www.womenshealthandfitness.com.au 71 Women’s Health & Fitness

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Inspired by Black Swan and hit dance show So You Think You Can Dance, Jess Harding digs her toes into Hollywood’s hottest new fitness trend

move with fluidity and power. Our goal is to help each person find their best dancer body, and with consistent practice the results are impressive.” Think lifted buttocks, taut tummy, leaner legs, toned arms and improved posture.

A play on proven principlesXtend Barre is the most recent of a number of hybrid Pilates workouts to make their mark on the fitness industry. But what makes the principles of Pilates so popular as a basis for fresh workouts? According to the Australian Pilates Method Association (APMA), the Pilates exercise system includes over

What is it?Xtend Barre is a fresh, fun and fast-paced 55-minute total body workout that fuses the principles of Pilates and ballet into an intense body conditioning class at the ballet barre.

Can I, should I?No experience required — or tutus! Forget sugar plum fairies and pirouettes and prepare for a pulsing cardio workout that uses the best bits of Pilates and ballet to target and tone different zones of your body as you seriously sweat it out.

WIFM? (What’s In It For Me?)“Xtend Barre is designed to

engage all the small muscles of your body instead of focusing on the big ones, using tiny and precise movements to challenge your core and create a lean strong body,” says Xtend Barre’s international director Rockell Williamson-Rudder, a Moulin Rouge dancer-turned-Pilates instructor.

Who’s there?Everyone! Not just for dancers or fitness fanatics, Xtend Barre is big with beginners and has its fair share of Hollywood’s A-Listers hooked. As ballet makes an uber-cool comeback, Xtend Barre has become one of the hottest exercise routines in the United States and having recently landed on our shores, is

spreading quickly.

Star powerMadonna, Denise Richards, Drew Barrymore, Kelly Osbourne, Anna Paquin and Ginnifer Goodwin...

Our verdict Ditch your doubts and find your way to a class. Pronto. The results are fantastic and the class is seriously a lot of fun. This is one workout that definitely deserves its hype.

Where to try itTry it at CorPilates in Melbourne or visit the Xtend Barre Australia website at www.xtendbarreaustralia.com.au to find a class near you.

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500 conditioning exercises that blend regulated breathing techniques and mental exercise into an integrated program designed to deliver holistic benefits. As exercise science is increasingly applied to the development of the method, that list of benefits seems to grow daily. In fact, one study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy found that Pilates was more effective than traditional care in decreasing chronic lower back pain and disability.

Putting the X-factor in Xtend“It’s the Pilates principles of concentration, control, centring, flow, breath and precision that are the basis of Xtend Barre, albeit in a vertical instead of horizontal position,“ says Rogers. Having dazzled its way into the limelight as an excellent low impact exercise option, an estimated 12 million people worldwide are happily scooping their belly buttons towards their spines and pushing the Pilates bandwagon to a stronger, leaner body. A recent study in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research found that women who swapped their usual routine for two 60 minute Pilates sessions a week noticed significant increases in abdominal endurance, upper body muscular endurance and hamstring flexibility.

The secret? If Pilates is practised with correct technique, it puts your muscles under constant tension over a large range of motion to create that enviable long, lean look. So now we finally know what Joseph Pilates figured out in the 1920s.

No tutus requiredSo if heading to the barre with your friends is about to take

on a whole new meaning, what is it about this workout that women love so much? It’s not a complicated formula — Xtend Barre is an intense, results-driven conditioning class that still manages to be a lot of fun. A space to let loose the inner ballerina we’ve all harboured since childhood doesn’t go astray either. By moving from standing to barre work to a floor mat, every muscle group is challenged. “In a 55-minute class, Xtend Barre sculpts and chisels every angle of the body, and it’s a perk that you have fun and feel graceful at the same time,” says Rogers. And if you end up with the lovely, long, lean dancer’s legs you’ve always deserved, well that’s just another bonus. Sounds good to me.

Ditch the gym, just danceSick of the gym? Just dance. Dance and dance-inspired classes like Xtend Barre, Zumba and Body Jam are popping up on every corner, with no end to the trend in sight. In fact, in a survey published by the American Council on Exercise, health and fitness specialists predict dance-based workouts will gain momentum as people search for ways to make exercise an enjoyable lifestyle choice, rather than a chore. Of course, other incentives for would-be exercisers are achieving a dancer’s body and the social nature of classes. What’s not to love about workouts that literally have you dancing away those unwanted kilos?

You’ve heard the phrase but do you really know what it means? Your core is actually a set of deep postural muscles that provide strength and support to your body. These are your pelvic floor, transverse abdominus (TVA), diaphragm and multifidus. Forget focusing on crunching the superficial muscles of the torso, the key to flat Pilates abs is activating this deep abdominal layer, often referred to as the powerhouse. Think of scooping your belly button towards your spine.

Benefits and results

Beat boredom; each class challenges you with a different set of basic dance moves and sculpting exercises

Improve posture, coordination and flexibility

Target trouble spots with a fun approach to toning your arms, stomach, hips, thighs and butt

Benefits and results

Target trouble spots with a fun

Visibly transform your body; sculpt and strengthen your muscles without bulking up

Improve posture,

stomach, hips, thighs and butt

Dramatically boost your core strength

Increase endurance

Fit tip: Core promise

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