Barlates: HIIT Barre

HIIT Barre is another tough but excellent workout from Linda Wooldridge and it is free on YouTube. I have really been enjoying her new Beginner Intervals workouts but I also have always loved her barre HIIT workouts (Mix & Match HIIT, Barre Kettlebell HIIT, Sweat Series, Full Body HIIT Series–and those are just the ones I’ve purchased on DVD, she has more free YouTube ones I’ve done and love), so as soon as she posted this one, I added it to my schedule. And it is intense! Now, my heart rate never entered my peak zone, so I guess I wouldn’t consider it a true HIIT workout but it nevertheless was intense. I was sweating, breathing hard and had plenty of muscle burn out. So overall another excellent and intense Barlates cardio barre workout! In the description below the workout Linda writes “welcome to the HIIT series”–which indicates to me that there will be more of these excellent workouts coming. So yay! I can’t wait!

HIIT Barre is 30 minutes long; no dedicated warm up (Linda says the first few exercises act as a warm up) and 4 minute stretch. Equipment: barre or chair and light dumbbells (Linda is using 2 pound hand weights and I used 3 pound hand weights). The structure of the workout is intervals of 50 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. You are using hand weights for every single move.

1. With feet in 3rd position, squat and stand while hinging forward at the waist and also raising DBs overhead at top of the move and bringing DBs together in front of legs at bottom of move
2. Repeat #1 but w/ opposite foot in front (still in 3rd position)
3. Step out into wide plie squat, when squatting raise arms out straight to side w/ palms facing behind you and when standing raise arms overhead, palms still facing behind you
4. Repeat #3 doing plie squats on other side of body
5. Raise one leg straight behind you and lower then bring knee up/in front of you, then raise leg behind you again, while doing these leg moves arms are doing bicep curls then pressing straight arms up behind you
6. Repeat #5 on other side of body
7. Stand beside chair/barre, heels together, toes turned out and raised up on toes, raise and lower into straight back squat, you are only holding one DB (other hand is on barre/chair for balance) and doing swan arm in front of you and to side
8. Raise and lower one straight leg in front of you then raise the leg and bend knee, bringing toe in toward stationary knee, while doing the leg movement, raise and lower straight arm then raise arm and bend DB in toward chest (in  sort of bicep curl variation)
9. Stand w/ heels together, toes turned out and heels raised, squat while hinging forward and swing arm/DB down in front of you then stand straight (still on toes w/ heels together) and raise arm/DB overhead then raise outside knee, bringing elbow to knee
10. Repeat 7-9 on other side of body
11. Feet parallel, raise onto toes, squat down w/ back straight, hold squat and pulse, do a one arm hammer curl while pulsing (other hand is holding onto barre/chair)
12. Feet still in same position as #11, still holding a squat, hinge forward, touching DB to ground, raise up and lean torso back, pulling/rowing elbow back behind you
13. Start w/ feet in same position as #11, lowered into partial squat, pulse 2x w/ feet together then step one foot forward and pulse 2x, step feet back together and pulse 2x, step same foot behind you and pulse 2x, while doing this you are also doing one arm bicep curls (other hand is holding barre/chair)
14. Repeat 11-13 on other side of body
15. In wide plie, lower into squat, raise onto toes, lower heels and stand, when raising onto toes, raise DBs overhead
16. In wide plie squat, raise and lower heels while also pulsing and raising and lowering straight arms to side
17. Sit on mat and lean back in C-curve, knees bent and feet flat on mat, hold DBs in front of you w/ arms raised and elbows bent; in this position, twist torso to side while raising same side leg, alternate sides
18. Put your weight on your hip, same side arm on floor, other arm holding DB overhead, raise straight legs to side; in this position, raise straight legs bringing top elbow to knee then lower legs (jackknife move), bend knees, bringing knees in to torso while also lowering elbow to tap knee
19. Repeat #18 on other side of body
20. Full sit up variation: when on back, legs are straight and arms/DBs are on ground overhead, when you sit up, raise legs and open them into a V while pushing arms/DBs between thighs
21. Remain sitting up, torso leaned back slightly, knees bent and open, toes together and on floor, arms bent and raised w/ DBs held in front of you; in this position, twist torso side to side while extending the leg you are twisting toward and extending arm/DB toward opposite toe while it is extended, alternate sides

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