As most of you probably know, I've had some Achilles tendinitis going on. Which means I've, again, been mostly banned from my favorite high-impact workouts. Fun times… In my quest to find low-impact workouts, I came across Ballet Beautiful by Mary Helen Bowers. I read about it online. It happened that the local library had a couple of the DVDs (although you can find several of the workouts online). I figured I might as well give it a shot. Like, what's the worst that could happen?
It could kill me. That's what. I'm pretty sure I took more breaks (doing the beginner version) than I did when I started Insanity. I didn't exactly break a sweat, but I was weeping. Ballet Beautiful is (obviously) a ballet-inspired workout. It hits your core, arms, butt, and inner and outer thigh. Most of what I tried out was mat work (a.k.a. torture). And it worked my muscles in ways they haven't been worked in a really, really long time…maybe ever. I've had pain I didn't know existed.
What you need to know- Ballet Beautiful is completely portable. No equipment. No shoes. Very little space. There are several shorter (10-15 minute) workouts on a DVD, so you can keep it short or do them all. It's great for getting toned, long, lean muscle. There is zero impact. Lots of repetition.
Overall, I think it's a really nice compliment to what I like to do. It's a challenge. However, I don't think I could do it solely for any length of time. I like my craziness too much. At this point, I'm mixing it in with a couple of Les Mills Combat workouts that I can keep low-impact, Zumba, and Yoga. Fortunately, the tendon is getting better. I'm hoping it's 100% by the time P90X-3 is released!
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