Ballet Beautiful Ballet Workout DVD - Body Blast. Mary Helen Bowers Barre Dance Inspired Fitness DVD

I'd heard about Mary Helen Bowers helping Natalie Portman get in shape for Black Swan, and I saw an interview she did on tv and I thought she seemed intelligent and personable, which are all important things for a fitness instructor. She also seemed calm! I am so over the super hyper people in fitness videos that act like they are coked up or something. I am more of a meditative, yoga enthusiast so I prefer a calming workout. Unfortunately, a slow and calming workout isn't going to burn fat super fast... So there's Ballet Beautiful, which looks calm out the outside but is KILLER on the inside.Have you ever watched a swan? On the water it seems to glide along effortlessly, calmly, elegantly. Have you ever seen a swan's feet paddling under water? They are kicking furiously with all their might, but you can't see them because they are under the water, under the body of the swan. All we see is the beauty, but if we tried to do it ourselves we would realize that its extremely difficult.I like to watch a workout dvd before I try to do it, so I know what to expect. I'm terribly clumsy so I need to know how much of my furniture I need to move. When I first watched this DVD, especially the swan arms series, I thought I'd just wasted my money. It looked too easy! Mary Helen Bowers is so graceful that she makes each movement look effortless. When I actually did the exercises the next day I realized that I was sooo wrong! During each series you do a ton of reps of each movement to build stamina and to sculpt faster. After the first time I used it I was SO sore afterwards. I couldn't even complete some of the sets, and I am someone who works out 7 days a week. I definitely have some issues with stamina though so I am looking forward to being able to do more after I've mastered the exercises on this dvd. I love a challenge and a lot of the pilates and yoga dvds I've used are too easy.I do want to mention that an exercise beginner could definitely do this dvd. But if this is you, don't expect too much of yourself and push yourself too hard. Don't get discouraged if you can't complete the set. I have had this dvd for a while now and I find it difficult to complete sets, if I am able to complete them at all. I have been practicing yoga and pilates daily for 10 years now. Work within your comfort level and take breaks. You can see MHB taking breaks too and getting visibly tired! She's been doing ballet her whole life and she admits that this is HER go-to workout. So that's saying something about the efficacy and challenge right there. With exercise, you get back what you put in!The exercises themselves are very similar to pilates, but are ballet-like in movement. Its really enjoyable to watch and to do. After the first time I could definitely feel the work I did in muscles I don't normally use in my other workouts.One of my favorite things about the dvd was that it wasn't cheesy and MHB doesn't act like a cheerleader the whole time. The sets are clean and all the focus is on the exercise. There isn't a whole lot of ridiculous dancing around or yelling into the camera. There's no cheesy music either thank goodness. Its very calming and relaxing and all the focus is on the exercise. Its just what I was looking for and everything I'd hoped it would be. I love that you can turn off MHB's narration if you want to and just do the exercises while listening to classical music. So nice after a long day and all you want to do is work out and get inside your own head and not have to listen to other voices.

I love the Ballet Beautiful workouts! They are as tranquil as they are tough. I love the bright white set and the classical music background. I love that MHB speaks gently to motivate instead of getting bossy like "bootcamp" style instructors. Overall the Ballet Beautiful workouts are some of my smartest fitness purchases.You may have noted that there are two releases each for the two workouts (Ballet Beautiful Body Blasts and Ballet Beautiful Total Body Workout). I have both, and I would love to compare for you the differences between the Original releases (with the mostly white covers) and the newer mass market releases (with these covers trimmed with green or purple). The actual workouts are the same, but a few features are different.In the new version you suffer through not one but two copyright warnings/; one from Lionsgate and one from Ballet Beautiful. The new discs open with the Lionsgate warnings and then the Lionsgate intro (the one with the turning cogs that tends to remind me of previews a the theatre). No previews to suffer through first. Then it shifts and plays the full preliminary faze in from the original. So, it sadly takes a few extra seconds to actually get TO the workout.Menus LOOK different, and have two notable differences: programmability and sound options. Each menu is, in appearance, similar to it's case. The new ones show that ugly band of color (purple or green, depending on which) that's on the cover on the menu. The new menus are busy, unattractive, and inelegant. BUT, they are more functional! The new discs allow you to set up your workout similar to the 10 MS discs. If you choose "custom" you can select which of the segments you would like to do, in which order you want them, then play through. With the original discs you either "play all" or return to the menu after each segment. Sounds options are different. Each gives you a different option. The originals gives you the option to workout with or without music, but with either option you will be listening to MHB. The new ones offer the opposite option: you can turn MHB's voice off or on, but in either option you are listening to the music.The new option includes Lionsgate trailers on the disc menu (but you only have to watch if you click on that option, which, being an exercise nerd, I did).Also, there is a difference in cases. The originals had full plastic (not so environmentally friendly but far more protective) cases. The new ones have the cases that have become the norm: the ones with the cut outs in the plastic. Both are pressed discs.I was rather torn as to which set I prefer. I much prefer the cover art (both front and back) of the original, but the more functional menu on the new ones swayed me. I like being able to not go back to the main menu when I want to do only 2 or 3 segments. And, I felt I was more likely to use the "music only" option than the "voice only" option (in all honesty, I'm not likely to use either option).