I’ve been exercising for over 20 years and have tried pretty much every style of exercise on the market. I’ve done heavy weight programs, insanity style boot camps, step aerobics, circuit training, HIIT training, stationary bike etc etc and then I met barre! And let me tell you, I was skeptical that this would produce results given the intense style of training I was used to, but low and behold it did!! I’ve never been leaner, I’ve never had more lean limbs, I’ve never had less body fat than I do now – and that’s definitely due to the combination of cardio as well as barre workouts.
My first experience of Barre was the Fusion Fitness Dream Body Workout. I was completely taken aback by this. I couldn’t believe that a workout done barefoot with minimal equipment and hardly any cardio could be so tough! In fact, I couldn’t even do it the first time. I had to modify a lot of the exercises and was in excruciating pain for most of the workout! I of course jumped in the deep end because I later found out that Dream Body is one of the toughest workout programs on the planet! I was determined not to master this workout, so I did it every other day until my muscles started to get stronger and I was able to complete it without crumbling. I was pissed and I wanted more! So I started searching online for all the best barre style workout DVDs (I love working out in the comfort of my own home) and I soon built up a collection of 25 or so and started sifting through them. I got some great workouts and some not so great, but overall I liked the results I was starting to see.
So what exactly you may ask? It’s a ballet style workout that uses all your small muscle groups that are rarely touched with traditional strength training. When you look at a ballerina’s physique you can clearly see the definition in all those little muscles – and the best part about it is that they carry very little weight! Your body weight in itself is enough of a weight and if you start using it wisely you will start getting your muscles long and lean like never before. The best thing about barre is that it doesn’t have to be complicated. It really is accessible to anyone – dance experience or not. The moves are short and controlled, and a lot of barre workouts I’ve tried don’t have any cardio in them. The term barre actually refers to the ballet barre that is used for a lot of exercises, but you don’t even need one of those—just use a sturdy chair or counter top.
One reason why barre is so effective is because it uses a lot of iso-tension in the exercises. So, for example, if you do a leg lift you lift your leg as high as you can go and then you start pulsing from there. There’s no great range of motion, you’re literally moving an inch at a time, but the burn is incredible!
A typical barre workout consists of various stretches – arms, thighs, seat, floorwork and abs. You usually start with a light warm up of leg swings and graceful kicks. Arm work uses very light hand weights – 1-3 lbs. You wouldn’t think that such light weights would do anything, but it’s all about getting the most out of each move and doing lots of repetitions to really fatigue the muscles. You’ll do several exercises for each muscle group before moving on, that way you’re really burning each muscle and getting maximum results. Most barre workouts I’ve tried consist of standing arm work as well as push-ups and triceps dips on the floor.
Barre’s work is all lower body – you’ll be hitting your thighs and glutes hard! Sometimes additional equipment such as a resistance loop or playground ball is used to further increase the intensity. There’s a lot of work where you stand on your toes and perform any number of squats and lunges until your thighs quiver.
Form is one of the most important factors in a barre workout. You’ll only get the most out of each move if you use the right technique. That’s why it’s important to choose your barre instructors wisely. There are some who used to be professional dancers who really know their stuff, while others don’t give you enough cues. The difference between feeling and not doing an exercise is the correct position of your body. You are only deceiving yourself if you are not feeling it! Since everyone is different the angle of your arms and legs may be slightly different for the instructor, but that’s totally okay.
So, what are my favorite barre style workout DVDs? I love Leah Sarago’s Ballet Body Series. She has 130+ downloadable workouts on her website as well as 4 DVDs. Her workouts are really unique with a lot of exercises that you won’t find anywhere else. She has a professional dance background and it really shows in her impeccable form and excellent technique. Her workouts are fairly advanced, but she gives easy modifications so most fitness levels can try these workouts.
Some other great ones are Tracy Effinger’s Squeeze Workout, Extend Barre, Ballet Physique Signature Sculpt, Pop Physique Hardcore, Tracy Mallett’s Booty Barre, and Suzanne Bowen’s Tight, Tone, and Torch. But, my absolute favorite and toughest of them all are definitely the Fusion Fitness Dream Body Workouts. There are a total of 11 workouts in the Dream Body series and they are all equally amazing. There’s a lot more cardio in them than any other barre workout I’ve seen. The good thing about this is that you don’t need to do extra cardio to burn fat. But be warned, they are very tough. In fact, I’d say they’re probably the toughest workout on the DVD. Many people will scoff at this comment, but I dare them to try these workouts. I have done almost every extreme home fitness program on the market including Insanity, Asylum, P90X, Cathay STS, Movement Extreme, Tapout XT, Turbo Fire, Peak 10 etc etc etc and take the cake for the toughest and most amazing. Best result ever. But don’t take my word for it – try them for yourself. you will not regret it.
So in the end, if you’re looking to break some weight loss plateaus, if you’re looking to sculpt some long, lean muscles and shed some unwanted inches – a barre workout might be right for you. Why not try it – the most you’ll lose is the cost of a DVD and the most you’ll gain is a new style of workout that will give you the body of your dreams!
