Physique 57- Classic Workout
Equipment needed: chair or ballet barre, mat and/or a few towels, playground ball, light hand weights (I used 5 lbs)
Level: Advanced
Bottom line: Finally, a barre workout DVD that is comparable in difficulty to a live class! The instruction is slightly abrasive and cheesy, but it's still a great workout.
Most barre enthusiasts have heard of the legendary Physique 57 studio in New York City, through which thousands of women have passed, silently gritting their teeth against the pain of those grueling repetitions in the name of thinner thighs. I'm happy to report that among all the barre DVDs I've tried so far, this one is one of the few that actually brings the barre class to the home.
The class is structured like a typical live barre class, starting with a warm up, followed by segments for arms, thighs, glutes and core. The pacing is very fast with little or no down time between exercises, which is similar to a live class, but I also appreciated the pacing of and no-rest transitions between of the exercises, which was exactly right. There was a little less emphasis on stretching than I'm used to, but I added a few extra stretches between segments. This is definitely not a beginner's workout; only those who've had some experience with barre will know when it's appropriate to supplement the stretches.
I've read reviews complaining of the instructor's slightly abrasive teaching style, and I tend to agree that I would have enjoyed the workout more if it hadn't had so many comments about melting calories away, but I'm not too concerned- once I know the cues, I'll mute it anyway and put on my own music.
The downside of this workout for me was the proportion of the lengths of the different segments. I felt that the arm segment was too short, whereas the ab section was way too long. I'm of the general opinion that body fat, not ab exercises, is really what affects the look of the core, and all the other exercises (pretzel in particular) work the core as well. I really don't like wasting a good 15-20 minutes of a workout on ab work.
My other gripe is that the arm segment was way easy for me- I felt the burn slightly with my 5 lb weights, but next time I'll have to up the weights, and sets of 15 pushups? Please, I did them all on my toes and could have doubled them. This in general goes for barre workouts. I don't understand why so many of them skimp on the arm workout. Intense upper body work has been the key for me for going from "fit" to "ripped."
Overall: This is the closest you'll get to a live barre class at home, but it's definitely for those with experience with barre. Extra upper body work is recommended, but the lower body and core work in the workout will bring you to your knees!