Can we make a Les Mills on demand thread?

Hi @Cavagirl I got my barbell set from a mirafit for about £80, just kept checking to see when it was in stock and got lucky one day. I got a reebok step half price on amazon too. I’d love the smart bar and les Mills equipment but it’s pricey, so I’m waiting to see what happens when gyms in Scotland reopen to decide whether it’ll be worth the investment.

I did a pump #107 the other day, with Marlon leading the squats and I know what you mean about motivational. I don’t know how he can be so uplifting when I’m struggling to breathe and stay upright. I do love his “you miss 100% of the shots you never take” but though 😂

I may have sworn at various of the instructors at various points in my workouts...

@Cavagirl game changer is a 6 week workout plan in the app. There are 2 versions for with or without equipment. I'm half way through and already seeing and feeling results, as it's forcing me to do the classes I wouldn't normally do, like GRIT, which I find hard & way beyond my current fitness level but I'm persistent, and there are options (like just pausing the video to get another litre of water).

@scullie thanks! 😊
Yeah I would normally use 2.5s for arm work when I did pump at the gym, I definitely had to take a few mid-workout breaks today! That's a great tip re. Argos thank you.
What is this 4 week game changer plan everyone is doing?
I do love the videos, they used to do pump on demand at my gym. I find the endless cheeriness (who smiles doing squats?!) and nightclub atmosphere both quite fun & motivating but equally I'm extremely glad I'm only joining in from home and not there!! 🤣

Welcome! Unless you're pretty strong to start with I'd say 5kg dumbbells are pretty heavy to use as a beginner on tracks like chest, biceps, triceps and shoulders. I used dumbbells at the beginning of lockdown but had a couple of 2.5kg for these muscles.

I managed to find a barbell with 1.25, 2.5 and 5kg weights and find these pretty good and can build the bar up with a combination of plates. There might be a few dumbbells for sale on eBay now the gyms are reopening that you can pick up cheaply. Otherwise I got mine from Argos.

If not then if course crack on with the 5s! However depending on the results you want, lighter weights and more reps tend to build longer lean muscle. Heavier weights with fewer reps tend to build bigger muscle. Or that's what they say, I'm no expert

Anyway I hope you enjoy your workouts whatever you use!

Hi guys, can I join you all?
Just started my free trial with a pump class, which I used to do regularly at the gym and was absolutely horrified at how difficult I found it 😂
Does everyone have their own LM equipment? I made do with a couple of 5kg dumbbells we have but i did struggle without the bar at times

Hello,

I’m on week 4 of game changer and wondering what to do next? Have loved having a list to tell me what to do, made me more likely to follow it!

Nuffield timetable app is showing LM classes again, my normal Saturday instructor is listed but the classes are shortened to 45 mins with 15 mins gap between classes and smaller capacity. They are also booking for lane swimming throughout the day which suggests controlling numbers that way, not sure how well that will be policed...
can't book yet though as I get my membership through work and they cancelled membership, waiting for them to be restored from next month.
Not in a huge rush though as I'm working my way through game changer and sticking with it so far, 3 weeks in!

@scullie that’s sad. I assumed gyms reopening would mean some rl classes but I don’t know what the gym guidance is like. I imagine lots of huffing and puffing in an enclosed space is a relatively high risk activity. My old gym they crammed us all in for classes which I used to hate as there was never enough space to do the burpees in the BodyAttack so I never did them for fear of knocking someone else over and injuring myself.

@gingerscot I wish more instructors would correct form. I thought going to a gym would mean the instructor would make sure people didn’t injure themselves but the amount of times I can see people doing totally wrong form and the instructor doesn’t correct or comment on it. I want to know how I can do better form to prevent injury.

@hatesomethinchangesomethin I’m definitely of the opinion anything is better than nothing. Pump really toned me when I did it. I started off doing the beach body pump dvds (I think this is before lmod existed) and their workout program I think was 3 pumps a week. Obv less would still have a good impact. Can you cycle? That might be a good cardio option. My physio would always encourage me with various injuries to do cycling rather than running/jumpy workouts.

