Feeling like shit after body pump class 😔

[Meltinthemiddle]

I've been once or twice before but haven't been in ages so basically starting again. I was really nervous going, as never done weights before. Tonight was a different instructor, who was lovely but kept constantly correcting me in the class by calling my name out or coming over to me. At the end of the class she came over to show me a few lifts and to explain how to do it and what I was doing wrong. Even when showing me one to one I couldn't get my posture right, she was being nice but I did sense frustration. I think I was just overwhelmed and flustered by this point and wanted to go. I don't have the best co ordination and I'm alot heavier then I used to be. I just feel so embarrassed 😥

If you do
The Les mills on demand free trial there are instruction vids on the bodypump moves. X

The 1st BP class can be confusing and overwhelming but good on the instructor for trying to get your technique better. Keep going, once you get the hang of the moves you'll love it! Maybe try and get there early next time and ask for a dead lift refresher. Also good advice upthread to Google the moves and practice at home without the weights

From memory, the deadlifts in body pump are more straight leg (also known as Romanian deadlifts or RDL) so worth looking at that if you’re searching tutorials online.

One thing I was taught was to imagine you’re trying to close a door with your bum - so as your body bends forward, you’re trying to push your hips back. Once your hips stop going back, stop hinging further forward. Actually standing in front of an open door to do it while you get used to the movement definitely helps- as a check you’re doing it properly.

You might find that you can’t initially get the bar as far down your legs as other people, but that’s ok- you’ve got your own range of motion and you’ll find that it improves the more you do it.

Op please don't let this put you off. Everything you say - so relatable. I actually cried when I got home once, annoyance and frustration at myself!

I'm not perfect now but SO much better. Just takes practice. Please keep going and be pleased you have an instructor that is invested in you (but I also totally get that the focus on you and your form is so humiliating, no matter how kind it is, been there!!)

You can ask them not to publicly correct you ahead of the class.

I'd say that's a good class as i've seen far too many who just instruct from the front and don't go round correcting form or helping people who are struggling. Our gym used to ask that you'd done a lifting induction session with one of the gym staff before going to body pump. Could you book a PT session or two to get the form sorted?

She wants you to do it safely is all, go back it sounds like a better instructor

Deadlift with your tits pushed out, it'll keep your shoulders in the correct position, keep them back as you roll the bar down your legs. When you feel the pull on your hamstrings and feel like you need to drop your shoulders to go further you go back up.

Try with a very very low weight until you get the hang of it. I don't teach pump but other classes and you'd be surprised at the number of people who find this move difficult, you really aren't alone.

If you can remember all the moves that you found difficult pop into the gym and ask one of the instructors to give you a quick run through of how to do them properly.

Good luck, keep with it, even the most experienced gym goers would have struggled with certain moves in the beginning. Don't let this put you off. The instructor has a responsibility to make sure you didn't hurt yourself. She wasn't singling you out for any other reason but concern. X

In all honesty, I can't do most of these type of classes to save my life! It's all choreographed and when you don't go every week you never know what's coming next, when things change etc. I will happily lift weights in the gym but try asking me to do it for 3 minutes to the beat of music and I'm gone! I'd rather do heavier weight, lower rep than body pump and don't even put me in the same room as those classes that involve jumping around in time with everyone else as there's a very high risk that someone would get injured (probably not me!)

We're all different because I would love that. Having someone next to me showing me exactly what to do in my first class, 10th class, 100th class. I'm a slow learner! I'd feel like I was getting 1 to 1 and personal attention while the rest of the class just had to get on with it.

I agree that this is a good instructor. I despair when I see new people in classes doing the exercises incorrectly - there's a real risk of injury. Some of the exercises do need explaining and demonstrating a number of times.

Please don't feel disheartened. It's nothing to do with you or weight, it's just practice! Do go again & you'll find you'll be so much more comfortable with the move this time!

Try to reframe it as free personal training! She is a great teacher who doesn't want you to injure yourself.

Thank you everyone for making me feel better, I will try practicing in the mirror. I gave up on dance classes as can't seem to process all the fast instructions and then coordinate the moves with my body 🙈. Hopefully I will improve 🫰

What a great instructor! She cares about you doing the movements correctly and NOT getting injured. A lot of instructors won't do this. But she took time after class - she's a treasure. Keep going back.

When you start pump, it's best to keep to absolute minimum weights and rest when you need to.

But good form is important as the exercises otherwise won't hit the muscles they're supposed to target. And as you add weight, you risk injury.

I gave up on dance classes as can't seem to process all the fast instructions and then coordinate the moves with my body

I've had quite a bit of training in ballet and I CANNOT do Zumba Just can't get my hips doing the right things!

I think the deadlift is one of the hardest ones to explain as it feels so counterintuitive if you're not used to it.

