XTEND BARRE: LEAN & CHISELED

I thought Xtend Barre: Lean and Chiseled was AWESOME. It felt like it was a ballet dancer's workout video. My Jillian Michaels video's do not shine a light to this one. It truly gave me a fantastic workout and it kept ballet and dance elements throughout the whole workout. The movements were not your typical workout moves,which was very refreshing. By the end of it, I was very glad I decided to start getting some conditioning because I learned that I am severely out of shape. At several points, I had to modify the exercises by stopping or just doing some demi-plies or tendu's to give myself a breather. I got a very thorough workout without any high impact movements. I need to be able to strengthen my ankles and feet for ballet class and this workout will certainly be helping.Ok, so I admit it, I was sweating by the end of the upper body workout..shhh.... So, I really did get what I was asking for in this workout!Here is a breakdown of the whole thing...The workout is a total of 55 minutes long. You can do the whole workout from beginning to end or you can choose which segments you want to do that day. I like that a lot. At this point, I need to break it up until I have gotten in better shape and can do it all from start to finish at once. Below is the order of the workout:Warm-Up (Great!)Upper Body (Seriously, this will make you sweat)Barre ( Very good, almost felt like a ballet class)Core (Not your average crunches)Cool-down (Just ok)The only cons I have for this workout is the music is a little cheesy rumba-zumba like. It truly would be better with some classical music but that is just my preference. I didn't really like the cool down either. It was too fast paced. I did some of their stretches and I ended up doing my own slow stretches for about 20 minutes to work in time on increasing my flexibility. They do some stretching at certain points during the barre section of the workout, which I liked. Trust me, you will need them at those points!In conclusion, if you are looking for a good workout to compliment your dance class or want just a ballet-esque workout Xtend Barre: Lean and Chiseled is a good one to do!

Hi all! I'm a 26 year old that took ballet for 18 years, quit for 6, and returned to it last August. In that one dance season, I lost 30lbs just from Ballet 2 hours a week! I even performed several numbers in the spring recital, and returned to pointe as well! It was great season and I really transformed my body.After the June recital, I learned that my studio would not be offering summer classes. I tried a few other studios and didn't like any of them much, so I decided to see what was on the market to use at home. I've got a barre in my house, so a barre class was my first choice when I realized formal ballet dvd's were pretty rare.I bought this today, and it was great. It is structured similarly to my standard ballet classes, but with much less actual ballet moves. The moves presented in the video will be challenging for absolute beginners, but this is how ballet class is too-- it's not easy at all! Even understanding the moves there were still things that made my legs and stomach burn. I struggle with my core strength after having one child, so this dvd was perfect for me. Ballet is all about core strength and balance, and this video sure delivers! I was dripping in sweat after the warmup.Even though it's not 100% ballet, it still made me sweat and made my legs tremble. I think this is a great video to use during my off time from class, even for the core moves alone! I do wonder how many non-dancers will hurt themselves doing this, ballet is strict about alignment, and standing weird during some of these moves can cause injury, particularly the arabesques. Focus on keeping your hips square and not raising the hip of the leg that's doing the movements.Ballet really is a crazy good workout. It combines cardio, strength, and balance. You will lose weight taking ballet or doing ballet style moves, I did, but it was a gradual thing. I went down 2 pant sizes, but my actual weight on the scale stayed the same after awhile. It's because you are building a lot of fat burning muscle when you do these moves.Give it a try!

I rate this 5 stars because it is exactly what i was hoping it would be. I love doing yoga and i wanted something a little more faster paced and targeted at conditioning my muscles and toning my body. This is a fantastic DVD and i highly recommend it if what you are after is a solid flowing pilates/xtend barre workout at home. I have to admit, i am in a sweat by the time the warm up session is done and my legs are like jelly after the barre work out. All you need is a chair and some space to be kicking your leg forwards and also lunging backwards. I also like how you can adjust the work out for either a beginner (...or for lazy days) or if you are a little more advanced (for days where you might be feeling progressive and enegertic), at the moment i have been doing the arms session without the weights (and my arms still get a good workout and feel sore in the days afterwards), but if you wanna amp it up she suggests using 1kg of 1.5kg weights (you can also just use full water bottles or cans of soup - the joys of saving money by working out at home!). Whilst i haven't been to an xtend barre class, because they all seem to be held in city/metro areas, after doing this DVD i would feel confident attending a class for the first time after practicing this work out at home.It's also good to see the trainers/models have somewhat strained smiles on their faces as well as wobbling every now throughout the routine. I have been doing this DVD once a week for the past month and am hoping to do it a couple of times a week now that i am not so sore in the days afterwards, and it has added something different to my usual routine of yoga and walking. I can't comment on results as it's too soon, but i can certainly feel certain parts of my body working in ways that i can't when doing yoga or when walking. I hope she releases another xtend barre DVD in the future!