Training Manual "Introducing Barre Fitness a brand new Ballet Barre workout combining Ballet

moves with Functional Fitness & Yoga.”

Group X Training

1st Edition Jan 2016 - 2nd edit August 2017

Introducing Barre Fitness 3 ...................................Benefits off Barre Training 4 ..................................Why do this class? 4 .................................................................Barre Classes 7 ........................................................Why the barre? 7 ......................................................................Barre Basics 11 ........................................................Basic Ballet terms & postures 11 .............................................Basic foot positions 13 .............................................................5 positions of the arms and legs 14 .........................................Base Moves 15 ..........................................................................Barre Body 21 .........................................................Body Conditioning 21 ..............................................................Barre Burn 26 .........................................................High intensity barre exercises 26 ...........................................Barre Bend 28 .........................................................Stretch & Yoga on the barre 28...............................................

Introducing Barre Fitness Barre Fitness has a core belief that you do not have to be a trained dancer to experience the many benefits of ballet. This programme aims to introduce all instructors to a unique fusion concept combining dance, fitness, Yoga & Pilates. You will leave this workshop competent in the following objectives:

Gain a clear understanding of the physiological and bio-mechanical benefits of ballet training.

Incorporate basic/intermediate/advanced ballet techniques into a studio based fitness class.

Combine different methodologies into one class to suit your style and skill set.

Structure a combined and progressive Barre Fusion class.

Assess, educate and motivate your clients.

Getting Started

In preparation for your course please read the workbook and practice some of the moves included in each section.

It is important to remember that the workbook is a guide to content and structure. The most important ingredient, the very thing that will make this class work, will get people talking and will ensure that they come back week after week is YOU.

Your input into this class will define it as your own and guarantee that it is a success. If you have any ideas on class content please bring them with you to your training day and we can make sure that they fit perfectly.

Chapter Number 1

Benefits off Barre Training Why do this class?

Besides sheer physical mastery, many benefits can be gained from the precise training methods of ballet. Ballet offers one of the most correct and holistic ways of training the body resulting in a heightened state of body awareness. The fitness industry over the past few years has favoured Functional Fitness Training and this compliments the more rigid structure of ballet as an exercise format.

Functional fitness exercises train your muscles to work together and prepare them for daily tasks by simulating common movements you might do at home, at work or in sports. While using various muscles in the upper and lower body at the same time, functional fitness exercises also emphasise core stability.

This marries perfectly with the thought process of ballet and post modern forms of contemporary dance and in fact it is personified when you see a dance walk across the room ; it is clear that they use the entire body in the process. This strong sense of body awareness is automatic in ballet training and the benefits are as follows:

1. Improved posture

2. More efficient breathing

3. Shaper alignment

4. Improved co-ordination / agility / reflexes

5. Greater muscular strength / endurance

6. Increased mobility / flexibility

7. Core strength and functional fitness

8. Joint stabilisation

9. More challenging and diverse workouts

10. Specificity of training

Having identified the benefits of ballet training we can now examine the various techniques that dancers are taught, then look at ways to adapt and integrate them into our Barre Fusion classes.

How A Dancer Moves For all dancers the spinal column and surrounding muscles of the trunk provide the forces necessary to produce and maintain postural alignment or “good posture” in all positions. The spine and the pelvis are the hub of good alignment and postural stability. With this in mind one of the first training techniques taught is postural awareness. A dancer understands that in order to turn, balance, jump and lift, they cannot breath and move efficiently if the posture is weak. A strong foundation is necessary for strong movement, and a dysfunctional torso may lead to dysfunctional movement. To heighten postural awareness we should focus on the following:

Postural Awareness

• Crown of the head lifts upwards, chin retracts slightly – automatically lengthening the back of the neck/spine and provides greater spinal mobility.

• Shoulders rotate backwards, retract and press down trying to release neck tension, lift the sternum, lift the diaphragm enabling better breathing.

