Element: Ballet Conditioning review - A great workout!

Element: Ballet Conditioning is a great and inexpensive alternative to Pure Barre classes.

Can you really learn Ballet as an adult, and what are the benefits of a ballet conditioning workout?

Firstly, I must say that it is quite unethical for me to ‘recommend’ and review something after only one use, but I tried this Ballet Conditioning workout for the first time at home last night and oh my! Get me some smelling salts!! I actually enjoyed doing it.

I can really ‘feel’ it today too. Home workouts, or workouts of any sort at all are not really my ‘thing’, but going through this DVD, I didn’t feel as though I was working out at any point. No stupid jumping about, or hard routines to keep up with. Ballet Conditioning workouts don’t actually make you feel like you are ‘working out’, and I didn’t even break a sweat.

You just stand there, with a chair, watching a lovely put together DVD and learn ballet conditioning moves – of course, you need to copy what the instructor is doing, but it is in no way hard to pick up.  Although you may reach a ‘breaking point’ her reassurances are great, namely “It doesn’t matter if your leg is an inch or a metre off the floor, the fact that you are trying is what matters – you will improve”.  What a breath of fresh air, it certainly beats hearing ripped gym instructions telling me “come on, 10 more reps, you can do it lazy, feel the burn”. No. Thank. You.

I want to do a proper review later to report my results and whether I kept it up. For now, I will leave you with the synopsis of the DVD, and a glowing review from a fellow ballet conditioning student.

Product Description

Ballet Dancers always have slender bodies that are both strong and lean with lovely proportion and gorgeous body lines. One of the greatest secrets to a dancer’s body is ballet conditioning which focuses on all muscle groups. In this unique program your muscles will work smoothly in unison to create a long streamlined silhouette with flat abs a lean lower body and beautifully defined curves.

Moving gracefully and fluidly through this series of ballet conditioning exercises you will strengthen and stretch your way to a dancers body. Elise Gulan has over 18 years in dance education including Ballet Pointe Tap and Jazz. She was a principal soloist for the Virginia Ballet Company where she danced for seven years appearing in productions such as Copelia Swan Lake and Nutcracker Suite. She brought her love of expression through movement to her new career as a certified personal trainer and instructor of Yoga Core Fusion® and Core Energy Flow®. Elise enjoys helping her students to find their inner strength and to energize their joy of life through physical and mental fitness.

A glowing review from another ‘student’, courtesy of Amazon.com

“D Rock”

5*****

“For someone that has tried just about every home workout genre out there. This DVD finally offers something that is refreshingly new to my living room! This workout is ideal for those who have danced for years and people that have never even tried on a pair of ballet slippers. The DVD is simple to pick up, and challanging to get through. The filming is elegant and the instruction is far from the cheesy power workout “motivation” that irritate me so much. After you’ve completed this workout, you feel like you’ve, not only toned up, but also learned a few things! For someone that has grown tired of the home workout video, this couldn’t have come at a better time”!

You can check out more reviews by clicking the image below, Element Ballet Conditioning is currently retailing for around $7.99 / £4.99, which is a bargain when you compare it to the cost of a gym membership!

Here is a great “Ballet Bible” I found written by a Ballerina, which helps to further your ballet conditioning technique. It is especially good if you would like to take your dancing further, and even greater if you live no where near a dance studio and want to ‘teach yourself’ at home, or can’t bear the thought of going to an adult dance class.

Let me know what you think if you try it out, or indeed, if you have tried this ballet conditioning dvd already.

If you do decide to try ballet conditioning as a workout, just try not to be too perfect!

I will be reviewing the New York City Ballet workout and exercise DVD in comparison to Element Ballet Conditioning soon.