Anyone doing Ballet Body or Iron Barre?

[hotncmom]

I don't see posts about either Ballet Body or Iron Barre by Leah Sarago lately, and I'm getting back into BB again, so I wanted to find peeps to chat with.

My project over the last couple of nights has been re-organizing all of my downloads to match the names on her site so I can see what I'm missing. I had everything numbered before - I think these were in the order they came out when she had a monthly subscription and the workouts were delivered weekly. I used to put together rotations based on the numbers because there were so many similar names it was hard to figure out which was which. I never did her full BBPS because the workouts were too long, so I always used it as a guide and did a modified, shorter version.

Next I'm going to separate the downloads into folders for upper body, lower body, and core. Right now my schedule is to do upper body one day, lower body the next, and then a total body workout on the 3rd day. This will make it easier to choose what to do.

Anyone still doing these? I'd love to hear about the Iron Barre membership site too, if you have access. I have a couple of the earliest IB workouts that were available for download.

[SandyT]

I also have my ballet body videos separated into upper body, lower body, and core. I do a ballet body day once a week. On that day I try and choose one upper body, one lower body, and one core. The closer I can get that to an hour the happier I am. I love her work outs. I feel like I get every muscle worked, but I don’t feel wiped out afterwards.

[Lannette]

ME! Well trying.

I did Leah’s first Periodization schedule years ago we it didn’t end well. I skipped out at the very end due to burnout and dread. Hindsight I think I didn’t follow it exactly. I added other WOs, didn’t do recovery weeks, etc.

FF to now and I decided to at least start her DVD rotation. So I’m in the fourth week of Total Body. I never thought I’d make it this far! There is dread but it’s due to the wo length and the fact that it starts with the 11 minutes of planking.
Today I could actually sense that I’ve gotten stronger so may there’s hope.

I really enjoy the LB and ABs sections.

So here are my questions:

How do you deal with doing the same workouts over and over and over? The next stage of the rotation uses three dvds but it’s the same for 4 weeks!

I’m pretty sure I would be fine to move up to the Signature Core & LB dvds but I’m not sure I’m ready - mentally or physically to double my planking time.

Any suggestions? Do I do what I can do with good form and grow into it? Would it be better to cobble together a 30 minute wo with 15 minutes of planking and 15 minutes of weights?

I feel as though this work is quite beneficial but the huge jump in time spent working one body area seems a bit insurmountable for my UB. (I do a lot of lifting and stretching of dead weight limbs in my massage practice and having worked both Friday and Saturday my arms were pretty dead today.)

[hotncmom]

Originally Posted by Lannette

ME! Well trying.

I did Leah’s first Periodization schedule years ago we it didn’t end well. I skipped out at the very end due to burnout and dread. Hindsight I think I didn’t follow it exactly. I added other WOs, didn’t do recovery weeks, etc.

FF to now and I decided to at least start her DVD rotation. So I’m in the fourth week of Total Body. I never thought I’d make it this far! There is dread but it’s due to the wo length and the fact that it starts with the 11 minutes of planking.
Today I could actually sense that I’ve gotten stronger so may there’s hope.

I really enjoy the LB and ABs sections.

So here are my questions:

How do you deal with doing the same workouts over and over and over? The next stage of the rotation uses three dvds but it’s the same for 4 weeks!

I’m pretty sure I would be fine to move up to the Signature Core & LB dvds but I’m not sure I’m ready - mentally or physically to double my planking time.

Any suggestions? Do I do what I can do with good form and grow into it? Would it be better to cobble together a 30 minute wo with 15 minutes of planking and 15 minutes of weights?

I feel as though this work is quite beneficial but the huge jump in time spent working one body area seems a bit insurmountable for my UB. (I do a lot of lifting and stretching of dead weight limbs in my massage practice and having worked both Friday and Saturday my arms were pretty dead today.)

I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be able to stick with only one DVD as long as you have! That's why I'm glad I have the downloads.

The Upper Body DVD plank section is really hard. You can sort of divide it up. I think there are 3 sections, and at the end of each section she does a quick child's pose. They aren't chaptered or anything, that's just a point where you could stop. I used to do the first plank section and then when I felt I could do more, I'd add the second, and then add on the third when ready. You could also alternate the 3. I would start out with one plank section and then FF to the weights. The weights section can also be split, and I usually just did the first.

