Its all in the Timing (Part III of the Body Pump Trilogy)

I am finally fully Les Mills Body Pump certified. It was a difficult process (see links below to posts) and I am so proud of this certification. Although I received a full ‘Pass’ on the initial training, I received a ‘Pass-Withheld’ on my video assessment. This meant that I did not need to re-submit my video, but I had to ‘clean-up’ any areas where I fell short and then have my Group Fitness Manager (GFM) review and sign-off before the certification can be issued.

The components of the video assessment for Body Pump are; Position, Execution, Timing, Fitness, and Feel. I received my assessment via email while on vacation in mid-July and it was very thorough. I was actually feeling wonderful as I started reading the complimentary tone of my assessor.  I had 100% on Position, Fitness, and Feel. and 90% on Execution but I did not get a full Pass. Well, ladies and gentlemen, my Timing really was that bad!

Well, I really couldn’t argue with the assessment. In fact, from the review and the suggestions to improve timing, it seemed to me as though the assessor really wanted to pass me but rightfully could not. In my defense, I did not have experience teaching to the beat. I primarily teach Pilates and Spinning. I used to teach a lot of Boot Camp and Total Body Conditioning, but those also do not use a beat. I also am not blessed with a natural talent for music. Yes, I had my work cut out for me.

I really have to give a lot of thanks to my GFM and the other Body Pump instructors who worked with me. They gave me lessons on counting the beats to many different tempos. I also thank my daughter for practicing with me. She has a natural feel for music and helped me practice the various tempos. I practiced by counting the beat and moving to the beat of all types of music.

Enough about me: What does this mean for you? Why is it so important for me to have my timing perfect in order to be certified? Well, it does make the class flow and it is more natural to move to the beat, but there is a much better benefit to the various tempos used in Body Pump.

Tempo Exercises are a great way to train your muscles to burn fat for energy. In Body Pump you perform tempo exercises at various slow steady tempos without pausing at the top or bottom. An example of this would be the 2/2 squats or even the 4/4 super-slow tempos. These put your muscles under a constant low level tension, which slightly restricts blood flow to the working muscles, depriving them of oxygen during the exercise. The muscles compensate for the low levels of oxygen by increasing the size of the slow-twitch fibers, which contain a high level of mitochondria. Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the muscle cell that produces energy from fat. So, the more mitochondria you have, the more body fat you can burn. Also, since you are producing more energy, you can work out longer and harder and therefore burn more total calories.

As well as the slow tempos of 2/2, 3/1, 1/3, and 4/4, Body Pump also uses singles to drive your heart rate up and burn calories and incorporates isometric holds (1/1/2 count tempo) to recruit even more muscle fibers. So, by making sure we instructors are proficient in Timing, Les Mills creates a workout that will build lean muscles, shape and tone your body, build bone density, burn calories, and will not bulk you up! Timing is everything….

Make fitness part of your ‘back to school’ routine this week

XOX

http://sharonsherryfitness.blogspot.com/2011/05/pump-it.html
http://sharonsherryfitness.blogspot.com/2011/06/body-pump-part-deux.html

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