Barlates: Total Body Cardio Barre

Total Body Cardio Barre contains 4 workouts created by Linda Woolridge: Total Body Barre Express (34 minutes), Total Body Mat Workout (40 minute), Total Body Cardio Sculpt (32 minutes), and Total Body Compound Moves (16 minutes).

Total Body Barre Express is 34:30 minutes long; 2:30 minute warm up (#1 below is the warm up) and 1:30 minute stretch. Equipment: light dumbbells (1-3 pounds), a chair and a mat. This is another very challenging burn out workout. This is a total body workout and, in less than 35 minutes, Linda burns out so many muscle groups. Though I do like a lot of Linda’s burn out workouts, this one isn’t one of my favorites. That doesn’t change the fact it is excellent and effective. For the upper body portion I had to have 3 weights available–3, 2 and 1 pound weights. There is some serious upper body burnout and I frequently had to drop to lighter dumbbells–but I used them all at some point. The barre portion really burned out my quads and calves. Your abs and glutes get nicely worked, too. Overall a great total body workout, but as I mentioned, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I do many of Linda’s other workouts. I really can’t explain why either.

1. Legs/heels are together–open and close toes (keeping heels together) while raising and lowering arms; changes to tapping toe out to side while sweeping arms out to side, alternate legs; changes to plie squat (heels together) while sweeping arms overhead and down to sides
2. Lower into wide plie squat and extend arms (holding DBs) straight in front of you, palms facing the ceiling and pulse straight arms up and down; turn arms so palms are facing each other and keep pulsing arms; changes to alternating hand position while pulsing (palms face ceiling the face each other)
3. Lower legs into a chair pose and raise arms straight out to side w/ pinkies facing ceiling and pulse; change hand position so thumbs face ceiling and continue pulsing; change to rotating hands between both positions
4. Place heels together and feet turned out, lower into a plie squat and hold, raise arms/DBs in front of you w/ palms facing the ceiling and elbows bent and straighten and bend elbows (Linda calls it “bend press”); with arms still held out in front of at approx ribcage level, elbows slightly bent, pulse arms up and down; keeping doing the pulse but move the arms out wide then back in front of you with each pulse; hold arms in front of you at shoulder level, palms still facing the ceiling, and alternate bending elbows and bringing DBs to shoulders
5. Knee on floor and hinge torso forward, bring arms/DBs straight behind you and pulse DBs upward; change hand position so palms face the ceiling and keep pulsing; keep pulsing w/ alternating between the two hand positions; changes to doing a tiny high end tricep kickback–more of a pulse at top of move
6. Pilates push up (start in knee plank, lower body halfway, raise up onto your toes and push up to full plank)
7. Lay on back, propped up on elbows and raise straight legs to ceiling–alternate bending knees into chest; turn knees out so heels are facing each other and continue alternating bending knees; changes to scissoring straight legs (knees facing ceiling again)
8. Sit up and make a diamond shape with legs (knees raised and open, toes together) and alternate lifting legs while twisting torso side to side, raising and lowering arms; changes to raising and lower both legs at the same time while raising and lowering arms (keep torso and arms facing forward)
9. Stand beside chair, holding on to chair back, heels together and toes turned out–plie squat, raise onto toes, straighten legs and lower heels
10. Open legs into wide plie squat and pulse; raise onto toes and continue to pulse; release chair, still on toes and raise arms overhead and hold
11. Bring heels together again and raise onto toes, lower into plie squat and pulse; hold in plie squat (heels raised) and tuck and release hips; changes to pushing knees out (still in plie squat w/ heels raised and together)
12. Face chair back, hands on chair’s back, and lower into a squat, hinging spine forward and pulse hips/glutes down towards floor; bring one leg straight behind you and raise and lower straight leg (glute raise); a releve (raising onto toe when you raise other leg); bend leg in attitude behind you and pulse (raised onto toe); lower standing leg so you are no longer on toe and bend and straighten raised leg (it is still bent in attitude behind you); changes to large straight leg circles; repeat on other leg

