Body Attack.

Anyone who knows me relatively well will know that I am an exercise fanatic. If I don't do exercise I get grumpy. No really. I'm addicted. How can you possibly be addicted to exercise? It's called 'endorphins'. My most recent source of endorphins came this afternoon when I did my regular Body Attack class. This is a Les Mills class I do at Fitness First. According to Les Mills, "BODYATTACK™ is the sports-inspired cardio workout for building strength and stamina. This high-energy interval training class combines athletic aerobic movements with strength and stabilization exercises. Dynamic instructors and powerful music motivate everyone towards their fitness goals - from the weekend athlete to the hard-core competitor!"

The average calories burned in a Body Attack class is 700 - that allows for a pretty large hunk of chocolate cake afterwards.


The most recent Body Attack program has an awesome variety of music. This is the list of songs you'll sweat it out to:
1 Closer (Chris Crew)
2 Release Me (Agnes)
3 Gimme More (Mandy Brewer)
4 Rock It (Bhuvan Brothers)
5 Boom Boom Pow (Beat Factory)
6 Number 1 (Beat Bandits From Outer Space)
7 Put A Donk On It (Northern Accelerators)
8 Take Me To The Clouds Above (Global Nation)
9 Zombie (Andrew Spencer & The Vamprockers)
10 Wherever (Stafford Brothers vs. Hoxton Whores feat. Frank Stafford)
11 Goodbye (Jessica Friendly)
12 People Get Ready (Seal)

So I've painted the picture of what to expect in Body Attack, but I want to explore how exercise and endorphins work to create exercise fanatics, such as myself.

Endorphins are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in your vertebrates when you do strenuous exercise, get excited, experience pain, consume spicy good, and orgasm. Interestingly, endorphins resemble opiates (i.e. heroin) in the way they produce analgesia and well-being. Feeling sore? Endorphins are also natural pain-relievers. Oh, and if you're a bit of a language freak like me, and take interest in learning the origins of words (known as etymology FYI), you might like to learn that endorphin consists of two parts: "endo", being from the word "endogenous" - from the body - and "orphin" a short form of morphine - meaning "a morphine-like substance originating from within the body" (Goldstein & Lowery).

So I might not have a boyfriend at the moment, but it's good to know that I can receive that same endorphin release from strenuous exercise as can be achieved by other means. Body Attack is definitely my favourite way to spend an hour winding down after a busy day at work... If you're looking for a fun and high-energy way to exercise, I thoroughly recommend it.