Since I began working with Beyond Balletone, I’ve become even more impressed with it. In my review, I had said this was a fantastic cardio workout. Three weeks later, I stand by my statement.
I’ve been working with this DVD regularly and to my amazement and delight, am seeing some benefits. My belly has started to go down (though a friend of mine keeps warning me it’ll go down in history and nothing else) and my upper arms are thinner. Legs as well. Balance has improved. Lovely.
Why I think this workout works is because the movements used are large rather than difficult. There’s sustained activity for a whole hour (unless you want to stop earlier) and although the variety of moves is limited, the expansiveness of these moves keeps the heart rate up. Gradually, I find I’ve been able to do more and more of the workout at one go and am now 45 minutes into it. In fact, all that’s left is an express version of the workout, and a cool down.
As I’ve progressed with this workout, I’ve figured out what is it one can do to extend the challenge – not that it’s a low challenge workout to begin with.
1. Get into good form so that more muscles are called into play. Although Sharon Fable tells you it doesn’t “have to be pretty”, I disagree. Eventually, it must because as you try to conform to the right look, you work harder .
2. Enlarge the moves to make sure you are getting the most out of it So, if you’re reaching forward, focus on reaching further and further without compromising form and balance. This will enhance the stretch and will elongate and tone the body more.
3. Focus on flow and balance so that you use the core fully, strengthening it some more. End each movement with a foot or leg lift rather than letting yourself settle on the floor with the toes. Increase the height of the foot or leg lifts significantly to up the balance challenge.
These few things will increase the shelf life of the exercise program.
I never judge a workout by the amount it makes me sweat. There’s so many parameters to a session of good exercise and the sweat factor can vary for many reasons, including how hot it happens to be in my very hot city that day.
But with this particular cardio ballet workout, led by Shanon Fable, I can’t help noticing because halfway through it I’m covered in sweat and my heart rate is up and all I can say is this is the first review I’ve written in a state of collapse on the floor. And I haven’t even gotten to the two bonus cardio workouts at the end of this workout yet! Not today, please not today!
Beyond Balletone is another one of the wonderful ballet based workouts I’ve discovered this past year. I have loved, loved, loved working out with the ones I’ve used. That would be Standing Pilates, Angles, Lines and Curves, and Elise Gulan’s Element Ballet Conditioning although I do have quite a few others. I’ve noticed that if I just stay regular with these and reduce the junk I eat, the effects begin to show. Unfortunately, I tend to get too many breaks in the exercise schedule (most of them my own doing) and once I’ve succeeded in cutting back on junk food, I go back to it. Ouch.
But back to Beyond Balletone, which is part of a series of videos, all of which I don’t have. They don’t need to be worked on together. Beyond Balletone works on balance, muscle conditioning, strength and endurance, and cardio. The amazing thing is that it looks dead easy – and turns out to be a killer! I think what makes it so solid a workout is that large movements are used. These are kept up without a break – not even between segments – and include participation from the whole body. It’s a beautifully conceptualized and innovative workout. Fantastic for the posture as well, as you have to reach tall with all your energy for every other move.
There are six segments on this DVD. The warm up starts with your feet and toes, and I really like that. I wish all dance and exercise videos did a little bit of that because I’ve personally suffered from ankle twists and minor (but annoying and disruptive) toe injuries from stepping nice and vigorously before the muscles are ready for it. So, here we begin with exercises that get you to explore balance on different parts of your feet –the ball, both inside and outside part of the foot, etc. A particularly nice exercise is when you pick up each toe and set it down separately in a rolling and flowing sequence.
The warm up goes on to plies and leg lifts, shoulders etc, but all of it is unusual; different from others I’ve seen.
Pretty soon, you find you’re ready for the first muscle conditioning pattern. This is a “fall – back to up – tap – tap” exercise where you reach and fall forward a little and then get back straight and lift the leg and tap down the pointed toes twice. The reaching and going back are large moves and toe taps require balance, which immediately means you use your core. Before you even realize, your heart rate is already way up. Large arm moves help to make that happen as well. For each segment, there’s a “Power” session where you do a portion of the movement pattern faster. Whew. It’s great stuff.
Those who have done full-fledged ballet before may not find it challenging – in fact, they’re sure not to – but for someone like me who’s only done ballet-based workouts, it’s enough work and I haven’t been able to tackle the whole one-hour workout at one go yet. In fact, I started small, with two segments, and then four. I’m yet to go for the cardio segments which are sure to make me collapse in a total heap. The whole one hour has got to be something.
