Barlates: Standing Barre Abs

Linda Wooldridge has created 5 workouts that she calls Standing Barre Series. They are all available for free on YouTube and you can also get all 5 workouts on a single DVD. I plan to try at least 4 of her Standing Barre workouts and Standing Barre Abs is the first one I am trying. I am not a fan of long core workouts, however I do almost always enjoy standing core work and can always tolerate doing it for longer than mat based core workouts. Well, this workout did not disappoint. It was excellent! I loved it. It worked my core, it worked my legs and it even kept my heart rate elevated. I did Linda’s Hotel Room Cardio Core first to warm up and raise my heart rate, so I was already sweating when I came to this workout and I kept sweating throughout. I would not call this a cardio core workout, but it was sufficiently intense to keep my heart rate elevated.

Standing Barre Abs is 34 minutes long, w/ 2 minute stretch. Equipment: pilates or playground ball and a chair or barre

1. In wide plié squat, hold ball in front of you w/ arms at shoulder level and elbows bent, twist ball side to side while pulsing in wide plié squat; continue this move but hinge torso forward w/ ball at knee height; changes to alternating between the two levels
2. Legs still wide w/ toes turned out, raise ball overhead and lower ball between legs while plié squatting, raise ball overhead then lean torso and ball to one side of body, keeping legs straight–alternate these two moves (and alternate which side you are leaning toward each time)
3. Stand w/ feet a little wider than shoulder width and hold ball overhead, lower ball to one side (holding in same side hand), leaning torso to side and bringing elbow to hip, raise ball over head, pass ball to other hand and repeat on other side; add a pulse to each side; hold ball straight overhead in both hands (arms straight) and lean torso side to side (keeping arms straight); add a pulse to each side lean; change pulse to turning torso forward so you are facing the ground, turning back to the side and raising ball overhead again (continue to alternate sides)
4. In wide plié squat, hold ball in front of you w/ arms at shoulder level and elbows bent, twist ball side to side while pulsing in wide plié squat; continue this move but hinge torso forward so ball is now at shin height
5. Legs still wide w/ toes turned out, raise ball overhead, lower ball to one side (holding in same side hand), bringing ball all the way down to foot while also doing a deep plié squat, then return to start position w/ ball overhead in both hands, alternate sides (you will first tap the floor in front of your foot then it changes to tapping floor behind foot); changes to alternating tapping in front and tapping in back of feet each time you lean
6. Place ball against chest and hold down w/ elbows/triceps and clasp hands in front of you, alternate knee raises doing a standing crunch each time, bringing elbows to knee; changes to kicking leg out straight while still bringing elbows down toward knee
7. Shift ball to the side a bit hold in same position as #6 but under only one elbow now and raise same side knee, tapping elbow to knee while holding barre/chair back for balance w/ other hand; changes to kicking leg out straight while still bringing elbow down toward knee; changes to holding knee up and pulse/tapping elbow to knee
8. With feet wider than shoulder length apart, swing ball side to side while tapping feet
9. Place ball under arm at side of body, arm bent and raise knee to side of body while bringing elbow down to tap top of thigh; changes to lifting leg out straight to side while still bringing elbow down toward thigh; keep knee raised to side and pulse thigh and elbow toward each other
10. Repeat #8
11. Repeat #7 on other side of body
12. Repeat #8
13. Repeat #9 on other side of body
14. Repeat #8
15. In wide plié squat, hold ball in front of you w/ arms at shoulder level and elbows bent and do a figure 8 motion side to side w/ ball (bringing the ball past thighs when doing it); add a quick shift side to side w/ ball between each side of the figure 8 motion
16. Stand w/ feet a little more than shoulder width a part, ball held over head and alternate raising knee to side and bringing same side elbow down to tap thigh as it raises
17. Stand w/ feet wide and legs straight, holding ball straight overhead in both hands, lower ball to floor beside one leg (keeping legs straight) and hold, then raise ball a few inches off floor and reach it further away and hold, tap floor again and raise ball back overhead, alternate sides; changes to lowering ball to floor with one hand and holding w/ other arm raised to ceiling, then reaching ball straight out to side (holding ball in both hands again), lowering it one handed to floor again, then raising it overhead, still alternating sides

For more info on Barlates and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.