Booty Barre Ballet

Booty Barre Ballet it my favorite Booty Barre so far. Debbie did a good job with her breakdown, so I'll just list the reasons why I like this workout and compare it to Tracey's previous BB releases.

Erica does a good job at showing doable modifications (although there are a few exercises that could be modified and aren't).

Tracey offers tons of form pointers, no bikini, cellulite, or wobbly bits talk, just straightforward instruction.

The pettite allegro segments are so much more fun than the horizontal cardio in her first and second Booty Barre, and more effective cardio than the little bit in the Beginners and Beyond workout.

The variety is great, not too many repetitions of anything, you get that burn going, just not the excruciating I-can't-do-another-second-of-this kind of burn.

I love the floor work using the ball. Pretzel with a ball is fun!

There are no super deep plies and no booty shaking. The moves feel more controlled, like in the Beginners and Beyond workout.

The chapters are short but the workout was filmed as one long one, so it's not choppy.

There's a separate warm-up but I don't see a separate stretch. It is at the end of the floor work chapter.

The music is kind of meh and feels a bit loud at times, but it's tolerable.

I'm an intermediate exerciser that seems to be stuck in intermediate but is ok with it. I need versatile workouts that I can fit into whatever time I have in the morning or later in the day. This workout has short enough chapters that are pretty well rounded, so I feel like I've spent that half hour well if I do the warm-up, one segment, and the cool down.

I'm glad I bought this DVD!

I received this workout as a free preview. Chapters include (1) warm-up, (2) arms & legs, (3) standing abs & thighs, (4) glutes & legs, (5) floor abs & thighs, (6) stretch, and (7) play all. I know I'm getting the spelling wrong on some of these ballet terms, but you'll know what I mean, LOL! The 10-minute warm up included plies (wide squats), releves (lifting to toes) and tendus (stretching leg out to side.)

Arms & legs: Plie with single arm lift, rotate knees in and out (I did NOT like this), add arms. Variations of upright rows, leg lifts with opposite straight-arm tricep kickbacks. Floor work: tricep dips with option to substitute French press. Push-ups with alternating pigeon knees, then small ballet jumps (again, not my favorite move.)

Standing abs & thighs (Some of these moves were a little tricky!): Big leg circles on one side, front kicks (grand battlement) and pulses; side lift (round de jame); oblique crunches, plies, side leg lifts, rear attitude lifts, then do it all on the other side. She finished this section with a little jump move that reminded me of an Irish jig. I didn't jump, and neither did the modifier.

Glutes & legs: This section reminded me of P57 at times, and of the Bar Method at other times. She begins with pelvic tucks while standing on toes, then moves to split leg pulses and tilts. Next she leans on the barre and extends one leg behind, circling leg (round de jane) and placing it in attitude for extensions. Do it all on the other side. Place ball between thighs in plie position, squeeze ball with thighs. Place ball behind knee, push back (like a standing donkey kick) and pulse. Do it all on the other side.

Floor abs: Place ball in small of spine. Begin with pulse crunches, increase to full crunch, then add a knee. Sit with shins on the floor and ball between thighs, shift hips side to side. Sit and swing thigh forward and backward (like a pretzel swing). Lie in prone position and do leg lifts. Beat heels together, then get up for planks. Lay supine with legs in air in V position and criss-cross legs, then final stretch.

Parts of it were a little higher impact that I want from a ballet workout, but Tracey does offer some modifications. If you have Physique 57 or the Bar Method, you probably don't "need" this one. But if you don't already have 20 or 30 barre workouts (as I do!) this is a must.