Boston Body Barre

I have done a handful of barre workouts and have had some hits and some misses. I'm putting Boston Body Barre in the "hit" category. The workout consists of 25 minutes of barre work, 5 minutes of cardio, 5 minutes of upper body sculpting, and 25 minutes of matwork - all times approximate.

The barre work was typical barre work (standing with a barre or chair, and lifting/working the legs and buns); the cardio work was holding a ball in front of your chest and lifting and lowering it while stepping side-to-side, then tapping front and back. It wasn't much, but it felt good.

The upper body work used a band, although she said you could use light weights (which I did.) It would have been nice to see a modifier using light weights ... and maybe another modifier using nothing at all (which she offered as another modification.) The upper body work was short and sweet, mostly chest flies with the band (I used 2-pound weights.)

The mat work had exercises for the abs, buns, and arms. Did I say abs? I meant LOTS and LOTS of abs!!! You sit in a C-curve position and pulse, pulse, pulse until you pass out (or very nearly!) Then you revive yourself, stretch your arms to the right corner and pulse some more, then stretch to the left corner and pulse some more! I was very happy when we moved on to the next section, which was the bridge position. There was more pulsing (naturally!) but at least it was for the buns, so my abs got a break. She followed this up with tricep dips and finally, stretching (rowing stretch, straddle stretch, mermaid stretch.)

The instructor was motivating and friendly. Now that I think about it, she reminds me *a little* of Angie Miller. I really liked the music on this workout as well, sort of a pop/hip-hop kind of background music to help keep the beat. All-in-all, an excellent toning workout and one that I look forward to doing again (except maybe for the ab work, LOL!)

Zayna leads this 56 minute fully chaptered workout in a nice ballet studio w/ 4 backgrounders. Optional equipment includes a playground ball, a barre or chair, and a band.

Matt: (20 min) Exercises include c curve, bridge variations, & crab tricep dips. Zayna makes good use of the ball to add variety & intensity. Also included is a 6 min stretch.

Barre: (24 min) Exercises include pelvic tuck, pliet varieties, chair pose w/ ball thigh squeezes, a standing donkey kick series, hip shifts & hip circles. I like the unique feel to this workout and the pace is right on.

There is also a 4 min cardio and a 4 min upper body segment included. Exercises include: step touch, toe tap, knee pulls, cross knee pulls with a hop, upper back band pulls and shoulder pinches.

I rate this workout a low intermediate. Zayna is very mellow & down to earth and the variety of music is nice (hip hop to mellow yoga type music). Great for barre fans and some new & unique variations added in to make this a nice addition to your workout library. I received this dvd to review.