The desire to improve your posture, make your body fit and gain flexibility without grueling workouts is possible! Take a closer look at body ballet, where classical dance classes have turned into an interesting fitness option. Now there is a chance to get closer to the world of art and at the same time develop plasticity, gain harmony and grace. After all, body ballet is the best opportunity to exercise for those who lacked femininity in Zumba, HIIT or Tabata.
The lessons are adapted for lovers of dance fitness and are suitable for use in a complex of weight loss classes. What could be better for the soul and body than a whole hour of reasonable physical activity with elements of classical dance art, stretching, Pilates to pleasant music?
Exercise No. 4
Sitting on the floor, lean your body back a little and place your hands on the floor. Raise your legs, tighten your abs and start turning invisible pedals, alternately pulling your knees to your chest. When one knee is pulled towards the chest, the other leg straightens and lowers down, but does not touch the floor. The lower one leg goes and the closer the knee of the second leg is pulled to the chest, the greater the load.
Perform four sets of eight repetitions.
You can try a more difficult option - without relying on your hands.
What is body ballet?
Many girls, from early childhood, want to become ballet primas and perform on the big stage. Today, everyone has a chance to become at least one step closer to the mysterious world of art. Body ballet is based on a lightweight set of exercises combined with classical choreography, and complemented by yoga and Pilates. Features of the classes will help improve your posture and make your shape more feminine and fit.
Naturally, any trainer builds his training program in his own way, but standard training includes the following elements:
- warming up joints, gymnastics;
- work at the gymnastic barre;
- performing exercises without support;
- Pilates on the floor;
- stretching (stretching).
The proposed training system helps tighten the muscles of the body, improve physical fitness, and allow you to get rid of extra centimeters on the waist and hips.
Body ballet for beginners is also useful because correct positioning of the legs, eversion of the hips, graceful posture and hand position will help develop plastic skills and flexibility of the spine.
Techniques for performing training in body ballet
- You should pay special attention to the technique of performing exercises, monitor the position of the body and posture.
- If necessary, you need to reduce the speed of movements, paying more attention to technique.
- The peculiarity of the exercises is quality over quantity.
- The entire time you perform it, you should keep your torso in good shape: lower your shoulders, straight neck, chest forward, tuck your stomach, and tighten your buttocks.
- When performing exercises with the machine, you should not lean on it or lean heavily: only touch it lightly so as not to lose your balance.
- If body ballet for beginners involves practicing only with your body weight, then later you can use sports equipment: a rubber ball, light dumbbells, an elastic band or a fitball. These tricks will help you engage additional muscle groups and increase your training productivity.
Note! It is better that the music for body ballet be classical. This way you can tune in to the right mood, concentrate, in order to get the best results.
Is body ballet effective for combating excess weight?
Many people are interested in the question: is body ballet effective for weight loss? The answer is simple - yes, because, first of all, it tones the muscles, rids the body of flabbiness, and allows you to work out problem areas.
But to get rid of a large amount of fat deposits, exercises for beginners will not fully help, they will rather improve the quality of the body. In addition, the results depend directly on the quality of the training, since trainers present video lessons with their own vision of the program, so they may differ from one another in terms of effectiveness and fat burning.
It is important to understand that effective weight loss requires not only dance or sports, but also low-calorie nutrition.
Hand positions
Hand position in body ballet: the hand itself is tense, but the hand should be relaxed, like the index and thumb look like two parallel straight lines, and the other fingers are relaxed and naturally take their position.
First hand position : The hands should be rounded but create a smooth curve and the palms should be turned out and facing up.
Second position of the hands : the hands remain in the same position as in the first position, but are raised smoothly and are at the level of the stomach. The shoulders take a free position and drop slightly down.
Third hand position : The hands remaining in the second position are raised up. Do not forget that the ballet position of the hands is maintained at each stage.
Fourth hand position : One of the hands is in the second hand position and the other is in the third position. Those. the first hand is at stomach level, and the second takes a position above the head.
Fifth hand position : One of the hands maintains the third position, and the other hand straightens, taking a position at a distance from the body.
Sixth hand position : one hand is in the first position, and the other hand, from a straightened position slightly away from the body, moves smoothly down, taking the position of the first hand.
Seventh hand position : two hands should be spread in different directions from the body, while in a strictly straightened state, forming a semicircle, starting from the wrist to the elbow.
Now you are ready to perform all the body ballet exercises.
Exercise 2: “cat/cow” sitting
Sit on your knees, lower your hips to your heels. Keep your hands in front of you parallel to the floor. As you exhale, move them back, bring your shoulder blades together, and then as you inhale, return your arms forward and round your back. As you exhale, raise your arms up behind your head, while inhaling, return them forward and round your back.
