Y’all. Can I be real with you for a minute? I’ve totally been avoiding writing this Barre3 Ballet Boot Camp Workout review. For. Real. I know that I used to exercise for literally 2 hours every morning, P.K. (for those of you who don’t know, that’s Pre Kids).
Barre3 Ballet Boot Camp Workout Review
After Kids (A.K.), finding time to exercise was, well, hard. Even for “just” 10 minutes. Yes, yes, I know that there are amazing super moms out there (by my estimation) that find 30 minutes every single day. But Y’all, between Smalls’ issues, having a new baby, a move, and all the other things that happen when life throws you curve balls, it honestly wasn’t a priority.
Until recently, when I decided to start getting up at 5:00 a.m. Yes, you read that right. I get up at 5:00 in the morning. Part of the reason I started getting up at that ungodly hour is to have some quiet time to write in my journal and time to do my bible study…
And time to exercise before the kids wake up and want to do it with me (which is cute but not exactly fun sometimes). Which means that my excuses were fast wearing thin. I have so much time to exercise that I can actually do a full 30 to 60-minute workout. Every.Single.Day.
Now, some days I do attend a live barre class at The Barre Code, which I absolutely love, but during weeks like this week, that’s just not going to happen. Which is why I am so incredibly thankful that I have a library of workouts…some (which I’m embarrassed to admit), I haven’t reviewed.
Oops.
So I decided to try a Barre3 workout
Why Barre Workouts
Y’all. I have been doing barre workouts for a long, long time. They’re how I lost over 50 pounds before I got pregnant with Smalls. And I love them. Most of the time.
Barre has a reputation for creating long, lean muscles (even for someone short and stocky like myself), and in my experience, you can totally get those results, but you need to do them on a regular basis (5-7 days a week). As you get familiar with barre workouts, be ready to find muscles that you didn’t know existed.
I mean, you’re going to be sore in places that you forgot you had. Like your arches, your inner thighs, your armpits (true story), among other places. Most barre workouts last anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes, so you can kind fit them into most daily routines without too much struggle.
Barre focuses on isometric (small, almost imperceptible movements) to make your muscles
As part of a larger routine, they are a great way to tone up without spending a ton of money on heavyweights (most barre instructors encourage low weights and high reps), meaning you can get by with 1 to 5 pound weights
So. For me, barre workouts are a no-brainer.
Let’s dive in and take a look at Barre3 Ballet Boot Camp, shall we?
Barre3 Ballet Boot Camp Workout Review
The DVD was originally purchased as part of a challenge set, with the idea being that if you did the workouts for 25 days, you’d see big results, as the instructor Candace points out.
She actually highlights one of the background exercisers as having completed the challenge, which is pretty awesome. I also love that the women in this video are real people, not all long and lean like you’ll find in most barre workouts.
The workout is broken down into sections: warm-up, arms, legs, glutes, core, and stretching with a bonus abs section that you can tack on the end if you have extra time.
You’ll also need:
The Warm Up
The Warm Up section actually moves pretty fast for a barre warm-up, and had my legs on fire in the first few minutes.
Candace moves right into arms, and it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where the warm-up ends and the arms begin.
Arms
After you pick up your light weights (I used 1 pound weights because my arms were still sore from the barre class I did on Monday), you move straight into arms.
You’ll be working your triceps and shoulders for the majority of the arms workout, but you’ll also be working your legs as you hold lunges and “horse pose” during your tricep extensions, shoulder raises, and bicep curls.
I would have liked to see a bit more focus on chest and back, as well as biceps, but if you focus on form, your arms will be shaking by the time she says you have a final hold.
Legs
Once you’ve retired your arms, Candace doesn’t waste time moving on to legs, or primarily thighs. she starts with something that she calls “carousel horse”, which is really just lunges (at least, that’s what I would call them),
And then moves into parallel thigh work with a ball between your thighs. Those small motions up and down had me shaking. I was a little concerned that she did not really address neutral spine or a tucked seat, which is fairly standard in barre (and something I do automatically now).
Glutes
Once you finish off your thighs, you move straight into glutes. Which consists of arabesques that Candace artfully turns into a full body workout with the addition of more arm work.
Core
I really enjoyed the core work
The bonus core workout was very graceful and almost like doing horizontal plies. It’s definitely something that I’ll be doing again.
I enjoyed the use of the playground ball both as support and to increase the challenge of the core work.
Stretching
One of my favorite things about barre is the fact that you push the muscle past the point of comfort (which is why lots of barre instructors encourage you to “embrace the quake”). Then you stretch those same exhausted muscles.
I missed the deep stretching that I get in other barre workouts, so I did some of my own. The stretches including as part of the Barre3 Ballet Bootcamp are nice, just not thorough enough for my liking.
Final Thoughts
I thought that overall the workout was well executed and instructed. The movements were slow to start, and in some places sped up to challenge me, but they weren’t too fast.
I did miss the deep stretch, but that’s a personal preference. I also made sure to get some good leg stretches in before starting my day.
Overall, the Barre3 Ballet Bootcamp