• Arms are lifted away from the torso at the armpit, flexed slightly at the elbow, wrist and fingers fully extended.

• Ribcage lifts vertically, torso lengthens which facilitates deeper breathing.

• Abdominals are braced advocating both awareness and stability of the core in preparation for movement.

• External rotation of the femur in the pelvis – this is an aesthetic posture that defines dancers as it lengthens the line of the leg and enhances muscle definition.

• Active legs – the quadriceps are engaged and actively pulled up, feet are firmly grounded into the floor, all designed to lessen any load through the knee.

• Finally dancers are always encouraged to work with a visual image of external softness and internal control. The entire body is kept in a state of “readiness”.

In the first few weeks of your Barre fusion classes, focus each section on the back of the body. Work on shoulder retraction, hamstring and gluten strengthening and see how your classes improve. This is where barre work really comes into its no for specificity of training.

Preparing For Movement An intrinsic part of any dance movement is the preparation stage. A mental image of what we are about to perform no matter how big or small. At this point the mind sends clear messages to the body of where it needs to be in space and time. Even a simple walk across the floor makes full use of a dancers neuromuscular pathways. Detailed below are the main ways in which a dancers body prepares for movement.

Spinal flexion/extension/rotation/lateral flexion A dancer must visit all ranges of motion, making sure that each area of the spine works efficiently and to its potential. If certain ranges are blocked or tight of example the thoracic spine, this may lead to over use of the more flexible areas such as lumbar.

Lever Extension As levers lift away from the body, loading is initiated at the largest joint and transfers to the smaller ones example shoulder – elbow – wrist, hip – knee – ankle. It may appear that the lever is lifted in one movement, however an undulating force is in operation. Levers are never thoughtlessly thrown into position and focus is placed on using agonists and antagonists equally.

Surface Tension As a leg lifts, steps, side jumps or hops, dynamic tension is created by pressing the foot into constant contact with the floor. This tension helps to create more power in a take off, minimises skeletal stress during the landing phase and create extra resistance, enhancing strength.

Joint flexion/extension Hyper flexed and extended joints are associated with ballet, but even in these exaggerated positions, precise supportive skills are used. Global muscular strength is encouraged for example in a plié, a dancer is encouraged to activate with equal importance the muscles of the quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteals in order to minimise loading throughout the entire range of this large movement.

Mental Focus Like fitness 7 Yoga, dancing requires in times of difficulty, an automatic stillness of the mind in order to shift attention to the task at hand. Th IS physiological preparation is accompanied by a mental image to enhance movement execution.

Breathing A dancer is taught to inhale to support a move and exhale to release out of a movement. Breath control is crucial to good practice.

Chapter Number 2

Barre Classes Why the barre?

Dancers begin their sessions at the barre moving through a series of exercises designed to warm up and strengthen the body. The barre is used for balance, stability and support. By keeping a light grip on the barre you can focus on isolating specific muscle groups. The barre also works as aid to good alignment and great posture. The downside is that they restrict space, are not so portable and can be expensive.

What Are My Alternatives?

This workout has been designed using a ballet barre for support, your other options are:

• Chairs

• Wall

• Partner work

• Bars or poles

These will work to a greater or lesser degree and the workout can be supplemented by free standing work where the barre is not necessary

• 100% free standing classes are a viable option. We can line the class members as if they were using a barre or as a normal group. You will quickly see which exercises are not applicable without a barre but these are in the minority. As long as we keep the posture and aesthetic of ballet the class will be a huge success. Benefits of this class structure are that you can create sequences and combinations as you would in any other group exercise format.

Planning your Barre Fitness class

We are not all dancers and I am determined that this will not hold ANYONE back from teaching Barre Fitness. I have created 4 distinct sections from which you can select and create content. These themes have different styles, strengths and focuses in order for you to create a class to suit both you and your class participants.

