Ballerinas are very graceful and it goes without saying they are slim and fit. Whilst a professional ballerina has a very strict schedule when it comes to classes and performances, ballet can be a way of improving one’s own fitness, helping to tone the muscles and give a good cardio workout.
Ballet Workout DVD Reviews
There are a few ballet-based workouts on the market and here are 4 that I’ve tried and found to be better than others.
New York City Ballet Workout
The dancers who perform the exercises are professional dancers. The instructions for the exercises are done as a voice-over by Peter Martins, Ballet Master for the New York City Ballet.
The exercises can be done by someone who has never done ballet although it may take a few runs through to fully get each exercise and then to work on the correct form. It’s ideal for anyone who does have ballet experience as they will instinctively know the correct form and being able to get the most out of the exercise.
My only criticism is the voice-over – sometimes it doesn’t seem to be in sync with the exercise being performed and sometimes it’s delayed so you really do have to watch what’s going on on the screen.
Overall it’s the most “ballet” ballet DVD I’ve seen. There is also a New York City Ballet Workout 2 which has similar exercises but with some variation. If you have both of them you can switch them about so as not to get bored with one set of exercises.
Ballet Body
This is one of my favourite workout DVDs. It’s not strictly ballet but a lot of the moves are based on ballet moves with some yoga thrown in.
I enjoy Jennifer Galardi as the instructor. Jennifer has made a few 0f the 10 Minute Solution Exercise DVDs. She’s cheerful but not annoying and encourages you to work harder. The warm-up is longer than a lot of warm-ups I’ve done (12 minutes approximately) and you already feel your legs working hard by the end of it. Some of the moves do require you to be fairly supple so you may have to work up to being able to do them fully.
There are 2 ladies doing the workout along with her and one of them does the easier version of the move so you can follow her if you are building up your fitness.
There’s a nice stretching section which includes more Yoga moves than ballet and it definitely helps to give you a good stretch.
Barre Break Thru
In this exercise DVD the moves are similarly ballet-based but not strictly ballet.
I find some of the moves have too many repetitions which make my muscles ache but of course, that’s just a matter of getting fitter and being able to do more.
As with the Ballet Body DVD, there are 2 other ladies exercising along with Jennifer, one doing an easier version of the exercise and one doing a more advanced version.
The first few times I put this DVD on I couldn’t get through the first main section but after improving my fitness a little I was able to. I think if one were to do this on a regular basis your fitness would improve dramatically.
Xtend Barre Ballet Workout
It’s created by Andrea Rodgers who has done one of the 10 Minute Solution Exercise DVDs. She’s very cheerful and you really feel encouraged to do more and keep going.
As with the Barre Break Thru I found some of the exercises have too many repetitions to the point where when I changed legs I almost couldn’t stand because my muscles in the working leg had been used so much! Another reason to keep doing it and improve fitness.
I have to admit that I haven’t yet made it through the complete DVD but I know that when I do my fitness level will have improved a great deal!
If you want to get fit in a fun way and you like ballet, I highly recommend you try these out ☺