Barre Fitness

This dvd contains three 20 minute workouts that can be played individually or you can select play all from the main menu. You will need a chair and a small ball/pillow and light weights. Jessica works out alone on a dock with a pool overlooking the water. Jessica works out barefoot.

Cardio Ballet: Exercises include side step knee raise, prance, gran pliet pulses, heel raises, arabesque, close stance plie hops, plie jacks, pliet pulse & hops with swan arms, chasse, plie pulse & side bend, core side reaches and an active stretch. Jessica adds fun ballet style arm movements to up the calorie burn.

Floor Barre: Exercises include core series lying over the ball, bridge series with the ball in knees, attitude helicopter leg series, cobra pulses, pushup pulses, ball squeezes, side planks with the ball in between feet, and an oblique series. Jessica does a great job of using the ball in different ways to enhance each exercise.

Barre Burn: Exercises include ham curls, passe & chest hug, tree pose & V pull down, pulsing close stance squats & upper back fly, tri hold & glute raises, kickback balancing stick, 1st position pulse & strong man curls, gran plie & criss-cross front raise, plank series off the chari w/ leg & core work, plank to pike with calf raises, standing side leg raises & pull downs, lunge & row, gran pliet & row and stretch. Perfect exercises for lighter weights.

I rate these lower intermediate routines. These are some super unique workouts that combine fun new exercises that will get the muscles burning and heart pumping. The exercises are easy to follow and Jessicas instruction is, as always, impeccable. These workouts really have something for everyone- graceful ballet, fun cardio, muscle burn, and fun unique exercises. I received this dvd to review.

I received this DVD as a preview copy. There are three 20-minute workouts: Cardio Ballet, Barre Burn, and Floor Burn. Jessica is alone in each of the workouts, which are all poolside with a dock/river view behind her. You can do any one of them, or "play all."

Part 1 - Cardio Ballet (20 minutes)

First off - WOW! I loved the music choices! The first thing I heard was a new, fresh version of "Angels We Have Heard On High" (took me a while to place it!) with "The Marriage of Figaro" and some other very pretty songs. The workout begins with plies and "ballet prances", then moves to quick alternating attitudes before returning to plies and corner steps with rear leg lifts. After some quick ballet jumps, repeat the plies and corner steps with rear leg lifts. Step-tap to transition to chasses, then front attitude kicks, plies, side-taps, and passes (this made me feel very graceful!) This section ended with plie jumps and standing stretches.

Part 2 - Barre Burn (20 minutes)

Jessica uses a chair for her barre work. The warm-up is a variety of plies and releves, then we grab our weights for beach ball arm moves with a right leg passé; chest flies with plie passé, then left leg passés. We face the chair and bend forward with a flat back, lift one leg and bend knee to begin pressing one foot up toward the ceiling, then turn the knee out for hydrant lifts. This is done on one side, then the other. Next up are kickbacks with rear leg lifts, plies with "Popeye" arm curls, and wide plies with forward arm raises. We return to the chair for a variation of planks, where we lift our leg and bring knee to nose. This is followed by push-up on the chair, then (still holding the chair) releves with a flat back. Return to standing, then lean into chair, lifting the arm up & bringing it down to the hip while lifting the leg (side crunch with side leg lift.) This is followed by one arm rows with lunges, then everything is repeated on the other side. We end with wide plie with upright rows and side steps.

Part 3 - Floor Barre (20 minutes)

This workout begins in a seated position. With a "playground" ball in small of your back and legs stretched out in front of you, lift & lower the arms, then the pump arms (I felt this in my abs!) Next we lay down on our backs - bringing the ball between our knees and lifting onto our toes, we pulse our buttocks up and down. With the ball still between our knees, we lift our shins in parallel and move our heels toward the outer walls (this was an interesting move). Then we move the ball to under our tailbone and first windmill the legs, then scissor the legs. Moving into a sitting position on our shins, and with the ball still between our knees, we lift and lower our hips (I've seen this dancey move in other barre workouts as well.) Side planks are next - with the ball between the ankles, we circle our top arm, then lift both legs together for side pikes. Then it's time for arm circles and stretches before doing everything on the other side.

After some forward stretches, we lay on our backs again for alternating leg lifts, bringing the ball to the leg as it lifts. There are other variations of leg lifts as well, then crunches and crunch variations. Stretches are next: The mermaid stretch is done with our hand on the ball; we roll the ball away from our torso as we stretch. I'd never done the mermaid stretch with a ball, and I felt the ball gave me a deeper stretch. Final stretches include upward facing dog, superman stretch, child's pose, and cat-cow. I really enjoyed the music in this workout; both modern and relaxing.