary source of weight lifting, now spending a lot of time in the free weights area with barbells.. I still consider both to be weight lifting, one just has more cardio involved than the other.

That's great that you consider it both. That's great that you consider anything involving weight 'weight training'. There is actually a set standard of what is considered 'weight training' (or more correctly stated 'strength training'), and what is considered endurance/cardio.

Bodypump is absolutely the latter.

OK well "that's great" that you feel this way. I personally don't care :laugh:

If you pick up a weight during a cardio session, it becomes more than just a cardio session. The standard is what YOU set in your mind. Telling someone to jump into the free weights area because you don't consider a workout that incorporates weights in your standards doesn't mean it is any less part of the general scope of weight training.

It's not just me...it's a fitness industry standard...used so everyone can be on the same page when they discuss exercise programs (instead of just flinging wild opinions based on how they 'feel'). Go argue it with the people that developed it.

And I didn't tell her to jump into freeweights. You might take a look at what was actually written before replying next time.

Actually, I think you are confusing Strength or muscular endurance with cardiovascular endurance. Muscular endurance strength type training is the high rep low weight configuration that is utilized in a body pump class as distinct from a cardio vascular endurance session which is training within particular heart rate ranges and percentages of lactate threshold..two different kettles fish. Body pump would not often fit into those heart rate parameters to make it a cardiovascular endurance workout..it is a strength(muscular) endurance program and has a valid place in a persons reportior if it pertains to their personal goals.

Wow, the snobbery. Look, I have to start somewhere. I didn't even know how to do a squat or a push-up right when I started. I can't "lift heavy" yet. The weights in bodypump class are the most I can lift right now. Granted, if I only had to do five reps instead of five minutes of reps, I could lift a little more, but not a lot more. I don't feel that the high reps are holding me back so far, because my strength is so deficient in the first place. I've read on here that Olympic barbells are 45 pounds with no weight on them. I could probably lift that off the ground a few times, but bench press or over my head? No way, not happening, I'd probably hurt myself. I don't think that bodypump class is a worthless waste of my time, at least not yet while I'm at a beginner level. Telling people who *can't* lift heavy weights that their efforts are worthless is not true or helpful.

I think pump falls somewhere between cardio and lifting....

It seems to me it would too. I just heard about body pump the other day, and was watching some videos on youtube and read the stuff on their site. Though I'm pretty beginner I've done a *lot* of reading on various blogs, books, and forums about strength training. When I saw body pump I thought..huh, well that's probably not *as* effective for pure strength and muscle as the heavy weights lower reps stuff I've been hearing is the best..but boy that looks pretty intense.

But I think whether it "counts" as strength training (will it build muscle and strength) probably depends a lot on your level. I'm pretty beginner. I've done mostly things that are pretty purely cardio (ie zumba) and my 'strength training' so far consists of doing things with 5-8lb dumbells (slowly trying to level up). Working out with DVDs like Petra Kolber's strength for beginners or that spark people 28 day bootcamp (which is probably only 'bootcamp' if you are a beginner like me). I can't even do a squat all the way to parallel yet, I have a long way to go.

So say I go to body pump class...and start doing a bunch of lifts and squats and things with barbells ..'low' weight, many reps, in a guided class environment regularly...and I manage to not keel over, and I keep going for a few months. Well I just can't imagine I wouldn't be better off strength wise than before I doing this. It would be a BIG step up, and I'm absolutely sure I'd end up stronger. So I think it is strength training in that sense...even if its going to specifically build strength as much or as fast as higher weight lower reps slower speed pure lifting might.., its still going to build more strength for me than say zumba.... or the far too many female oriented classes that seem to encourage 3 lb barbie weights (cause gawd forbid we actually develop a muscle). So yeah, somewhere in between, I think there is a lot of grey area.

Also..someone said something about a person lifting just the bar in class so why are they there. I have a proper weight set in the basement I got for free..planning ahead for the future. I don't know if its standard or not, or how much those bars typically weigh, but the bar alone seems fairly heavy to me. So there is a good chance if I went to a class like that I'd be one of those with just the bar for a while (or heck maybe not even that at first) and feeling pretty self conscious about it, till I leveled up, which I'd be hoping to do as soon as I could safely.

Bump

Wow. It's like people want to make up their own separate reality in here. If you don't want to lift heavy, then don't. If you want to do bodypump, then do it. No one cares either way. We're just letting you know that bodypump is *not* lifting heavy. Not by any stretch of the imagination. If you wish to believe that lifting something for a minute or so is very similar to lifting something where you max out at 5-10 reps, then go right ahead. It's not true, but if it makes you feel better, keep believing it.

If, as some here are postulating, your only other choice is doing nothing, then by all means keep doing it. It's beneficial, as all cardio is. But it's still cardio, even if you want to say it's not. You can call it mountain climbing, for all I care.