Total Body Cardio Sculpt is 32 minutes long; 4:30 minute warm up (active warm up with lots of plie moves) and 1:30 minute stretch. Equipment: a mat and light dumbbells (1-3 pounds). This was my favorite of the 4 workouts. It reminded me a lot of Linda’s Sweat Series workouts. This one isn’t as advanced as the Sweat Series workouts (though it is definitely an intense and excellent workout) but it gave me the same kind of workout. It is fast-paced–lots of cardio. I used 2 and 3 pound dumbbells and I also had to use a chair for balance purposes for #8. I did #8 with one dumbbell–so I worked one arm while the other arm held the chair for balance and when you work the other leg, I also worked the other arm. Worked great for me. For #1/2 below Linda was inconsistent. I’m sure she meant to repeat the same combo on the other side of the body but she didn’t–she changed the combo a bit but enough to make it work the body differently (in my opinion). I personally like #1 version better and, in the future, I will do that version when we do it on the other leg.

1. Side lunge, stand and lift lunging leg while also doing side lateral raise (holding DBs), side lunge, curtsy lunge; changes to side to side lunge, punching DBs down toward opposite toes
2. I’m sure Linda mean to repeat the lunge curtsy lunge combo on other leg but instead she has you do a slightly different combo on the other leg: side lunge, stand and lift lunging leg to side while also doing side lateral raise then go directly into curtsy lunge, stand while raising leg to side again while also doing side lateral raise; ends w/ more side to side lunge w/ punches toward toes
3. Switch kick lunges (Cathe does these!–lunge w/ hands on floor, jump switch feet, stand and kick one leg forward)
4. Start in runners lunge, raise up to crescent, return to runners lunge and kick one leg back into 3 leg dog, bring knee in to chest, kick back to 3 leg dog, bring knee to elbow outside of body, kick back to 3 leg dog, then bring knee under body to opposite elbow, kick back to 3 leg dog then return to runners lunge
5. In 3 leg dog, pulse leg at top; bend knee and continue pulsing toe to ceiling
6. Repeat #3 & 4 on other leg
7. Hinge at the waist and do fast side taps w/ one leg while doing fast bent arm flys; changes to tapping same foot behind you (fast) while pushing bent arms forward; taps change to knee raises; changes to tapping heel forward fast while still pushing DBs forward/up; changes to side knee pulls (arms now pulling to side); changes to forward knee raises while raising bent arms overheard; changes to alternating knee raises (same arms); repeat everything on other leg
8. Single leg deadlifts; remain bent over w/ arms/DBs held out straight to side and raise and lower leg behind you; hold leg up (balancing on one leg) and bring arms together in front of you, then back to sides; changes to kicking leg in and out behind you while doing tricep kickbacks; changes to back kick w/ tricep kickback + front kick punching DBs in front of you (alternate between these two kick moves); changes to pulsing straight leg up behind you while doing tricep kickbacks; changes to pulsing straight leg up in front of you while also pulsing DBs in front of you w/ palms to ceiling; repeat everything on other leg

Total Body Compound Moves is 16 minutes long; no warm up or stretch. No equipment needed. Workout is made up of intervals of 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of recovery. This was a surprisingly intense and comprehensive workout for being so short. I actually used in conjunction with Total Body Mat Workout (below) for a 56 minute total body workout. This served as a sort of warm up, raising my heart rate, since Total Body Mat, tho intense, doesn’t have a cardio factor like this one does. I really enjoyed this workout and it would work great in conjunction with any other workout as an add on to round out your workout time.

