iSculpt Ballet, Set 32

I tried the new iBallet today and it's quite the outer thigh burner. At one point Grace says: "Do you feel like your leg is going to fall off?" Why, yes, it does!

Here is a breakdown and some comments:

iBallet 32 - Barre None (57 minutes)

Warmup / Glutes & Inner thighs (17:41)

• Cat curl

• Downward dog / Crescent pose / Add static lunge - repeat on other side

• Knee dancing (leaning back and lifting up)

• Kneeling attitude press back, holding on to a barre - repeat to other side, then stretch

• Back dancing (small pelvic tucks) with heels close to glutes and ball between thighs: lift up / squeeze knees in / isometric hold

• Back dancing with feet apart, knees in, and ball between thighs: lift up / squeeze knees in / isometric hold

Outer thighs (19:49)

• Seated leg abduction (like a pretzel but with an extended leg) / Small circles in both directions

• Seated leg abduction with bent knee (like a pretzel but with the leg directly out to the side) / Small circles in both directions

• Side twist stretch

• Lie on side, bottom leg bent in front at 90º and top leg extended: (1) lift and lower, (2) circle in both directions, (3) create a “box”: move leg forward, up, back and down / reverse, (4) extend legs 45º and circle in both directions.

• Repeat everything on the other side.

Core (14:58)

• High isolations (C-shape isometric work) with arm variations - 3:30

• Mid isolations with small presses up - 3:00

• Isolations with legs in a scissor position - 3:00

• Low isolations - 1:00

• Oblique lifts (lying on side)

Stretch (4:41)

• Bow pose

• Child pose

• Single pigeon

• Hamstring stretch

I really enjoyed the first segment. It begins with a with a 6-minute yoga warmup and moves into a short kneeling series, then a long back dancing sequence. The kneeling stuff is not very intense and feels more like an extended warmup. The backdancing is quite solid, though; the feet position and the ball place the emphasis on the inner thighs and where they connect with the glutes.

The outer thigh segment is tough because you work one side for 10 minutes non-stop before moving to the other side. When you do the side lying abductions, Grace says to bend the knees 90degrees in front of you and then extend the top leg; I wasn't sure if she meant to extend it to the side or to the front (the clip is not available yet) so I extended it to the front because it makes the move tougher

The stretch segment is exactly the same file as the one from iBallet 30. At $10.99 a pop, you would think they would sell different workouts, no?

The music was ok, mostly stuff we already heard on previous iBallets. I noticed that many transitions were not smooth - change in beat, silence between songs, introductions with no clear beat - so that you sometimes have to stop and hold in the middle of an exercise to "catch the beat".

All in all, another good addition to the iBallet library . I think this would be a good one to rotate with Karen Voight's Total Body Pilates.