Aussie Fit Pumping Iron

Pumping Iron is a guide to using weight machines and free weights. It is divided into the following sections: Legs, Chest, Shoulders, Back, Arms (including wrist exercises), and Abs. Each section finishes with a demonstration of stretches for the parts just worked, showing variations for comfort and flexibility level, and a suggested training schedule for beginners and intermediates.

The video is presented by fitness instructor John Novak. He demonstrates a couple of the exercises (such as chin ups), but most are demonstrated by two other members of the Aussie Fit team, Manny Katts and Lucy Lisbona.

In the introduction he tells you not to forget to warm up and to perform pre-exercise stretches, and then he shows the muscle groups covered in the tape. The exercises are demonstrated on machines. Free-weight (dumbbell and barbell) versions are also demonstrated for most of them. A lot of the exercises can be done on a typical home gym, and only a few require specialised machines which you probably only find in a gym, such as the adductor and abductor machines. You can also put together a routine without machines, so you don't have to own a home gym.

I thought the instruction was thorough, with one odd exception. They didn't really point out correct form on squats (knee placement and pushing through the heel), which makes a world of difference in their effectiveness, not to mention your knees!

The tape is intended for beginner to intermediate lifters, although there are a couple of more advanced exercises, such as chin ups and hanging knee lifts. They point out that these are advanced and should not be attempted by beginners, but have been included for the exerciser to try later when he/she has gained strength and requires more challenge.

This is not a follow-along workout, but an instructional tape to demonstrate form and technique, show you the muscles worked by particular exercises and help you to put together your own programme. (However, I think that if you wanted you could use it as you workout, by doing the first set with the tape and pausing while you do the second set or letting the tape play on if the next exercise isn't in your routine.)

Interspersed throughout the tape are several tips from an exercise physiologist. He discusses, for example, weight-lifting myths, and the benefits of using weights.

In my opinion, this is a useful reference tape. My husband has a home gym, which I never really dared to use before seeing this tape. Pumping Iron also contains exercises I've heard about, but haven't actually seen demonstrated before (e.g. Good Mornings, Preacher Curls), so now I can add these to my routine, too.