The three parts that follow the fall – back – tap – tap pattern involve side lunges and reaches and passes. The moves are very skillfully arranged in patterns and it’s jus tone pattern for the whole segment. That means repetition, which is good because you’re not wasting time learning new moves and sequences. I’m not sure if it would annoy some people, but as I see it, no one works with just one workout, so when you’re bored just do something else the next day. Should I choose to a ballet workout every day of the week (not really necessary), I now know quite a few. You can also put on some nice music and make up your own sequences. I do that sometimes, to tango chill music.
The four patterns you work with teach a lot of coordination – no doubt about it. Come to think of it, it isn’t that the movements themselves are so unusual; it’s the way they’ve been put together and the seamless non-stop moves sustained for a whole hour.
The cardio segments involve large walks forward with turn out (more toning), large side reaches, lunges, leg lifts, and pivots. She doesn’t require you to maintain a “pretty” form, but if you try, the challenge increases as you hold proper form throughout. The addition of the walks and some chase moves give the extra cardio benefit, although as I said, the workout is already quite cardio effective. And I exercise often enough, to notice.
At the end, there’s an express workout “Allegro” that uses all the patterns with fewer repetitions but in one big sequence. Very thoughtful and really nice for those who want to do a shorter but more frequent workout. It’s actually meant to finish the main workout, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use it with the warm up as an express.
Two important things about this DVD. One, the music is used beautifully to keep the workout going. It isn’t just random music but fitted well to the workout.
The second point about this program is the absolutely fantastic instruction, cuing, pacing and preparation from Shanon. So many other DVDs, including dance instruction, could learn from how this one has been cued. Shanon will count out or use the music to keep you going through the moves, but in addition, she’ll prepare you for what’s coming. I use a little test to see how well the cuing has been done on a DVD. Just listen to the audio only and try to work with that. If you find you understand pretty well what’s wanted and you keep pace, the instructor has done an excellent job. Well, this one passes the test hands down.
For non dancers, I’d recommend going through the video several times and trying out the moves slowly before going in for the actual exercise session. There’s a lot of coordination involved in these moves and you can get nice and mixed up if you don’t try them out slowly first. I also recommend building up one or two segments at a time because it’s tougher than it looks and there’s never any point barging into a whole exercise program and then finding you’re just too tired to do it again for the next 3 days. So,, build up the stamina and the proper form and then keep it up for several months. That’s what I’m going to do!
One of the most elegant workouts in my collection, Angles, Lines and Curves is also one of my absolute favorites. Taught by Kari Anderson, who also has other videos similar to this one, it look me quite a while to learn. In fact, I’d say I haven’t quite finished.
Moving from standing to mat and back to standing, the exercises are based on Pilates, ballet and yoga principles and movements. The whole mix is dynamic and flowing and is meant to make you strong, flexible and balanced.[Read more →]
In this brilliant one-and-a-half-hour show, BBC host Robert Winston examines common sleep problems. To help him, there are six volunteers and various sleep experts and health professionals.
Although the show is Britain-focused, the advice and tips apply to anyone anywhere who has sleep problems. BBC has a bunch of documentaries about sleep and dreaming, but this one is unique because it’s designed to be a practical guide. Very well done and very watchable right through.
Over the show, they put volunteers through several tests, determining what kind of sleepers they are and what levels their executive skills (concentration, attention, reaction time etc) are. Everyone also goes through sleep profiling – including us viewers. The volunteers get customized advice and try and act on it by making changes to their environment, routine or pattern of sleeping. And finally everyone goes through the tests again to compare. Everyone showed improvement except for one person who was disqualified because he changed his situation halfway through by quitting his night job. [Read more →]
Well, another lovely DVD discovery! “Facial Workout: Because muscles don’t end at the neck” is a beautifully created video, filmed in a lovely place, with exercises demonstrated by two women with two women beautiful youthful girl-next-door faces.
This video sets out to give you a facelift. But it’s not like you just there and don’t do any work. The whole theory here is that we get lines on our faces because we don’t exercise our face muscles enough. Give those muscles a workout and you can prevent or at least lessen the lines, depending on how long you’ve had them and how deep they are.
