Gym daze II

So I went to the gym.

Mind you, I've been to gyms before. Back at Melaka there was this old gym run by Gan Boon Leong himself. That's a small little gym with some facilities and a cheap membership/entrance fee.

The large gyms in KL are a completely different cup of tea, as you well know. For one thing, the gyms are huge and sprawling with facilities of every kind (except a punching bag) all over the place. Pretty lucrative business. That and these gyms conduct aerobic classes of all kinds. These include Body Jam, Body Combat, Body Step, Body Pump... wait, Body what???


You want me to lift this to the tune "All Things (Just Keep Getting Better)" by Widelife? Isn't that a weeeee bit extreme?

"Pump" in a gym context normally refers to pushing barbells and heavy weights. So the name Body Pump refers to ...musical weight lifting?

Me: So you lift weights to the music?
Jr.: Yes.
Me: Like aerobics workouts, but with heavy weights?
Jr.: Why not?
Me: Am I the only person who sees something wrong with that???

Well, I did it anyway. And yes, it was weight lifting with music, though thankfully Jr. had the sense to give me only 2.5 kg weights on each end of the rod, while he used 5kg weights himself.

(Honestly, it feels kind of embarrassing when someone smaller than you lifts double your weights. No offense, Jr.! )

What was it like? A real work out, surely. But it was the reverse of everything I've heard about how to gain muscle mass. Wasn't it supposed to be few repetitions with heavy weights, not many many maaaaaany repetitions with light weights? And why the heck was the music so, er, 'gay' in taste?

Kind of interesting and fun though, I admit. I had to watch myself as due to the aerobic nature of the workout I was in danger of getting dizzy more than muscle strain. When that happens in full swing, it takes *hours* to shake off. Fortunately, due to experience with that sort of thing I warned Jr. beforehand and he sent me away for a much needed sugar-filled drink of ice lemon tea before continuing.

So I survived my first Body Pump class! Whoohoo! Thanks to Jr. and his bf for inviting me and watching out for me throughout the class.

Pity they don't have punching bags though.

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For information on some research on the efficacy of Body Pump, check out this article.

Basically, it appears to be a great way to build muscle endurance, but you don't really expect to see fast gains in muscle mass if you're already quite fit (which I'm not). Interestingly, you stand to lose more fat through Body Pump than the other regimes like Body Jam, Step and Attack and Combat.

There's no doubting it's a good workout for beginners like me though.

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*You know your perspective has changed when you start using 'gay' as an adjective in reference to 'gay culture'.