To alleviate boredom from one instructor/method, I sprinkle some other stuff into a Ballet Body rotation. I'll usually do one upper body plank download and then do a section of light weights from one of Hamelin's workouts, and then add in some unweighted arms on top of that (TA or similar). For lower body, I'll do one of the BB downloads and then add-on a short floorwork segment by various instructors. Floorwork is one thing that Ballet Body doesn't have (side lying and supine), that I feel really balances out my lower body workout regimen.

I really had the best results back in 2010-2012 with this kind of rotation, and I'm not sure why I stopped. I like other kinds of workouts as well, but it's easier to have a couple of "wild card" days if you're doing BB 4 days/week.

[Lannette]

Originally Posted by hotncmom

I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be able to stick with only one DVD as long as you have! That's why I'm glad I have the downloads.

The Upper Body DVD plank section is really hard. You can sort of divide it up. I think there are 3 sections, and at the end of each section she does a quick child's pose. They aren't chaptered or anything, that's just a point where you could stop. I used to do the first plank section and then when I felt I could do more, I'd add the second, and then add on the third when ready. You could also alternate the 3. I would start out with one plank section and then FF to the weights. The weights section can also be split, and I usually just did the first.

To alleviate boredom from one instructor/method, I sprinkle some other stuff into a Ballet Body rotation. I'll usually do one upper body plank download and then do a section of light weights from one of Hamelin's workouts, and then add in some unweighted arms on top of that (TA or similar). For lower body, I'll do one of the BB downloads and then add-on a short floorwork segment by various instructors. Floorwork is one thing that Ballet Body doesn't have (side lying and supine), that I feel really balances out my lower body workout regimen.

I really had the best results back in 2010-2012 with this kind of rotation, and I'm not sure why I stopped. I like other kinds of workouts as well, but it's easier to have a couple of "wild card" days if you're doing BB 4 days/week.

Thank you so much for the great ideas! I couldn’t have stuck it out with only the Total Body DVD if I didn’t feel that there was benefit to doing it. Many of the hip movements feel like they’re cleaning out my hips from the inside out. I really enjoy the core work too and the final stretch.

I own the downloads for Periodization #1. I need to organize them the way you did. I was actually thinking that it would be great to add other things in with BB and started a list but want to concentrate on BB for a while longer - not for aesthetics as much as alignment balancing. I can feel differences between my right and left sides and over the last 3 weeks I’ve used the exercises to help even that out.

[Lannette]

Still not quite sure where I’m going from here but I finished my last Total Body wo yesterday! Yay! I put my review of the experience on my blog.

I might try to stick to the rotation as is and use T-Tapp SATI and maybe Cathe Beginner Step for cardio days. I think it might give me a feeling of more variety and I think the step won’t be any different than outdoor walks in our hilly area.

What has everyone else been doing?

[slockhart]

I recently signed up for the Iron Barre streaming workouts, but have to admit that I've only done one! I don't know why I subscribe to these things, because I lose interest so quickly. The workouts look good, but I think I will cancel, I just don't use them enough.

I do LOVE the free lower body iron barre workout on YouTube and do it often.

Stacey

[Lannette]

Originally Posted by slockhart

I recently signed up for the Iron Barre streaming workouts, but have to admit that I've only done one! I don't know why I subscribe to these things, because I lose interest so quickly. The workouts look good, but I think I will cancel, I just don't use them enough.

I do LOVE the free lower body iron barre workout on YouTube and do it often.

Stacey

Hi Stacey, have you considered downloading the Iron Barre wos so you an pull them out when you feel like it? I found one for download HERE.

[Pratima]

Originally Posted by Lannette

Hi Stacey, have you considered downloading the Iron Barre wos so you an pull them out when you feel like it? I found one for download HERE.

Is that the only downloadable one? The Youtube one looks good, I was hoping there were others.

[Lannette]

Originally Posted by Pratima

Is that the only downloadable one? The Youtube one looks good, I was hoping there were others.

It may be. I honestly didn’t look further. If I have a chance later I’ll look for more.