A 45-minute Pure Barre Technique workout, which includes elements of Pilates, Lotte Berk, ballet and even weight training. Carrie Rezabek instructs.

Advanced beginning and intermediate exercisers. Be forewarned — these simple little moves are far tougher than they appear! You will need two sets of dumbbells and either a sturdy chair or, if you are really into this type of exercise, a free standing ballet barre.

What to expect:Unfortunately, this workout is a victim of poor production. Since I'm a fan of the Lotte Berk Method and Burr Leonard's Bar Method, I thought I would enjoy this, but I found the exercises really tough to execute — not because of Carrie Rezabek's instruction, which is fine (she clearly knows her stuff), and not because the moves were hard (although some of them were). It was all because the camerawork and set worked completely against what could be a really excellent workout. I'll start with the dark, poorly lit set first — half the time I could barely see what Rezabek was doing. She was wearing a black leotard against a dark floor and dark gray, dimly-lit background. And if that wasn't bad enough, the angles used to film Rezabek made it hard to see what she was doing, and where her leg placement was. The moving parts of her body were often cut out in close ups. The workout itself has loads of potential. Rezabek starts off with dumbbell exercises for the upper body — solid, muscle-building moves that owe as much to the weight room as they do to standing Pilates routines. Then there's the lower body barre-style work, which has some killer isometrics, and which are a lot like the harder Lotte Berk moves. I hope Rezabek finds the backing to do a video with a film crew that is experienced in making exercise DVDs — the technique in that area is nearly as important as exercise technique.

 

 

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