I think it’s nice that August 1 happened to fall on a Monday. Once the initial shock of my alarm going off at 5 a.m. after three mornings of sleeping until almost 9 wore off, I found myself full of smiles and energy (only partly credited to multiple cups of coffee) thanks to the arrival of a new month and a fresh start.
Today on the Peanut Butter Runner Facebook page I asked for responses on “one thing I want to accomplish in August” and got all kinds of great answers. From first time 5Ks and marathons to bread baking to yoga…I love to hear about all of the awesome things you guys are doing. Check it out and let me know what you want to accomplish this month!
And keeping with the theme of new, I taught BodyPump 78 for the first time in my 6 a.m. class. (We were really late launching the new release.) My assessment? It’s a solid release with a few shining stars.
I loved:
- The three BIG sets of work in the squat track and the focus on singles. Love squat tracks that send your heart rate way up!
- The focus on clean and press rather than dead rows in the back/hamstrings track. Tons of four in a row clean and press = lots of intensity.
- The SIX MINUTE lunge track full of squats and lunges with very little recovery time that left my legs screaming for mercy.
- The ab track with the new innovation of having your heels on the step that had my entire abdominal wall burning by the end.
Not so much a fan:
- One thing I miss in this release is pushups. None in chest or triceps and only four slow ones in shoulders.
- I’m not sure how I feel about the “Africa” song for shoulders that has a very tribal sound…elephant noises and all…hmmm…
- The chest music was recycled from an old release where it was also used for chest (Sweet Child of Mine) – edited to add that I like the song and the work, it’s challenging for sure…just hate that they recycled a song like that.
- Need a little more “oomph” from the tricep track. A short amount of bar work and it ends with kickbacks and there weren’t enough for me to really feel muscle burnout.
- Did I mention that I miss pushups!? 😉
Although it’s not my favorite of recent releases, I’m looking forward to teaching it for the next couple weeks! BodyPumpers – what do you think of BodyPump 78?
Well, I couldn’t eat fried seafood and ice cream and drink beergaritas every day forever so it was back to regularly scheduled eats today. Breakfast was overnight oats after BodyPump and then Brandon and I picked up sandwiches from Which Wich on the way home for lunch.
I had avocado, tomato and hummus on wheat. Love their sandwiches!
I taught yoga after work and then had another commitment so I didn’t get home until almost 9. Brandon offered to take care of dinner.
He grilled kebabs…chicken for him and tempeh marinated in teriyaki for me.
I made a salad on the side with all sorts of fridge and pantry goodies.
A staple of kebab night is an assortment of sauces. The peach slow burn hot sauce is so good…especially mixed with barbecue.
And that’s all I’ve got for you. I hope your August is off to an amazing start! 
Love reading your 78 Pump review because it makes me understand why I do and don’t like certain tracks! LOL I can’t believe the lunge track is 6 minutes long! No wonder it makes my thighs feel like they are on fire! I like the new ab track, but I miss the last one. After I could actually do the 2 minutes of planks in the old one, I want them to be that long in every track! I really like the extra clean and presses and like the easier triceps track 🙂 … they are my weakness!
yes! as soon as i saw six minutes in the choreography notes, i knew it would be killer before reading the exercises!
hopefully your teachers will rotate the old ab track back in from time to time! i am SO proud of you for mastering that plank.
We did 78 at my gym for (I think) every track except abs – my teacher pulled in abs from a previous release that she said she thought was harder. HA. All I know is, there seemed to be a million and 1 “bottom halves” and they just kill (in a good way). Sweet Child of Mine totally got me amped up, not gonna lie, but I wasn’t doing BodyPump when it was used before. 🙂
i do love that song!
Oooh, my whole body -and I’m not lying, exaggerating or whatever – is still acheing from the last class and nonetheless I am already looking forward to the next 🙂 (tonight, yay!!)My teacher missed those push ups, too, it seems, he simply made us do them anyway. Sweet child of mine really works for me, don’t ask me why. And I love the new ab track, I can virtually feel my stomach getting stronger …which is kind of a miracle I considered impossible up until I started bodypump.
nikkie – i am going to find a way to add them in! 😉
i love the work in sweet child of mine. it’s a great chest track!
yay for a strong core!!!
Those kebobs look so good 🙂
LOVE the new pump release! It is tough, but the lunge track is nice because constant lunges give my knees hell, so the squats help out a lot and give me an active recovery.
see, a lot of people complain about lunge tracks that have squats in them but it’s nice to hear that it works better for some people!
I do love the 6 minute lunge track as well in the new 78 release – makes me push it to all I’ve got. And I thought the same thing about the Africa song — soooo random!
thank you! the first time i heard it, i was baffled!
Sweet Baby Rays is the best BBQ! Delicious 🙂
sandwich and grilled food looks yummy.
I really wish i had body pump at my gym!! I love the sound of it!!
I missed my alarm yesterday but I blame it on the time change, and pure exhaustion.
I did wake up today.
I was looking into breaking into Hot yoga for august. We will see due to my financial issues but I really have been wanting to do it FOREVER.
i know, i’m sad that not everyone can do bodypump. it is so much fun.
it’s okay to miss early mornings sometimes! you just needed a break.
good luck with hot yoga. i hope you get to try a class soon. i hear you on the expense though.
Love sweet baby rays! Best BBQ sauce! 🙂
I miss body pump so much 🙁 my new gym doesnt have it. They didn’t even know what it was when I asked about it!
sad! big boo to that! i wish every gym had bodypump.
i have to weigh in here on 78. the lung track..oh my. i had no idea what i we were in for. my legs didn’t work right after that. I love the biceps cause I love pink, and feel EXACTLY the same way about lack of pushups and tricep track. After triceps i thought, “are we done?”. Overall though I really enjoyed it, and the music. even though sweet child of mine is recycled… i still sang at the top of my lungs. i am a dork.
ha ha. freudian slip, i meant lunge track. though my lungs did get a run as well.
i think i’m going to figure out a way to add in more push ups! i think we need some tricep pushups or something to increase the intensity in that track. maybe i will just focus on increasing my weight for this release.
i love that song too! i like it when bp does rock songs in the chest track (that aren’t covers!).
I did 78 for the first time this morning. I always drag a little when I miss the Monday morning class with you! Overall I liked it but agree that we could have done without the elephant moaning and the new lunge/squat track was HARD! I will be there Monday morning for sure! 🙂
The new lunge track reinforced my hatred for lunges, especially when I was welcoming the squats – they seemed like “rest” sections to me. I hate that track, but it makes my legs feel GOOD!
I’m not as huge on the music as I’ve been on past releases, but they can’t all be winners I guess…