I did the trip yesterday. First time I’d done it. I’ve done RPM (not for months though) and been for cycle rides (which were a piece of cake compared to this!). I put my bike in the garden with a turbo and did it outside and was great to get the fresh air whilst doing it but it was so hard going and made me realise how easy I’ve been on myself with workouts recently.

Oooh thank you @gingerscot

I've just heard from my Les Mills real life instructor that Pure Gym (which is where I used to train and do body pump twice a week) have cancelled the contracts of all their external LM qualified instructors.

I mean I am enjoying LMOD but was hoping to mix it with some real life classes as well now things are starting to return to 'normal'.

I'm feeling pretty today about that.

@MsMartini the live streams are all saved in the Facebook page, search for the les Mills official live stream group and request to join. There’s a bodyattack one tomorrow at 5am but that’s a bit early for me!!

I got a barbell from Mirafit for about £70, was just lucky, I kept refreshing the page every morning and managed to grab one early into lockdown when it came into stock. I could do with some extra plates and dumbbells but I’m waiting til they’re a decent price again.

@hatesomethinchangesomethin you can definitely lose weight and tone up with pump, it’s a cardio workout. Make sure you challenge yourself with weights, you should be sweaty and out of breath, and watch the technique videos if you have knee issues because bad technique in squats or lunges will kill your knees. Done properly it should hurt your butt and thighs, not your knees. Give combat a go, but chose the low impact options, don’t jump. It’s very good if you’ve had a bad day or someone has upset you 😉 Or sh’bam. Do the same sh’bam release a few times to get the moves and then it’s a good workout too.

I was so lucky 17 years ago when I stared les Mills I had some fab instructors at a private gym who would think nothing of pausing at the end of a track to instruct on technique, or pull you aside to correct you if you needed. I don’t see that so much these days, but in all those years I’ve only ever had one injury, which was a torn rotator cuff and actually from yoga, not les Mills. Hurt for months though!

5 years ago I lost over 20kg doing mainly pump with combat and balance occasionally but not as regularly, and a lot of walking but did not change my diet, although I did up my protein intake with supplements. I've since lapsed a tad after having a baby and lockdown, and having a different digit at the start of my age so it's a little harder to maintain.
I can't do high impact either (or at least not prolonged), but combat and attack, and even grit for that matter, all have low impact options. Just do what you can and adapt where necessary.

Could you lose weight just doing pump? I can't do grit because of a dodgy af knee and I hate attack because of the jumping and said dodgy knee. I've not done combat yet but I love pump! Got a lot to lose.. but anything is better than nothing right?

Hello, great to have all these recommendations. Where are the live streams - I haven't clocked those?.

I mainly do CX and Combat which are a good contrast with the bodyweight/calisthenics training I do. I've done Pump (don't have a barbell tho) and Grit a few times.

I love it - really cheers me up to have such high quality classes in my living room whenever I want them!

I think that's part of the trouble with LMOD any any online gym classes for that matter, it's not a real world class so you kinda forget that in a normal class there you will find all shapes and abilities. Doing Barre on LMOD I feel like an elephant in a tutu compared to those on screen. I can't believe everyone who does that class in person would be graceful ballerinas.

Ha, I can join the non pointy toes club! After the initial shock I found sh’bam is actually a lot more athletic than graceful. I have the grace of the Disney hippo ballerinas.

For CX you can get the bands on amazon for £10-£12 or check out the LMOD video from Kylie showing you how to do it with tons of food/bottles of water etc if you’ve no dumbbells.

A lot of Cx can be done without bands, they just add extra resistance. Some of it can be replicated with light-medium dumbbells/weights.

