cardio tip for ladies (and men)

[downbutnotout]

Hey gals- I've refound ballet as a great source for cardio and building muscle. These days ballerina's and modern dancers are very muscular. No more anorexia in general. Anyways the DVD I'm doing is HARD. Lots of holds, the teacher has great shoulders and massive quads, and it's a nice break from the monotony of machines. Maybe give it a try. Plus it helps with spine/core posture so when you walk on stage you look sleek and sexy!

[keetie]

thanks for sharing chicky, a girl who competes in IFBB here in OZ was a ballerina.. and WOW she has the most amazing legs

[downbutnotout]

Oct 6, 2010 7:30:37 GMT -5 keetie said:

thanks for sharing chicky, a girl who competes in IFBB here in OZ was a ballerina.. and WOW she has the most amazing legs

Oh girl it's INSANE what it does, you watch barre work and think, oh that's probably easy. I can only do 20 minutes of barre work at this point and had to stop numerous times to rest. When my sister was a pro modern dancer she got very muscular, esp her quads. They were like tree trunks! She was the one lifting all the smaller girls. Man, my quads were shaking plus you're keeping your arms up ALL the time so I added a one lb weight glove to get my shoulders a little work out and I could only do 5 minutes with the gloves on just holding poses really makes your arms burn! The instructors quads on the DVD are HUGE busting out of her leggings. She for sure could easily do figure.

[downbutnotout]

guys- don't judge ballet as "feminine". It is hard core work and if you've ever seen a male pro dancer you'd see how ripped he is. My Uncle Reed was with the NYC Ballet back in the 60's and in his pics MAN he is ripped and not at all "small". Try an intermediate NYC Ballet barre work DVD and then judge it!

[downbutnotout]

I don't know why more body builders and figure girls do super tough yoga, tough pilates, and tough barre ballet work. It stretches you out, meaning it stretches the fascia which means more muscle growth, it aligns your spine, which takes a beating from heavy deads and squats and helps prevent future injury. It's calorie burning but not catabolic, Do your regular cardio but incorporate one of these things into your routine. I've always done pilates on and off for over 12 years now, and the very first time I did it I "grew" an inch. I have scoliosis and the muscles supporting my spine just snapped to attention and for months I would hit my head on things cuz I wasn't used to being taller.