Bill

Updated November 20, 2008

Many thanks to the Rockville launch crew for an awesome experience. Midtown was crazy on 10/15 with ~30 eager Combatters for the BC 37 launch!

Looking at the new releases, here are my first impressions:
BodyCombat 38
2 Nick Skitz songs and 2 Cascada songs will make this a great release. I look forward to seeing what they do with "The Best Damn Thing". The music selections seem to be like those of BC releases prior to 30.

BodyAttack 63
Knowing Me, Knowing You - Abba comes to BA! Well at least a cover of an Abba song.

I Hate Myself For Loving You is another great addition as an aerobic track.

WTF is up with the lyrics in tack 7?
3 6 9
The goose drank wine
The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line
The line broke
The monkey got choked
They all went to heaven in a little rowboat


BodyStep 74
I'm ecstatic to see Stamp Your Feet from Donna Summer!
Also Ring The Alarm and Work (Freemasons Club Mix).
This looks like an upbeat dancey release :-)

BodyPump 68
Much weaker musically than BP 67. Big Girls Don't Cry doesn't work as a squat track. On the plus side, a Cascada back track and a Vanessa Amorosi bicep track sound great :-) I admit I could go without hearing Listen To Your Heart again, even remade by Nick Skitz.

BodyJam 47
I don't recognize most of the music but I am curious to do the Samba De Janeiro section. The Freakin' Fakin' House segment looks very strong musically however.

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My name is Bill and I'm a Les Mills groupie (or so I've been told)

My first love is BodyAttack with BodyCombat a close second. I'm still quite fond of BodyStep, BodyJam, and BodyPump however.

Having weighed over 500 lbs, in January 1999 I started a journey to get fit. My first experience with Les Mills was taking BodyStep with Kate Manolakos in November 2005. I was hooked and realized that exercise could be fun. As my fitness improved I was able to listen to the music while executing the choreography and devloped the habit of singing along with my favorite lyrics. Being able to sing along during a final peak has been a significant motivation to keep getting fitter.

MY history with Les Mills:
BodyStep - started in November 2005 when BS 61 was current. Kate, Rae, and Tami taught almost every BS class back then. My favorite release is 56 although 51 is a close second. My favorite track is I Just Want To Be Happy from BS 60.

BodyAttack - started in August 2006 at the Alexandria Gold's Gym. I still remember seeing Kate and Rae shadowing out there. BA came to Van Ness on September 30, 2006 and Kate and Rae taught most BA classes until Nate's class started in 1/2007.

May favorite BA release currently is 46. Hard as hell as the most incredibly fun BodyAttack ever!

BodyCombat - First time was when BC 26 subbed for a freestyle kickboxing class. In summer of 2006 I started taking a BC class along with an "intro to BC" class with Christina Doukeris. My favorite release is BC 20 which I took with Mike Rowe, who helped me greatly with my BC technique.

I want to mention some of the great instructors I didn't have room to mention in my previous profile:

Rae Thomas - My second BodyStep instructor, she also taught most of the early BodyAttack classes I took (along with Kate M) She started out a bit shy and reserved but over time she became a star as her confidence, atheleticism, and sense of fun developed. I will never forget her commentary for Beware of the Dog from BS 69

Tami Devitis - A true BodyStep and RPM rockstar with boundless enthusiam and energy. She's even makes BodyFlow almost tolerable (I admit to disliking BodyFlow).

Christina Doukeris - The first instructor with whom I took BodyCombat regularly. She helped me get my technique from terrible to decent and taught me how to use and effectively train my core which improved my performance in all classes.

Anjali (Too many pseudonyms to list) -
A true master of fun and energy. Even when she must be tired from her heavy teaching schedule, she's full of fun and energy in all 4 formats she teaches. IMO she exceeds even the local trainers when it comes to making classes fun. Baby, I'm amazed by you!

Kristen Locatelli - A coworker of mine at BLS. I first took BA 55 with her at Van Ness and then encountered her again when I started taking classes at Rockville. She clearly tries to model Joella while retaining aspects of her personality that are distinctly hers.