Physique 57: Advanced Express

Here is a breakdown of the DVD:

o Warmup (3 min): Starts with a quick barre-style march followed by 10 pushups, 10 pushup pulses, forearm plank rolling side to side, tricep dips with leg lifts, and a quick stretch.

o Thighs (7.5 min): Various plie variations, adding the playground ball between the thighs at the end of the plie work. You use the ball between the thighs again for kneeling thigh dancing. The last part she has you put the ball between your thighs in a forearm plank and then bend and straighten the knees followed by 10 pushups. There is a quick stretch at the end of the segment.

o Glutes (11 min.): Standing glute work, using the ball in back of the knee, followed by a brief stretch and then repeated on the second side.

o Abs (5 min): This is mostly c-curve based, using the ball to add variety.

o Stretch (3 min): Brief back extension (cat/cow, cobra) before moving into seated stretches.

The first time I completed this DVD I thought it was kind of easy - so not really Advanced at all. The upper body work was very brief and I would probably add on some body weight work. The thigh and glute segments were pretty good, but the abs and stretch were a bit short again. The impression I had was that this DVD wasn't likely one I would use as a regular part of my rotation, but might be helpful when I'm pressed for time. I'm curious to see if my impression changes the next time I complete this DVD

General Description: This a faster paced barre workout based on the Lotte Berk Method. It starts with some leg raises in a brief warm-up. There is some very brief upper body work consisting of some push-ups and some tricep dips. All of the leg work was standing and used the ball to add intensity. For the thighs this was by placing the ball between the inner thighs, and for the glutes/hamstrings this was by holding it with the back of the upper and lower leg. Next was some C-curve based abdominal work.

Production Quality: I thought the set was nice and bright, and I loved the music on this one. This workout is chaptered. Tanya does include some brief form tips towards the end of the introduction on this dvd.

Overall Impressions: I enjoyed this workout and thought it was a short but intense. It felt well balanced for thighs and glutes. I didn't really find it advanced in comparison to P57: Express so much as different which made it more challenging.