Exercise DVD Review: Xtend Barre Ballet Workout DVD

The Difficulty: Moderate – Hard

The Equipment: A chair to lean on, yoga mat and some small weights (or canned food would work too I think, or filled water bottles)

The Instructor: Andrea Rogers. Really peppy and cheerful but not annoyingly so. She’s easy to follow and understand and the tutorial included on the DVD about different ballet terms is helpful too. No idea in the world how her hair stays perfectly styled throughout the whole thing.

The Warm Up: Fast paced and gets the heart rate up and shakes away those chilly winter mornings

The Work Out: Naturally, as it’s based on ballet, there are a lot of pliés and squats. It’s fun to do the curtsies and extensions with ballerina arms, things I wouldn't normally do at the gym. Leaning on the chair for support is also a great way to take the edge off the workout. There are also two extra demonstrators – one does a modified simpler version of the move and the other does a more challenging version of the exercise. The upper body section is quite challenging and you can really feel your triceps being shaped. I use 1kg weights for this segment and I feel that would be my limit. The only other ones I had were 3kg and Ash wasn’t able to complete the exercises with the heavier weights. The core segment is the hardest part. It was hard to keep up and I end up taking a lot of breaks. The whole workout overall is quite fast paced but it gets easier to follow along once you have done it a few times.

The Next Day: Prepare to be sore! Ash, who teaches 2 spin classes a week (along with many other classes), was shocked at how sore his bottom was the next day. Seriously. Although it might not seem like the sweatiest of workouts, it’s just different enough from your standard routine to make your body feel it.

The Verdict: This has become my favourite workout DVD to do in the winter time (I only have 2 right now). It’s easy as it requires little equipment and it warms me up enough to last a whole cold winter’s day at home. I can get it done in under an hour and I love that I can do it at home when I don’t want to venture the short walk to my gym. Saying that, I have done the workout in the heat of summer, it’s not fun and I never finish the whole 55 minutes.

The Details: You can buy it from JB HiFi and there are also a lot of Barre Classes popping up around Melbourne if you like that style of exercise. More information on Barre here.

The Disclaimer: The above are my opinions only. I am not a qualified instructor, so please consult your doctor before attempting any form of exercise.

PS: Huge thanks to Ash for stepping out of his comfort zone to do this with me!

Thanks so much for reading,

Jen