Hey friends!

This is the week of giveaways right!? 🙂 Scroll to the bottom if that’s why you’re here!

Over the past month, I have been incorporating barre workouts into my fitness routine compliments of a locally owned ballet barre studio, The Ballet Physique.

While I have taken a few barre classes here and there, it’s definitely a form of fitness that I am less familiar with.  Because it is so new to me, I was really excited to partner with this local studio to learn a little bit more about barre fitness!

The Ballet Physique has a goal of making every class intense, challenging, and a personally fulfilling experience for every single participant.  In each class I participated in the instructors did an amazing job of knowing every participant’s name, gently correcting technique during the workout and providing positive encouragement throughout the challenging workout.  It was overall an absolutely amazing experience!

While many of the instructors have a dance background, I can assure you that no dance skills are needed for these workouts 🙂

Not only were the workouts amazing, but the studios (one in Littleton and one in Lone Tree) were absolutely gorgeous! Each time I walked in, the staff was smiling, there were adorable fitness clothes for sale, and fresh beautiful flowers were on display.  What an atmosphere!

Last Friday, I did my first Periscope video with Tricia, an instructor at the Ballet Physique and blogger at Fitlo Denver.

You can watch the video here!

In the video we talked barre technique and broke down three moves that you see in many Ballet Physique and barre studio classes:

L Over the Barre

Key things to remember in this position:

• Imagine that your hips are headlights and keep them BOTH pointed down to the ground
• Pull the abs up and in to support the lower back
• Keep a slight bend in the supporting (standing) leg

Pretzel

Key things to remember in this position:

• Hinge forward if you are new to this position
• Keep the knee in line with or behind the hip, never in front of the hip
• Keep the abs braced by pulling the belly button in

Abs Under the Barre

Key things to remember in this position:

• Keep your back all the way back on the wall/mat
• Pull the belly button in towards the spine to contract the abs
• Face your hands outward away from your body

I had so much fun shooting the video and learning a little bit more about HOW to do these moves so that I can get the most out of my barre classes.

While my fitness routine has really been focused on my marathon training, these barre classes have been amazing cross training.  The focus on smaller muscle groups and stretching after fatiguing the specific muscle has helped me keep my workouts balanced and it’s helped me maintain my strength while running long distances.

Giveaway:

The team over at The Ballet Physique has been so kind to me and to you! They are offering 1 TITK reader a Ballet Physique DVD set so they can do barre workouts at home!

How to Enter:

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter the giveaway!

Not sure how to use the Rafflecopter?  First, log-in with either Facebook or an e-mail address.

Once you are logged in, you can pick and choose how you want to enter the giveaway.  Just go down the list within the rafflecopter box and enter every way possible, or just one way…it’s up to you!   Just follow the prompts in the box.

Good luck!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway ends at midnight MT on Wednesday, September 30.  The winner will receive an e-mail.  Thank you for your participation!

Local Readers:

The Ballet Physique is offering 20% off any class package, membership or single class if you mention this blog! They also offer a new client 10-day Unlimited Trial – basically you get unlimited classes for 10 consecutive days for $20! 🙂

The Ballet Physique compensated me for my time and provided me with a complimentary membership.  All opinions are my own!