A weight off your shoulders: 5 simple exercises for neck pain
Who is the body ballet program suitable for?
Body ballet is so beneficial for health that it is recommended for both adults and children. Moreover, this type of load is suitable even for dummies who are extremely far from dancing, sports or ballet steps. The trainings are held in a mode that is gentle on the ligaments, so they are certainly useful for those who avoid intense impact loads.
Contraindications can only be heart failure, severe varicose veins, and exacerbation of joint diseases.
A series of lessons from the Perm ballet school “Fouette”
View this post on Instagram
Publication from BALLET SCHOOL “FOUETTÉ” (FOUETTE) (@fouetteperm)
On the Instagram account of this ballet school you can find 9 full-fledged lessons for practicing at home. The videos are aimed at children from the middle age group or those who are already familiar with the basics of ballet art and are looking for high-quality educational videos.
All lessons in this series are located in the IgTV section and follow the same scenario. A ballerina performs exercises on a mat in the center of the hall to the accompaniment of a piano. There are no comments, and there is no teacher in the frame, so you will have to control the execution technique yourself. The flexibility and skill of the young ballerina in the videos confirms that these classes are not suitable for beginners.
Benefits of body ballet
Ballet exercises have a number of advantages over similar complexes.
- Exercises of this type work perfectly on all muscle groups on the legs, turning them into slender and graceful lady legs. They also do an excellent job of combating “ears” and the effect of riding breeches.
- Body ballet lessons are equally useful for developing the arms and the entire body. When performing exercises, you connect the muscles in your arms and corset muscles, thereby strengthening your stomach and improving the condition of your shoulders and arms.
- The muscles will not thicken, so you should not worry about “pumped” thighs, like those of athletes.
- Your posture will improve, your spine will straighten, your foot will develop, which will help you get rid of flat feet.
- You will develop stretching and elasticity of tissues, ligaments and joints. The effect on the opening of the hip joints is especially useful for the prevention of diseases of the genitourinary system.
- Systematic training will develop a sense of balance and coordination without support.
- Ballet low-impact loads do not have a traumatic or negative effect on joints and ligaments.
- The work of internal organs is stimulated, the circulatory system is activated, joints are developed and strengthened, and the body is rejuvenated.
Leg positions
First position of the legs : the legs should be straightened as a single unit strictly perpendicular to the floor, while the heels are brought together and the toes are spread apart. In this case, the location of the feet should be on the same line.
Second position : legs apart at a distance of the length of one foot, while the feet should be lined up on the same line, as if continuing one another. Due to this position, the inner part of the leg comes forward to the fore.
Third position : legs aligned and parallel to each other. The toes are turned to the sides, forming two parallel feet. The feet are slightly shifted to the sides so that the heel touches the center of the foot of the other leg.
Positions 4-5 : the position of the feet in this position should be parallel. The toes of the feet should point strictly to the left and to the right, respectively. These positions differ only in the distance between the legs, see the image.
What is Body Ballet and what is it eaten with?
Body ballet is a modernized, lighter version of ballet, including lessons based on stretching, choreography, yoga and aerobics. Unlike classical dance, this type of fitness does not require special preparation; you can start classes at different ages; there are no restrictions on gender or weight. The complex is based on ballet dance movements, which can be performed with or without the use of a choreographic machine, mirror.
It is necessary to distinguish between body ballet - this is a type of fitness, and ballet itself, which is a full-fledged choreography. The basis of Body Ballet is the main movements of ballerinas, adapted for performance in a fitness program. The emphasis is on the essence of the exercises, the quality of their execution, and not just on technique. The so-called barre complex (translated from English as “ballet barre”) helps not only stretch the muscles, but also strengthen them. The result is flexibility throughout the body, good posture and minus a few kilograms!
And body ballet appeared in fitness thanks to choreographer and sports trainer Leah Sarago (USA). In 2005, the fitness expert developed a course where she for the first time combined ballet steps with elements from Pilates and yoga. This idea for gaining a toned body was supported by the Russian ballerina Ilze Liepa, creating a mix of exemplary ballet and Pilates. There are fitness body ballet, based on a sports program, and dance body ballet. The goal of both directions is to improve physical condition and psychological well-being. Lessons are conducted under relaxing, pleasant music, which allows you to relieve stress, nervous tension and lift your spirits.
Indications for body ballet classes
Practicing body ballet at home and in the studio will appeal to those who:
- wants to get a slender feminine body without pumped muscles;
- dreams of increasing stretching, mobility and flexibility in the joints;
- wants to straighten his posture;
- wants to find high-quality, varied workouts to improve overall physical fitness;
- does not want or do not like high-intensity, shock loads.