This brand new "PreStyle" programme is the perfect choice for anyone wanting pre choreographed workouts or those who wish to create their own content.

Pick and mix your workout from:

Barre Basics - the fundamental Barre moves from Ballet, Fitness & Yoga

Barre Body - conditioning sequences for total body shaping

Barre Burn - intense, cardio moves and blasts

Barre Bend - flexibility exercises for the perfect stretch

Introducing the class concept

The Barre Fitness class can be introduced onto any studio timetable. when introducing this class I advise you run it on a 6 - 8 week basis with an optimum of 1 - 3 per week combined with other modes of exercise.

The following is an introduction template

Week Class content1 Introduce the importance of ballet posture and Barre Basic moves

creating simple routines. Include simple Barre Bend exercises

2-4 Bring in a series of Barre Body exercises to increase the intensity. You can focus on body parts each week

1 - 6 Introduce a high intensity section with moves from Barre Burn

7-8 elease your combined workout using content from each section

Music

Anyone who has studied ballet knows that there is nothing better than a 70 year old woman on a live piano to accompany Barre work, but I doubt we could hold our classes with such a beat. I advocate use of mygroupfit PPL free music. BPM 126 - 138

You can access this at http://www.mygroupfit.com

Warm up

This is the perfect time to regulate breathing and endorse the need for good posture. We need connectivity of the breath, mind and body.

Complete all exercises on both sides.

Barre Fitness Warm Up

Legs - a selection of Barre Basic exercises

Pelvis - anterior and posterior pelvic tilts, hip swings, circles and hip openers

Spine - flexion, extension, rotation, lateral flexion

Shoulders - rotations, retractions and stabilisation

Full body - port de bras or similar sequences to segway into the next section

Notes:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Number 3

Barre Basics Basic Ballet terms & postures

Turn out The process of “turn out” is specific to ballet and describes the standing position of the legs in preparation for most barre movements. It may look like the feet are turned out when in fact it is the femur that externally rotates in the hip socket and carries on down the leg through the tibia and the foot.

Why turn out? The first reason for turn out is the aesthetic appearance of the thigh and resulting affect on an upright posture. These things we can mimic in class and is the key reason why we should not spend time trying to increase the natural degree of turn out in our clients.

The second, is that it facilitates lifting your leg, especially to the side. The femur has more abduction ability when in external rotation. This is the reason that ballerinas can lift their legs (seemingly) up to their ear with ease - they have access to a lot of external rotation from their hips. The greater your ability to access your maximum turn-out, the higher you can lift your leg before bones stop you from going any further (compression).

Should you attempt to improve turnout? Firstly we all have a natural degree of turn out and this is what should be encouraged in class. If trying to improve turn out we need to do it intelligently and functionally.

What is intelligently improving your turn out? First lets take a look at the dangerous aspects of trying to improve, change or force turn out:

• Creating unnecessary torque at the knees by pushing too far into your knee turnout.

• Collapsing the arches of the foot.

• Tilting the pelvis forward and arching the back.

• Excessive stretching of the ligaments of the pelvis (iliofemoral ligament in particular).

Helping clients improve their turn-out comes with integrated exercises, that strategically stabilise, mobilise, strengthen, and increase the neural control of the whole body’s alignment. Many dancers have an imbalance between their quads and hamstrings, between their hip-flexors and their glutes, their abductors and adductors, and their external and internal hip rotators. The first of each pairing generally being over-active. By strategically strengthening the correct muscles, and releasing the over-active ones, proper alignment can be found. Then, the external rotators can be fully accessed, and strengthened. 

What is Functional turnout? Functional is the focus here. Functional turnout is defined as the amount of turn-out you can access without involving your knee and ankles. There are three necessary criteria for functional turnout:

 1) Keep the centre of the knee over the midline of the foot

2)  Keep equal weight over both feet

3)  Keep weight evenly distributed among the calcaneus, the first metatarsal head, and the fifth metatarsal head

“These qualitative criteria are intended to limit the magnitude of turnout to available hip external rotation and to prevent unwanted compensatory movements at other joints.”

