Bootcamp (BodyPump), a muscle toning exercise offered by the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center (SRAC) at San José State was incredibly sweaty and exhausting, but exhilarating.
BodyPump is a fast-paced workout that targets building muscle with barbells of any weight, according to an Everyone Active web page.
I was also captivated to learn that BodyPump has more history than I expected.
In 1968, the Les Mills family opened the Les Mills World of Fitness in Auckland, New Zealand, according to a Les Mills web page.
The gym began offering strength training classes, attracting many women who felt excluded from what was considered a masculine exercise, according to the same Les Mills web page.
Over time, BodyPump became a workout adopted by many because it excluded no one, according to the same web page.
Inclusion is a very important aspect for me because as a beginner, I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to do certain workouts on Monday during the hour-long class.
I was sweating just thinking about the class because all the exercise I do is walking to and from class and occasionally playing with my dog when he has zoomies.
I was surprised by the equipment we had to use because there were so many, including barbells of different weights, a step deck, a resistance band and a mat.
The class started with a five minute warm-up of weighted squats, lunges and biceps curls.
By the end of the warm-up, I was already panting and drenched in sweat.
Though I was getting ready for a big battle and expecting a hardcore teacher who would treat the students like soldiers, the instructor, Susan D’Angelo, pushed all of the students to try their hardest and made sure to provide modifiers for anyone who needed them.
It was also surprising that the class had about 10 students who were women of all ages.
All classes the SRAC offers are free to students and members, according to its web page.
The class targets different muscle groups, such as biceps, abdominal muscles and legs.
Students chose any weight they felt comfortable lifting and could change weights depending on what muscle group they were exercising.
D’Angelo also encouraged us to use lighter weights if we were beginners and helped us one-on-one if we were in a position that could hurt us.
When using dumbbells, the instructor said it was necessary to plant our feet firmly to the ground and slightly lean our upper body toward the floor while also keeping a straight back because a wrong position could lead to a back injury.
We first started with legs, and did three sets of weighted squats and lunges.
Next, we used our dumbbells to do a back workout.
Though the class was very tiring, it helped that the instructor taught us some breathing and stretching techniques for every targeted muscle group.
Something that also helped me complete the workout was the instructor’s constant encouragement, yelling “You go, ladies, you’re so strong!” about 30 times throughout the class.
When it came to abdominal muscles, we did pushups and weighted crutches.
With 20 minutes left of class, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t just me struggling because even the instructor seemed tired.
I felt elated after the class because even though my legs felt like jelly and my face was bright red with sweat dripping from my forehead, it felt empowering to move my body to its greatest extent and realize my strength.
It also felt nice to be with a group of women of all ages who are trying to stay fit and build their muscle strength.
By the end of the workout, we all clapped and through my panting I realized that BodyPump is for everyone – even beginners – only if you’re willing to test your strength.