Barlates for Tracy Anderson fans

[zraipel]

Mary has the DVDs for these workouts on her website: https://www.totalfitnessdvds.com/category-s/287.htm

[monterey vidiot]

and a free workout calendar to download & print:

https://www.workoutdvdworld.com.au/w...enge-calendar/

[Colleen]

I just finished this series and I really enjoyed the workouts. I couldn’t do the entire series as a rotation due to a foot injury, so I had to pause in the middle of week 2 and then pick up where I’d left off a few weeks later. I do Barlates workouts regularly and I’ve seen variations of most of the moves in some of her other workouts. I have similar equipment to that used by Linda in this series. So, this series was easy for me to follow and I didn’t need to modify for equipment.

I can’t compare this series to Tracy Anderson’s workouts. I tried only a few Tracy Anderson workouts years ago and didn’t do more because I don’t like Tracy as an instructor (I like to have instruction, or at least good cuing, during the workout). Linda cues throughout the workout and provides form pointers.

I've copied my notes on the workouts below.

Series overview

- The series includes 20 days of workouts: Level 1 (Days 1-5), Level 2 (Days 6-10), Level 3 (Days 11-15), and Level 4 (Days 16-20).

- Each workout is 35-40 minutes long, with most of them closer to 35 minutes.

- In general, the exercise combinations increase in complexity and the workouts increase in intensity with each level.

- Workout format in terms of primary emphasis: upper body without weights, upper body with weights, abs, lower body. Each section of the workout often works more parts of the body than just the primary emphasis, and this becomes more pronounced as the levels progress.

- The lower body section of each workout is about 14 minutes long, with rounds of 50 seconds work and 10 seconds rest. All of the exercises in this section are done on one side and then all are repeated on the other side.

- Equipment used: Mat, light weights, Pilates ball (Levels 2 and 4), ankle weights (Levels 3 and 4), chair without arms (some of the workouts in Levels 2, 3, and 4). I have the Ingolf chair from IKEA, which appears to be the same chair that Linda uses.

Levels 1-2

The workouts in Levels 1-2 are less intense and are generally less complex than Levels 3-4. If you don’t want to move on to the more complex workouts in Levels 3-4, you could increase the intensity of Levels 1-2 by adding ankle weights.

Level 1

- Although all of the Level 1 workouts follow a similar format, they have different exercises so you get a lot of variety even within Level 1.

- There are some combination moves, but they are relatively simple compared to the other levels.

- The Level 1 workouts are easier than the Barlates workouts marked intermediate-advanced.

Level 2 - changes from Level 1:

- Adds a Pilates ball to many of the floor exercises.

- The ab and lower body sections sneak in more upper body work.

- Introduces chair work on Days 9 and 10. The chair is used only for lower body work in all fours position.

Levels 3-4

Most of the workouts in Levels 3-4 have some complex combination exercises, and there may be a learning curve if you aren’t familiar with Barlates. Several of the workouts in Levels 3-4 use a chair, which increases the complexity of combinations compared to doing them on the floor. Day 16 uses the chair only as a barre, so whatever you use as a barre will likely work. Days 12-14 and Days 18-20 use the chair in various ways. I suggest previewing those workouts to see how the chair is used. If you don’t have a suitable chair, you’d need to think about how to do those exercises on the floor and/or with the equipment that you do have.

The chair is not used for Days 11, 15, and 17. Day 17 differs from the other Level 4 workouts in that the complexity is similar to Level 1-2. The intensity is higher for Day 17 compared to the earlier levels because all of the upper body work uses both weights in one hand (working one side at a time) and the ankle weights and Pilates ball are used together for every ab and lower body exercise.

Level 3 - changes from Level 2:

- Adds ankle weights for the ab and lower body work.

- The Pilates ball isn’t used in this level.

- Includes more standing, down dog, and plank-based combinations in the lower body section.

- Introduces more complex combinations with the chair.

Level 4 - changes from Level 3:

- More single-arm upper body exercises with both weights in one hand.

- The ab sections often use the ball, and sometimes use the ball plus weights.

- The lower body sections sometimes use the ball, and sometimes use the ball plus weights.

- The standing, down dog, and plank-based combinations are more complex and often include balance work.

- Introduces more ways of using the chair, and some of the chair combinations are more complex.

[bzar]

Originally Posted by zraipel

Mary has the DVDs for these workouts on her website: https://www.totalfitnessdvds.com/category-s/287.htm

are both the Wall Pilates and Comprehensive Series DVDs what make up the "Tighter Assets" rotation on youtube? sorry if this is an obvious question, but just wanted to confirm.

[Malia]

Those are different - here's a link to the Tighter Assets - https://www.totalfitnessdvds.com/sea...assets&Submit=

[kittybug]

Colleen, thank you so much for your very detailed review!! Very helpful.