1. Straight arm plank, bring knee to same side elbow (outside of body) 2x, then lower to one elbow do 2 hip dips (same side)
2. 2 jacks, reverse lunge and pulse 2x (alternate sides for lunge)
3. Repeat #1 on other side of body
4. Gallop feet in and out 2x, squat thrust, jump feet up into wide squat (hands still on floor), jump feet back out into plank, jump feet in again to wide squat (when you jump feet in to squat, you are up on your toes)
5. Pulsing curtsy lunge while circling straight arms to side
6. Narrow side lunge, wider side lunge, back to narrow side lunge, curtsy lunge
7. Repeat 5 & 6 on other leg
8. 2 plank jacks, jump feet in to wide squat 2x (hands still on floor), 2 plank squats (pushing glutes back to heels then returning to plank)
9. Full boat pose, turn into straight arm side plank and do 2 hip dips (alternate sides on planks)
10. One push up + 4 wide mountain climbers (feet jump to outside of same side hands)
11. Start in quadruped (on all 4s but knees off floor, so on toes and hands) and kick one leg up to ceiling (3 leg down dog), step through with that foot and raise up into warrior 3
12. In crab position kick one leg to ceiling then out straight, repeat, then do 3 alternating kicks while still in crab (alternate legs for first kicks)
13. Repeat #11 on other leg
14. Start in child’s pose, come forward into knee plank, twist hip to one side and push hips back to child’s pose (20 seconds each side)

Total Body Mat Workout is 40 minutes long; 2 minute warm up and 2:30 minute stretch (warm up is straight arm press backs while kneeling). This was an excellent total body, body weight strength workout. It was tough! Especially the way she starts the workout–in quadruped. So you are working hard from the very first exercise. The pretzel series (#4) completely fried my outer thighs. I loved the low back segment (#6) and it also has some great core work. I am not a fan of a lot of core work, but in this workout it is varied and unique. In fact, I really liked the series of exercises Linda put together in this workout and how she has them sequenced. It works really well in conjunction with Total Body Compound Moves, another workout on this DVD (above) that is only 16 minutes long. I started with Total Body Compound Moves and ended with this workout for a 56 minute total body, body weight strength workout. They work really well together because Total Body Compound Moves gets your heart pumping and ready for Total Body Mat.

1. Bring knee into chest while in quadruped (on all 4s but on toes instead of knees) then extend leg straight behind you; lower to your knees and bring same knee to forehead under body then extend leg out straight behind you and while leg is raised lower into tricep push up; repeat on other side of body
2. Still on all 4s, do bird dog, extending arm and opposite leg then bringing elbow to knee underneath body; changes to awkward airplane (arm/leg extended in bird dog but then bring arm out to side of body while also bringing leg straight out to other side of body); repeat on other side of body
3. Start in quadruped and do sit outs (twist body around, bringing one leg underneath you and lowering hip almost to floor then return to quadruped; alternate sides); add arm sweeps to sit outs while pushing hips to ceiling
4. Come into pretzel (one leg bent in front of you and the other bent behind you, so your legs are in a sort of Z or pretzel) and raise and lower back leg; changes to pushing leg back behind you; changes to raising back leg, extending leg out to side, bending leg then lowering so knee taps mat; keep leg extended straight to side and pulse; repeat on other leg
5. In modified straight arm plank (bottom knee on floor, top leg straight) w/ top arm raised over heard, bring top knee to elbow while also lowering hips then extend leg and arm; changes to full straight arm plank and reach arm overhead then reach it underneath body while also elevating hips; repeat both moves on other side of body
6. Lay on stomach w/ arms extended in front of you, raise head/chest and pull arms back into goal pose then extend arms in front of you again; keep arms in goal post, chest raised, and raise and lower arms; bend knees, feet to ceiling w/ soles pressed together, raise and lower legs, pressing feet to ceiling; add extending/straightening legs after raising them, bend them again (pressing soles of feet together again) and lower legs; extend arms to sides of body, raise chest and raise and lower arms (like a bird flying; legs are flat on ground); changes to pulses; changes to raising one arm and opposite leg, alternate arm/leg raises; changes to fast swimmers; raise straight legs off floor and flutter legs/feet in and out
7. Lay on back and raise legs, press heels together w/ knees out to side, extended legs straight (keeping heels together) and bend knees out to side again; straighten both legs and lower one a few inches, circle the top leg; scissor legs; do the circles on the other leg
8. Still on back, knees are bent, feet on floor, raise one leg straight while also raising torso and reaching toward foot, alternate legs; add a twist to side at top of sit up
9. Sit up w/ legs straight out in front of you and arms straight overhead, turn torso to side and pulse; C curve spine, arms extended straight in front of you and do circles w/ torso (while remaining in C-sit)
10. In modified boat, w/ hands on floor behind you, twist hips side to side keeping legs together

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