Dancer's Body

G

GinaSaunder

Member
After trying NUMEROUS cardio and resistance workouts, I really want to create more of a "dancer's body". I'm tired of building bulky muscle in my calves and quads. :(

Dancer's bodies are fit and firm, BUT LEAN!

What DVD routine can I buy from Cathe.com to help me sculpt the LONG, lean physique of a dancer?
 
Hi Gina!
If you want to keep your muscles long and elongated, you could try to add some yoga workouts to your routine, maybe yoga max will give your more of a challenge if compared to yoga relax. As far as I know, there are other barre based workouts you can reach for, but they are not by our beloved Cathe. I have read on the forum about the bar method, maybe other Cathlete will give you more info about that. But if you want to stick with Cathe, you can add to your routine a workout in which you leave your weights aside and can use:
- lower body blast leg drills and floor work
- butts and guts , various segments as the one with the ball, firewalker band ( when I am really energized I repeat this segment twice and the next day mr doms comes andd pays me a 2 days visit), the lounge- squat sequence with no weights,
- gym style legs, the floor work portion,
- dixie cups lounges in various directions, from TBT lower body,
_ floor work from legs and glutes from the body blast series.
These are just a few ideas, I have most of my Cathe dvds as digital downloads, so I mix things up with the blender, but the main message is: her workouts are amazing and super versatile, I really like to apply what she teaches to me even if I am not following a precise dvd, as long as I keep moving, I am sure I will have my legs fried at the end of my workout! HTH, have a nice day!
 
Ellie, Another great response! I don't mind venturing outside of Cathe. She's great, but would like to explore what else is out there. Care to share some NON-cathlete stuff?
 
Well, you probably know that dancers's bodies workouts are derived from ballet and yoga,pilates and Lotte Berk method. I have Tracy Effinger squeeze stonger and lower body challenge. The first one is a total body workout, upper body is based on the concept of light-moderate weights and high reps, while lower body has exercises as pretzel, knee dancing and back dancing from the Lotte Berk school. I actually like it because it adds variety to my routine and it forces muscles to work in a different way, so I throw it in every now and then. The lower body challenge is 30 mins long, you have always exercises from ballet and Lotte Berk inspired but also lounges, it is a bit more cardio based and it's perfect when you're short on time. I like those two because you sweat and you feel the burn,so atthe end you feel you worked your muscles. I am addicted to Cathe high energy and fast pace, so if you're looking for " quieter" workouts I won't be able to provide any infos...:D bare in mind that in ballet inspired workouts form should be your main concern, so when attempting the first times pay great attention to form and ignore the beat: once your form is correct, start to add up;)
 
Correcting an exercise myth

Hi Gina,

It is impossible to lengthen a muscle. The length of your muscle is determined by genetics and is set at birth. It all depends on whether your muscle has a tendon with a short or a long insertion point. No type of exercise can change this.

When you exercise a muscle it only can grow by increasing in diameter, not by growing in length. Decreasing the fat that covers your muscles is the only way to change your muscle so that it appears “long” and not “bulky.”

The solution to your problem is to decrease your body fat while continuing to tone and strengthen your legs. Bulky thighs are not caused by too much muscle, they're caused by too much fat covering the muscle.

Dancers look the way they do because of genetics and because they have a very low amount of body fat. There are many ways to accomplish this look, but make sure to add some high intensity interval training into your routine along with a proper diet that can help you safely reduce your body fat.
 
Thank you SNM for providing very interesting infos on the topic! I am always eager to learn and can't thank you enough (and Cathe and crew as well) for all you do to keep us as educated as possible, starting from the weekly newsletter which is something I really look forward to every Monday!
 
I've read good things about Mary Helen Bowers Ballet Beautiful workouts. She trained Natalie Portman for her role in Black Swan. I have both dvd's, but haven't tried them yet.
 
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