Body Pump and the benefits of weight training.

Body Pump and the benefits of Weight training.

An interesting fact about body pump is that it is the most attended class worldwide, and there are many reason to why this class has taken the world by storm. When planning this post I thought it would be appropriate describe the benefits of body pump with weight or resistance training, to help you achieve extra results by not wasting more time on the treadmill or struggling on with a strict diet.

 Body pump, an all over body work out, using a barbell and  your body weight as resistance to focus on 6 areas, (1)leg squats, (2)chest, back/gluteals/hamstrings, (3)triceps and biceps,(4) legs/lunges, (5)shoulders/arms and (6) abdominal s. The first thing I noticed was the firmness in my muscles along with tiredness like I have done a lot of work.

 This firmness in the muscles is the “pump affect”, there are two possibly know affects for this. One is increased blood flow to supply energy for the work out and recovery.  Secondly is that there is a swelling (inflammation) in the muscles which is caused by the breakdown of tiny muscle fibers by the resistance training.  A benefit that comes with resistance training is an increased metabolic rate 48hours, as the body gets to work, repairing the muscle fibers. This makes the muscles stronger, more defined and more importantly your body will require around 800kcals of energy to complete the muscle repairing process. This increased metabolic rate is why some people can get away with eating more or doing less aerobic training such as running. This 48 hour increase is not seen with aerobic training due to the lack of muscle fiber damage.

This class can be as easy or hard as you wish and the instructors are great believers in getting participants to increase their resistance load as they get used to the weight to really gain the benefits of this class. Doing weights with an instructor in class like body pump or with a personal trainer is a great way to make sure your training is safe, beneficial and motivational.