By ensuring you use only the turnout you were naturally endowed with, you will be better aligned through your pelvis, you will be injured less frequently, and you will reduce tension in your upper body.

Turn out tips:

• Imagine your legs are spiralling outwards, starting at the hip socket and travelling down the legs

• Think of drawing the hamstrings towards one another

• Turn your feet out only enough to enable these actions at the thigh

• Align your knees over the centre of your feet

• Slight squeeze of the buttock muscles

• Keep ankles and hips lifted

Basic foot positions

First position

• Stand with heels together and feet parallel

• Lift the ball of the foot and turn out from the top of the legs to the feet

• Place the balls of the feet back down and distribute weight throughout the entire foot

• Arms are rounded – hands in front of the belly with elbows lifted

Second position

• Arms are lower than shoulders with a slight curve and elbows lifted

• Feet are spaced apart with a turn out similar to first position

Third position

This combines first and second position. One foot is crossed in front of the other with its heel touching the arch of the foot behind. The feet and legs once again replicate the turn out of first position

Fourth Position

A combination of second and fifth position

One leg is crossed in front of the other, the heel of the front foot crosses to nearly in-line with the toe of the back foot with a substantial space (bout 1 foot length) in between each foot.

Fifth Position

Arms lift above the head and are rounded at the elbow. The hands are opposite the forehead with elbows back

One foot is placed in front of the other with the heel of the front foot in line with the toe of the back foot. Full turn out is engaged from the hip.

5 positions of the arms and legs

Like Yoga & Pilates we want to engage muscles of the upper back and arms to achieve correct arm postures.

• Relax shoulders

• Keep elbows lifted

• Always keep your arms in your peripheral vision when both above your head or out to the side.. if you cannot see them they are most likely too far back and this can corrupt the line of your posture.

Base Moves

Plie

There are 2 types of plié - demi plié (half plié) which is a shallow bend of the knee and a grand plié (full plié) which is full ROM to depth with the feet still in contact with the floor or with heels raised high.

Demi plié – starts in first position. Knees bend as far as possible, keeping the heels on the ground – same in second position

Grand plié – start in first position, go through demi plié allowing the heels to rise as you achieve depth, return to stand

Repeat in second, third, fourth 7 fifth positions

Releve - lifts & rises

• lock the knees

• weight is distributed through the centre of the foot, more specifically the second toe

• Maintain correct posture without falling forward – relax the toes

Start in first position – rise to half pointe and then lower

Repeat in second, third, fourth & fifth positions

Tendu - stretches

Tendu stretches both the legs and the feet. Many ballet steps begin with this stretch – front / side / back

Focus on:

• Good posture

• Retaining turnout

• Supporting through the arms

• Keeping hips lifted

• Lengthen the working leg away from you rather than gripping and pulling up with the quads.

Start in first position, stretch one leg in front by pushing against the floor with foot fully pointed. Weight should be fully on the standing leg.

Reverse the movement using the inner thigh to pull the leg back to first position resting the body weight evenly between both legs and feet.

Front, side and back, adjusting the upper body to maintain good posture

Advance this to dégagé where the foot comes off the floor in all positions

Fondu – to melt

Create dynamic tension here.

This is basically a demi plié on one leg followed by a tendu.

There is coordination necessary to straighten both legs at the same time

Ronde jambe

This is a circular moment, to practice start in first position and then tendu to the front tracing a half circle all the way round to the back. Repeat in reverse

Retire – withdraw.

Start with both feet and arms in first position, list one foot up to the knee.

• First position with arms in second.

• Lift one leg to the knee.

• Extend raised leg out in front.

• Keep the knee lifted for as long as possible.

• Hold the leg in the fully extended position.

