Fat Burning Fusion

Ellen Barrett has her own style of workout she's developed specifically for women. Her goal is to combine cardio, toning and stretching together simultaneously instead of doing them separately, and she does this by a "fusion" of workout elements taken from pilates, yoga, dance/ballet, sports fitness and more traditional calisthenics and aerobics. Plus she aspires to arrange these elements into a flowing, low-stress, low-impact yet cardio-, musclar- and stretching-intense workout that is complimentary to the female body. Sounds like a Herculean task, doesn't it? Well, thankfully Barrett's been at this for quite awhile - she is a former tennis pro who got into aerobics and fitness in the 80's - and so really knows what she's doing. As result she's succeeded in making a very efficient, effective and comfortable workout style that works your entire body. Barrett's approach is so efficient and comfortable that you'll probably not even realize how much of a workout this is until you've done it a few times and become more aware of how this makes your body work. As for effective - when I started doing Barrett's FitTV workouts, I noticed improvement in stamina, strength, flexibility and body tone with a couple weeks, when I discovered how much easier housecleaning and daily tasks had become, that my jeans were bit looser around the waist and how my thigh and bicep muscles were little more defined.This particular workout on this DVD is mostly standing, with only a bare minimal of matwork. Count that as a major positive - standing exercises are not only helpful with improving your heart strength and blood flow to your extremities, the simple act of bearing you own weight during exercise improves your bone density and prevents bone loss, particularly in the spine and hips - the bones often most affected by osteopenia and osteoporosis. Plus, I personally like that you can do this workout barefoot. My feet really appreciate any opportunity to exercise without socks, shoes and all that sweat. While Barrett doesn't use weights in this workout, I suppose one could use 1-2 lb ankle and wrist weights of the workout. But I find this workout sufficiently intense enough without any added weights. While many exercises are similar to what you'll find in her "Pilates Sculpt" and "Slo-robics" workouts on FitTV's Allstar Workouts, they are done in a very different order and with additional exercises not seen on the FitTV workouts. Also, Barrett goes a little more indepth with the technique, form and logic of the exercises. This is overall a more challenging and intense workout, partly because you don't get commercial breaks and partly because, since there's no breaks, Barrett gets into more diverse series that really make your muscles work and stretch. I was doing her FitTV workouts 3-5 times a week for several weeks now before I got this DVD, and I still work up quite a good sweat with this one. In fact the first few times, I had to modify some of the exercise or take a break when my arms or thighs were getting a little too tired.There's is quite a bit of pliés and other knee-bending work, but I found the entire workout very agreeable for my 30-something knees. Like her FitTV workout, Barrett's flowing, low-impact combos are not only easy on the knees, but can safely strengthen and flex the knee region, which can potentially alleviate some types of knee pain. If you're still worried about knee strain, these exercise are quite doable if you need to wear a knee brace or patella band, or one could easily change the width of stance of the range of motion to make it easier on problem knees. This workout is also very good for problem ankles and feet, as a lot of these exercises strengthen and flex those areas as well.Another plus about this workout is, again like her FitTV workouts , this is a phenomenal workout for the back and spine. Got lower back pain? Is your back often stiff, tired and achy? Want better posture? Give this workout a try. Barrett puts special attention to strengthening and flexing the back safely and effectively with a variety of twists, bends and stretches spread throughout the workout. Thanks to her "fusion" approach, these exercise are also very beneficial for your other core muscles. I have found these exercises so helpful in alleviating back pain and stiffness that I'll do a few of them whenever my back's giving me trouble - it works better than pain pills or a heating pain!Lastly, this is a very feminine and stressing-relieving workout. Because most the exercises are simultaneously working one muscles group while stretching another, you'll likely feel little in the way of cramping or soreness, and it give your body a diverse range of motion to release any tension. Also a lot of these movements are very flattering to the female form, improving your muscle tone and posture for more feminine body shape. In additional to improving your tone and posture, Barrett's employs a "mind-body" approach that helps you mentally connect with your body and how it moves. This really improves gracefulness, body awareness and overall poise as well as allows you to better relax and rechannel stress into constructive energy.

Well, for starters, the IDEA of the low-impact standing Pilates workout is what grabbed my attention. Before purchasing this DVD, I enjoyed working out to Leslie Sansone in-home walking workout DVDs (I still do, just not as often), and I wasn't at all familiar with or even aware of Ellen. However, since I live on the 8th floor, I felt the need to find a workout that would be powerful and help me to sculpt a lean, graceful body without making stomping noises, for the sake of the poor tenants living on the 7th floor. Since I rarely have the patience to do exercises on the mat, I thought I hit gold here when I found this title online. This was it--the low-impact STANDING PILATES WORKOUT! I thought it'd be a piece of cake. Something to do casually, whenever I could spare the time, before going to work in the morning. A breeze. Boy was I wrong. This NEVER FAILS to break me into a sweat. Not just a little dampness, either, it's dripping sweat that I refer to. It's summer right now and of course the hot weather is probably making me sweat by default, but this is a TOUGH workout. It's certainly not for "sissies." Form is so so SO important. Each time I do it, I appreciate it even more. I feel that my arms are becoming more lean, and I can see that this is having positive effects on my entire body. At first the plie squats were seriously getting on my nerves and annoying the heck out of my knees, but the more I do them the easier they get, and the more capable I become of doing them. Not to say that this is a perfect DVD--for instance, I wish Ellen would give more specific instruction on HOW to do certain moves instead of constantly repeating to "stand up tall" and "lift the heart." Overall, I think this is a great workout for those who are looking to tone and sculpt and stretch their bodies. It will certainly break a sweat, but not in the way you may be used to. If you're looking to breeze through your workout and not think too much (and I certainly enjoy these types of workouts as well), this probably isn't for you. For those types of workouts, I recommend Leslie Sansone DVDs or just plain running.

Your Review:I am not an Ellen groupie, but I am a fan. I've tried most of her workouts and kept the ones I really like - of which, this is one. And, it's one that I won't get rid of.It is a fusion workout that includes several sets of flowing moves that lead into each other. The moves include standing pilates, abs, cardio, and other fusion-y moves. Ellen leads in a big open studio area with hardwood floor and good music and two background exercisers, one who shows easier modifications. You can play all or choose a chapter (but, I don't do this workout often enough to know the segments before I do them.)Ellen does a wonderful job in this workout. The workout seems to fly by as the moves flow. She does several segments of combinations of moves. If the moves are done on one side, then she repeats them on the other side. If not, then you do them once. I get a cardio effect from this workout as it flows along. She does a really good job of providing form pointers on the technical side while highlighting the joy and peace that can be found in moving your body and inhabiting a good space in your head.I've seen people say that the more they do it that the harder it becomes because they focus on form more and more. I have no problem believing it. However, as I do this workout periodically on a "tired day", I find it to be a high beginner to intermediate workout.Instructor Comments:She brings the joy of movement to this workout along with great cueing and instruction.