I would second a PP's suggestion of using Les Mills on demand for a few sessions, partly because you get to see the exercises from different angles and can rewind it to get your form right, and partly because they have loads of different Bodypump releases on there, and often I'll find that one instructor will explain things slightly differently and I'll have that "aha" moment where it just clicks, kind of like how different maths teachers explain things differently according to how they see it.

I do agree that's it's tough in the beginning being singled out, but just remember that all of the people who are doing it have likely been singled out at some time in the past, and in a few weeks someone else will be the newbie and it will just feel like part of the process. Also, everyone gets to feel like the newbie again a few months later once they change to a new routine, so no-one's going to judge you for needing guidance in Bodypump as it's fast and overwhelming at first for everyone and we've all been there.

That sort of attention is great in PT, but I get that in a class, it’s a bit embarrassing.

I would look the moves up online, or maybe pay for one PT session to go through them?

I had a very similar experience in pilates last week. I'm really terrible at it but I really need it to help strengthen my core and improve my balance. I actually did cry in class. 😱
I'm afraid that I did bottle the class this week. I hate being the only one in the class who is too uncoordinated or too heavy to do an exercise. The humiliation is awful. I have booked a 1-1 session for next week with the same instructor. She is very kind and understanding. I know that the only way to improve is to keep going - but the shame that I feel is horrible.

It was the dead lift I struggling with, I think I was bending my knees and dropping the bar past them. I couldn't quite get the sticking my hips out or rolling the bar.

The deadlift in a pump class is what's known as a Romanian deadlift or a straight leg deadlift. It's worth looking on YOuTube for the explanation - but basically:
Start with the bar at arms length against your legs
Have a little bit of a bend in your knees,
Keep your back straight
Now "hinge" at the hip crease where your thighs join your torso
And simultaneously think of sticking your bottom out as if to touch the wall behind.
And then let the bar sort of roll down your thighs/calves

My instructor used to yell "Twerk, twerk" sometimes to get us to stick our butts out ...

The other thing this instructor used to coach was to keep the bar always close to your body, in deadlifts, and upright rows, and especially the one where you go from upright row to overhead press. You can control it more.

The problem with this when it comes to Bodypump is that the instructor has a duty of care to her clients, and the risk of injury with Bodypump is serious. The instructor can't knowingly watch someone lifting unsafely in a way that could lead to injury without intervening, as it would be negligent if she's noticed it.

And with Bodypump, you're doing that move repeatedly, so if someone is doing the lift wrong in the first few reps, that's potentially 5 or 6 minutes of lifting a weight quickly and repeatedly in an unsafe way. In the same way that repeated reps done right lead to body conditioning and muscle tone over the course of the track, doing the same reps unsafely can compound a potential injury too.

So while I might ask a teacher to not single me out if I'm getting my grapevines all wrong in aerobics, for example, I wouldn't want them to knowingly let me cause myself an injury by lifting unsafely in Bodypump. It's worth the embarrassment to protect your back, and the instructor really has no choice but to correct unsafe mistakes to form in Bodypump.

I don’t think body pump is great for beginners. I think you’d be better off getting to grips with the movements in the gym first - if you can afford 1 or 3 PT sessions first that would be ideal.

I understand OP, it's quite uncomfortable when you're singled out, even though she is doing her job and wants you to be safe - it makes you feel really self conscious.

I would say try to stick with the class if you can, or switch to a different instructor if you want. Don't give up if you want to get fitter, the first class is always intimidating. In a few weeks you will be flying.

I started Reformer Pilates a few months ago (with the scary looking torture machines) and I love it now, but it took a few sessions to get the hang of it, thankfully the instructors were lovely.

Although in saying that, at my class today we had a substitute as my usual instructor was on holiday and the new lady wasn't great at all - there was a guy at the class who looked uncomfortable (it's usually full of women) and it was his first. The instructor spent ages correcting him and focusing on him, poor guy was probably mortified. At one point she asked if his wife had sent him to the class! I felt like saying FFS leave him alone, he'll never want to come back now.

Needless to say I will be avoiding her classes from now on.

I understand OP, it's quite uncomfortable when you're singled out, even though she is doing her job and wants you to be safe - it makes you feel really self conscious.

It's interesting - different responses to this. I did quite intensive ballet training, and still take ballet classes regularly (although I cannot for the life of me do Zumba - I just can't get it!)

In ballet, getting corrections is a really really good thing. It means the teacher's watching & noticing you, and that you're worth correcting. The classes I come away from feeling not so good about myself are generally the classes where the teacher has not corrected me, and that makes me think I'm rubbish. Go figure!

I understand OP, it's quite uncomfortable when you're singled out, even though she is doing her job and wants you to be safe - it makes you feel really self conscious.

oopps this was in response to @Farmageddon 's post. Forgot to bold it

Body pump is a right faff to learn but totally worth it after a few months. Stick with it, you will find it easier soon.
I suspect your teacher didn't want to see you injured. It's the only class I've seen teachers really have to lay it on thick to make sure it's done safely and effectively.