Fitness Classes in Ireland

'Body Pump' is the most successful group fitness programme in history; it is a world renowned class that focuses on choreographed weight training to music. It is great for building lean muscle mass, sculpting your shape, and raising your metabolism.
This class is always changing as the music is updated every three months! BodyPump is now found in over 70 countries and 10,000 health-clubs and gyms worldwide. Bodypump was created by Les Mills to get men into the aerobics room.



Bodypump is a 45 or 55 minute class using barbells and adjustable weights to tone and condition muscles while raising metabolic rate for rapid fat-burning.
After an initial warm-up, all the major muscle groups are worked via a series of weight-bearing exercises including squats, presses and lifts. The class finishes with a cool-down and stretch.
BodyPump classes which are 55 minutes in length contain eight separate muscle-group specific songs or "tracks" along with an opening warm up track and closing cooldown track.
The 45 minute class format omits two muscle groups /tracks (biceps and triceps) and is used in timeslots where participants generally don't have a full hour to spare. BodyPump is pre-choreographed, giving it global homogeneity.

The classes are performed to music using free weights-plates, barbells and an aerobic step. Participants choose their weights based on the exercise and their personal goals. Major muscle groups are worked via exercises including squats, presses and dead lifts. The focus is towards muscle endurance using several repetitions.

A new BodyPump release, consisting of new music and choreography, is developed and released to health clubs and instructors every three months. Muscle groups are always worked in the same order, allowing for consistency across releases. Instructors can choose to work with one release, or mix tracks from multiple releases, to target strength endurance gains for their particular class. Instructors and trainers are provided with guidance from Les Mills International regarding the mixing of tracks for classes.

A normal class consists of 10 tracks each lasting between 4 and 6 minutes. These are usually cover versions or re-mixes of popular chart or classic rock releases. The tracks are mixed to allow for an aerobic block count of 32 beats and will vary in speed depending on the exercise being performed. Each track targets a different muscle group. The tracks, in order, follow the format of: warm up, legs/squats, chest, back, triceps, biceps, lunges, shoulders, abdominals and finally a cooldown encompassing a variety of stretches. Between each track there is a short interval to allow for stretching the muscle just exercised, change weights for the next track and to allow the instructor to brief the next exercise.

Due to the nature of the program maximum heart rate (MHR) increases in different phases. In addition, the aerobic capacity changes are based on music selection beats per minute (BPM). Bodypump is proven to be "the world's fastest way to get in shape" by research which has confirmed higher than expected fat-burning effects alongside endurance, strength and 'wellness' benefits.