• Return through tendu to first position

This position will progress into the devellope – envelope. This requires more strength, lift the leg only as high as you can without compromising posture, turn out and arm lines.

Grand battement

Here we keep the support leg straight and then kick the other leg with height.

This can go to the front side and back at different speeds

Arabesque

The leg is raised to the back while the body tips forward. This position can be held for strength and endurance.

Port de bras

This is a beautiful arm sequence, that focuses on grace, posture and alignment. We include a full bend and upper back extension.

In Barre Fitness we use this sequence to open or close a class or to bring attention back to the theme of ballet in order to encourage the necessary mood and aesthetic.

Notes

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Number 5

Barre Body Body Conditioning

This is the perfect opportunity to focus on each area of the body for great shaping and conditioning.

Below are a series of exercises that can be progressed or regressed to suit your classes. Remember your Barre Fitness class can be 100% BODY.

Our intention here is to use the barre but not grip it. The barre will allow you to lean forward and achieve greater range kicking back.

Vary your ROM’s from:

• Full - example bring knee to forehead and forehead to knee - finish fully extended

• Half - hamstring curls

• Pulses - small presses

Use the barre to allow greater depth in both the squat and lunge positions.

Use all of our functional ranges including the transverse plane or courtesy version.

Floor work

Many of the exercise that we perform standing at the barre can be done lying down on the floor.

This is the perfect time to practice and remember the basic foot patterns

Advanced Abdominal focus on the floor

Advanced posture, balance and abdominal sequence

This section will most likely be the place where you can inject what you already know and do in your regular classes. The Barre Body focus will be the section that you can rely upon while learning the more specific styles of ballet and yoga.

Notes

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Number 5

Barre Burn High intensity barre exercises

This section is designed to get the heart rate rising.

The theme can be used after the warm up and barre body section when your classes are more advanced. Your Barre Fitness class can be 100% BURN.

Include:

‣ Maximum lift via jumps

‣ Maximum speed

‣ Maximum ROM

‣ Maximum holds

We can include H.I.I.T here in order to change the theme of your class - examples:

Tabata 20 second intervals for 8 rounds

50 second - 10 seconds

45 second - 15 seconds

40 seconds - 20 seconds

30 seconds - 30 seconds

Notes

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Number 6

Barre Bend Stretch & Yoga on the barre

We are going to hit every part of the body in both ballet and Yoga themes. These stretches can be used in the warm up, throughout each focus section and as a cool down. alternatively your Barre Fitness class can be 100% BEND.

Basic Barre Stretches

Side Barre Support

These can be super challenging due to the leg being lifted and rested on the barre. it is important that this position does not compromise posture and alignment.

Particularly appropriate for the more flexible

Facing the ballet barre

When facing the barre we have so much more support and can achieve much greater ranges of motion.

Yoga on the Barre

We have a collection of traditional yoga postures and stretches. Each series creates a simple sequence for you to teach straight away. These postures can be used , in the conditioning focus section and as a cool down. Alternatively your Barre Fitness class can be 100% YOGA.

Sequence 1

Sequence 2

Sequence 4

In this sequence we focus on both full depth and height making it an ideal inclusion in your barre body and barre burn sections

Sequence 5 - Advanced

For this sequence the barres must be fixed to the wall. make sure that your class have demonstrated that they are fully competent at these exercises on the floor before you raise the feet.

Balance postures and stretches

Moving forward

There is so much content here for you to construct a series of classes from basic to advanced. I look forward to seeing you on future Barre Fitness courses and look out for our DVD’s and downloads.

Massive thanks

To Alex Rees for sharing her content, her motivation and for being a constant source of inspiration. I hope we do you proud. To our models Liz Hopkins and Di Leek (general all round Goddess).

References

Relationship Between Hip External Rotation and Turnout Angle for the Five Classical

Ballet Positions

Coryleen B. Gilbert, MS, PT

Michael T. Gross, PhD, PT2

Kimberly B. Klug, BS, P T