Hey there! This week is absolutely flying by! Thanks so much for joining me for Barre Week 2015! So far we’ve figured out the Best Barre Studios and the Best At Home Barre Workouts. Today we are checking out Part II of the Best At Home Barre Workouts with The Best Barre DVDs.
Tracey Mallet’s Booty Barre Total Body is a no joke barre workout! I love her style and her motivation.
Quality of DVD– Very good. Well lit and clean space. The DVD can be broken up into segments. High quality.
Instructor-Very motivating. I liked her and was encouraged by her. Plus I love her Aussie accent! 
Choreography– Choreography was very balletic. Much more of a focus on ballet than on the Lotte Berk method, which a lot of barre classes are based upon. It kept moving. The warmup was kind of funky and made me laugh a little (there was a lot of booty shaking) but it reminded me of a warm up in traditional jazz dance classes. Arms were tough with 5 lbs because she kept it moving but she didn’t combine a lot of upper and lower body in the arm section so heart rate didn’t get too high. But heart rate was through the roof in the main section (legs and bottom). This was tough and I was huffing and puffing. Abs were kind of short in comparison and not as tough as some other programs. Stretch was great. Long and really worked the areas we had focused on.
Music– I liked the music. It was kind of clubby but not at all hokey like some DVDs. Not recognizable songs and not necessarily hugely motivating but not annoying. Good background music.
Burn Factor– Very high! 486 calories in 1 hour and 4 minutes. Heart rate made it up to 170 bpm.
Likely to Repeat– Definitely.
Comments– I liked this DVD a lot. The focus was a little different than other barre DVDs I have done. I felt sore almost immediately after it was over because you really work muscle groups that have been dormant unless you are doing this everyday. It inspired me to go back to ballet classes because I remembered how hard they are! Lots of plies and battements. Its really great it you have any dance background. If you don’t , you’ll still be able to follow so don’t worry. It is a tough tough workout.
Length of Class- 1h 4 minutes- a longer class
Calories Burned– 486
Just like Physique 57’s classes and online workouts, I’m a huge fan of their DVDs!
Quality of DVD– Professional. Physique very obviously has a professional crew and space for this DVD. There is nothing distracting about this DVD at all.
Instructor– Tanya Becker, co-founder of Physique, leads most of these classes. Not only is she incredibly motivating, she is hilarious. I’ve taken class with her in NYC and her personality is exactly the same as it is on camera. Tanya hams it up for the camera but honestly, it makes me giggle while I’m gritting my teeth during the thigh section. Shelly Knight, a Physique master trainer, is the other instructor on these DVDs and she too is very motivational.
Choreography– The choreography in these DVDs are just like the real NYC classes, which is probably why I love them so much! They are tough and will literally kick your a** even at home! The moves are based on the traditional Lotte Berk method and are a combination of dance, yoga, pilates and strength moves. Part of the reason I love the Physique choreo is the way they put the moves together-high reps, short rests and one move that evolves into another related but slightly different move. LOVE!
Music– The music in these DVDs are good. The soundtrack you get in class is better but because of licensing issues, most DVDs can’t play the same songs you hear on the radio. Even so, I like the music on these DVDs.
Suzanne Bowen really amps up your regular barre class with her dvds!
Quality of DVD– Professional high quality DVD. The studio is nice and bright.
Instructor– Suzanne is a lot of fun and her southern accent will motivate you along.
Choreography– Suzanne has some really excellent choreography. One of the things in BarreAmped that Suzanne does is change the accent of a movement so you might start off pulsing down and then change to pulsing up. By changing the accent, such a small change, you’ll focus on working different parts of the muscle for all over burn. BarreAmped is definitely based on traditional Lotte Berk method of barre classes but there is also a unique style all to its own.
Music– The music was not memorable for me at all. It neither struck me as very motivating nor annoying. It is so hard with DVDs and music because of copyright and royalty issues but it neither enhanced nor hindered here.