The video starts with a short explanation of its basic premise. But before you can think of getting bored, we get into the exercises. These are divided into short segments for each part of the face – forehead, eyes, mouth, and neck. There are many exercises to each segment, except perhaps the neck which only has one, disappointingly.
All the exercises are taught in a single format. First, a girl demonstrates the exercise and invites you to hold the pose with her for two rounds of 5 seconds. You get a brief explanation of what we’re doing and why and see anatomical diagrams on the side, leaving no room for confusion on which muscles we’re working. You are guided by a clear voiceover. Next, you go through 10 repetitions of the exercise. And finally 10 faster repetitions. That’s the format followed throughout the teaching segment.
The exercises themselves are great and doing them just makes you feel better and more relaxed! Here’s an example or two of exercises for the yes — and there are quite a few of those. Put your fingers at the sides of your eyes and pull them towards the temples gently making them sort of oriental. Gently,, but firmly. Now try to close your eyes without closing the lids. That is, constrict the muscles. Hold for 5 seconds. And then do 10 quick 1-second repetitions. If you’re doing it right, you’ll feel a slight pull on each finger from the muscles. Become aware of which outer eye muscles are being exercised.
The exercises are taught in the first two thirds of this video. The last third involves a quicker run through of the exercises in a routine that you can use everyday. You could also make your own routine of course but I found it nice to be guided through them. I’ve put the video on to my ipod and am mow tending to do them when I lie down. Well, all except the neck slide, which i don’t feel confident is going to do much to take away the lines for me now.
I am an absolute, confirmed fan of Ellen Barrett’s now. Her Pick Your Spot – Pilates was so easy and smooth to work with and made a great introduction to Pilates. Now, I find her Bikini Ready Fast equally clear and straightforward to work with. It’s a 40-minute workout from Self Magazine’s fitness series and focuses on strength training and sculpting using light weights. It’s only after working with Ellen’s DVDs that I realize how important it is to have an instructor who tells it like it is without making a whole lot of noise. In other words, Ellen’s signal to noise ratio is rather good. An occasional “good job” is about all the cheerleading you’ll hear, and yet she keeps you motivated and going. Quite possibly it’s to do with the flowing pace and clarity of instructions. I worked on Bikini Ready Fast today for the first time. And loved it. In fact, I feel like having another go at it now, a few hours later, am thinking I’d better not push it. Obviously the Bikini Ready workout is set on the beach. How wonderful it must feel to work out there… but for those of us who can only but dream of that, we’ll have to remain contented with just looking. The workout starts with a good warm up. It uses lots of wide plies and reaches, which keeps it close to the moves you’ll actually be doing in the main workout. You pick up your weights straight after the warm up. Now, Ellen and her two companions keep to a restricted set of exercises. To add variety, challenge and to target more muscles, they introduce variations on the same exercises. That makes easy to learn the workout. I managed to do the workout straight through without watching it first — and that’s saying something. The exercises include lots of squats (with the weights), expansive arm moves, curls and reaches, plies. Nothing goes on long enough to become boring, though overall I can see that one will need to move up to something mroe challenging soon enough or perhaps add it to a collection of favorite workouts to do now and then. Have a look The beach girls then move on to a segment of the workout in which you do a few easy enjoyable jumps and one-leg squats. That’s minus weights, thankfully.And then you slow down and cool off. But before the end of the DVD, there’s a 10 minute bonus workout. This is a pilates section targeting the abs in particular. Ellen gives some solid and good advice on exercise and diet. She says to lose weight, you have to add cardio aerobics to this workout. Walking, cycling, aerobics, dancing.. anything that keeps your heart reate up and keeps you moving. Also, a sensible diet, which doesn’t mean giving up stuff so that you go about craving it but rather, eating what you want more carefully, now and then, in nice little quantities.
I miss my cat although it’s been thirty years since I lost her. After a recent discussion we were having on the yahoo group I found myself remembering how strangely my cat used to react to my singing. I used to sing Indian classical and used a “tanpura” which is a four-stringed instrument that gives you the base or drone to fix whatever octave you’re comfortable snging with. Well, my cat who was otherwise an independent, unrufflable, elegant creature, would considerably agiated when I sang. Much like my brother, who’d muffle his ears up with something or the other. Anyway, my cat would climb up on my knee and meow straight into my face. She was pleading with me to stop stop stop!