@Reastie that made me properly laugh...I’m the least pointy toes girl going. Much more of a fling-myself-about-flailing-in-an-uncoordinated-fashion sort of person Which is, quite frankly, why I’ve not had the courage to try Sha’bam yet

Ok, I’m going to check out some combat and dancey stuff. I still don’t own resistance bands, so I guess the CX stuff is out of the question?

I did the BO Bass Remix last night. Fun for a change, but not as good as the regular releases - not sure I’ll do that again.

Right, off to do a scary hour of abs via zoom with some of my lovely gym friends. Working up towards a 5 minute plank...eek!

Filly I have had ongoing injuries for over 5 years now and I’m now quite used to just changing any moves in a workout that aggravate me to something that I can do but still challenges me. Means I can still do my fave workouts mostly but I do it a bit differently. I tried the lmod barre workouts a few times, and although they’re not for me, most of the moves you might find suitable for you. I’m not very delicate and I’m more of a jump about body attack girl than pointy toes type.

Thank you for the combat recommendations, will put those on my to do list.

Oh and @Reastie combat 64 is one of my all
time faves. Yesterday I did 77 and I’m not sure if it’s cos I was having a bad day but I burned more calories that usual, and heart rate was in the peak/cardio for the whole class.

@Fillybuster I know what you mean about pump being a great return, I only burn half the calories but I can SEE the results in a way that no other programme does.

If you’re short on time, try some of the 30min combat releases? Keep the jumping to the minimum and use power instead to max out the cardio? Or, pick a 55min release and skip through tracks that are too jump heavy? I do that if I only have 30/45mins because I want to keep the high intensity tracks in and skip more recovery style tracks which isn’t the case in the “official” 30/45min releases.

Laughing at the pick n mix, I would LOVE a whole Muay Thai release. Might die though!

@gingerscot & @jerometheturnipking your comments really resonated with me....I really want to branch out from Pump, as I used to do a whole range of classes at the gym, but I have so little free time I want to get maximum return on my workout! I love the idea of trying something new but worry that it won’t be fun or a proper workout, and then I’ll have wasted my limited time.
Back in the dawn of time (ie pre Covid) I was an avid Boxfit, pump, body conditioning, abs, core workout girl, with regular legs, bums, tums type sessions thrown in for good measure. I’ve got lousy knees, so can’t jump or kick (& definitely can’t jump kick!), a mat, barbell and hand weights, and a skipping rope. Suggestions / recommendations welcome please!!

Pick and mix would be good wouldn’t it!

So yesterday I gave Sh’bam 30 another go, and followed up with a CXWorks, and the back to Pump today - release 100. I wasn’t keen on the tricep track, but it was good hard work. Followed it up again with CXWorks. I’ll have break from the intense stuff tomorrow, maybe go for a run or do a balance because I’ve not done one in ages and my hamstrings are getting quite tight.

If you want to try Combat I really recommend 82, or if you want to try a remix, #01 Fight Club is really good 😊

Hi all, I feel disloyal as I’m on a beach body thread too but I’m interested in lmod recommendations as I’ve been doing lmod predominantly for the past few months and have signed up for a year. Atm I only manage 3 workouts a week with the dc home so I tend to do one run, I’ve just started doing a zoom class with an old fitness instructor and a lmod class. I love body attack and would do pump but it aggregates an injury. I love bodybalance and I’ve been trying out the barre workouts and done a bit of combat. Interested for people’s favourite releases to try out.

My dream would be if you could pick tracks from any lmod workout and mix then to your own custom workout. I would pay good money for that!

@jerometheturnipking yep, I burn about 400 calories in the 45mins sh’bams too. I was shocked when I saw that. Maybe not the first time, but usually by the second go at the same release. You really do have to go at it like no one is watching 😆. I do feel it’s a bit more athletic than “dance” in my head, which helps me get over how ridiculous I must look.

@sociallydistained the live stream video will still be available in the live stream FB page tomorrow if 9pm is too late for you. It’s not quite the same as doing it “live” with 80,000 other people, but still good!