Burn Factor– Big. My muscles were shaking and quaking! BarreAmped’s tagline is Shake to Change and you really will with these DVDs. I love feeling my muscles getting stronger every time I do these workouts. The DVDs are not hugely cardio but they offer a good amount of burn.
Likely to Repeat– Definitely! Love these DVDs.
Comments– I love these DVDs because while I see a lot of influence from traditional barre, Suzanne has really created her own style with BarreAmped and the workouts are challenging but fun. Her DVDs are high quality and the arm sections are always so killer! She also always offers a great stretch section at the end that is 10 minutes long. I love that!
Length of Class– DVDs are broken into segments an each segment can be done separately or with other segments. The full class is 70 minutes.
DVDs–
Andrea Rogers leads Xtend Lean & Chiseled. A great workout!
Quality of DVD– Very good, high quality DVD
Instructors– Andrea Rogers is as friendly and motivating as they come!
Choreography– Choreography was excellent. The class was fast paced and kept moving. The choreo was very much influenced by traditional ballet exercises and there is actually an introductory portion to the DVD which goes over the various ballet positions used in this DVD (i.e. First position, Second position, Plie, etc). I really enjoyed the influence from ballet as a dancer myself. Sometimes I think the term “barre class” is a bit of a misnomer because most barre classes do not have a very strong ballet or dance influence, rather they are based on the Lotte Berk method and some of the positions required in those classes are actually counterintuitive for a ballet dancer (like not arching your back or not turning out your first position as much as possible). I enjoyed getting back to my roots in this DVD.
Music– The music was o.k. At the beginning I thought it was going to be really awful fitness DVD music. It got better but I didn’t really notice it that much. Music is not the overall motivating factor in this DVD, the choreo is and luckily it delivers.
Burn Factor– Extreme burn! This was C-A-R-D-I-O! While I am used to barre classes providing a cardio benefit, I usually find that my heart rate stays below 150 bpm and the cardio factor is for only a portion of the class (usually the beginning). This class offered cardio benefits throughout. My heart rate was regularly in the 160s and got up to high 170s. The reason this DVD provides such awesome cardio benefits is because it starts with a great five minute warm up that immediately gets your heart pumping. It then moves on to a non-stop arm section, which when combined with weights never lets your heart rate drop. The legs and bottom section are constantly moving and there is an advanced option to add jumps to this section (for you ballet dancers it was a basic echappe saute, a jump from first position to second position). The arms section was tough! There is no way I would have lasted with anything more than 3 lbs! Because of the influence from ballet, there were definitely sections that worked muscles I have not worked in awhile.
Likely to Repeat– Highly likely! I was sore almost immediately and the hour went by very quickly. Will likely include it in my routines going forward.
Comments– I loved the warm-up, arm and legs section. The bottom section was pretty good and the ab section was excellent but a little short. I also would have enjoyed a longer stretch. Overall this is a great workout and truly a dancer’s workout!
Length of Class– 58 minutes
Calories Burned– 506
Readers, what’s your favorite workout DVD? What do you look for in a DVD you will do again and again?
See also:
This post may contain affiliate links. My policy on affiliate links is located here.
Melanie @ Happy Being Healthy
October 9, 2015I really need to try Barre! I’m not much of a dancer, but I could “pretend” to be in the comfort (and privacy) of my own home! Ha ha.
FitBritt
October 15, 2015Definitely! Plus, the moves are based on ballet or dance moves but they really are more strength based so no dance experience required!
Nicole @ Foodie Loves Fitness
October 12, 2015I actually have that Andrea Rogers Xtend Barre DVD too! I like to do the arms segment at the beginning of my workouts when I’m not even doing barre sometimes just because it’s a nice arm burn. I used to do it with 5-lb weights, and bought 3-lb weights for it because it was too tough!! Something about the DVD kind of reminds me of 1980s exercise DVDs (it might be the big socks they’re all wearing! haha) but I definitely like the DVD overall too.
FitBritt
October 15, 2015I know the video seems old but it was filmed not that long ago. The weight section is definitely challenging!