Video Fitness

Body Bar: Innovative Stretch

Clare Dunphy

Body Bar Innovative Stretch is a 30 minute stretch workout led by Clare Dunphy that contains elements of Pilates and Hatha yoga poses. The set is the gold Body Bar set from the Master Your Body series. The music is soothing and goes well with the workout. Clare is joined by Lashaun Dale and an unidentified exerciser. I wish I knew her name because her form is impeccable.

They use the two foot long mini body bar, and you will need one though I think a wooden dowel or other balance tool would work fine. In only one move do they pick up the bar and use it to stretch, but even doing this move without the bar will work. I used a four foot long six pound bar and did just fine with that.

The workout begins with standing stretches and progresses to the floor. Once on the floor, a few of the yoga moves are advanced, but if you've done some yoga before you should be able to do them or modify to your own level. Clare could give more form pointers throughout this, but she does remind you from time to time to modify as needed, although she doesn't describe how and no modifications are shown.

There is a lot of balance work, and strong core muscles are required for a few of the floor moves, so I would not recommend this workout for a true beginner. I'm an intermediate/advanced exerciser and I struggled with a couple of the moves, although it was a very nice challenge for me.

Overall I would rate this a B-, only because it's not long enough, there are no modifications shown, and Clare doesn't describe the moves enough to help set them up.

Instructor comments: Clare Dunphy is pleasant enough, easy to listen to and has decent cueing. Her Pilates training is evident in this workout, though in a few spots she appears a bit lost or hesitant. She possibly could have been more rehearsed in some spots, but nothing that distracts from the overall flow of the workout.

Carol_is_fit
Carol_scorpio_47@yahoo.com
January 30, 2005



Video Fitness copyright © 1996 - 2024 Wendy Niemi Kremer    All rights reserved