VFer Sandra, who wrote an excellent review of this workout below, was kind enough to lend her DVD to me, so I thought I would add my thoughts. I tend to have a love/hate relationship with barre workouts: I'm a pear shape, and I long for the great results that so many others with my body type seem to have gotten from these types of workouts, yet barre workouts also tend to contain many exercises that I don't like, such as floor triceps dips, quad work, bent-over seat work, all-4s work, and c-curve abs.

I tried The Bar Method years ago when the original two workouts were released, and although I owned both TBM Fat Free and TBM Designer Sculpting for awhile, I didn't really click with either of those workouts. I also didn't really click with the instructor and founder, Burr Leonard, so I was interested to see if things would be different with this new workout. Burr instructs CHANGE YOUR BODY live, and she is accompanied by three background exercisers, all of whom are Bar Method instructors and one of whom (Jen) shows modifications for many of the exercises.

The Main Menu for Change Your Body offers options for Play All-Select Workout-About Burr Leonard-Web Link. In the introduction to the routine, Burr recommends using 2-4 pound weights for the arms work. You will also need something to use for a barre (two of the three background exercisers use a high-backed chair), a mat, and a strap for the stretching at the end.

Like most barre workouts, Burr begins with a high knees march as a warm-up. This is very brief, however, and she moves right into the arms work with weights. The moves here include alternating shoulder raises, various bicep curls/pulses, and single straight arm tricep work. Following a stretch for the triceps, you'll put down the weights for push-ups (held and pulses) and triceps push-ups on the floor. After another stretch on the floor for the arms, you'll move to the barre to stretch the hips and hamstrings.

Now it's time to start the leg work. Burr sets you up at the barre, starting with legs parallel, on your toes, and coming about halfway down. Most of the moves are performed on the toes, but you'll constantly switch up between parallel feet, feet turned out, isometric holds, slow repetitions, and quick pulses. Just when you think you can't do any more, you'll finish with a standing quad stretch and then stretch you hip flexors and hamstrings on the mat.

Seat work is next, starting with the pretzel. Burr asks Jane to demonstrate this so that she can meticulously explain positioning. Several variations are performed on both sides, and then you'll return to the barre for bent over leg lifts. Following this, Burr states that we need to get the heart rate up, so she performs front leg lifts while standing sideways to the barre. (Note: my heart rate barely reached my target zone for this workout.) The final seat move consists of a wide plie with heel lifts; again, you'll perform variations on this until your legs feel ready to fall off!

The core section starts with a hold of elbow plank. Burr then performs three separate series of c-curve abs work. For the first series, she is lying back, holding her arms out to her sides in an "L" shape; for the second series, she leans back on her elbows; and finally, for the last series, she is again in a more upright position, this time with her palms at her chest. I found this work to be quite challenging and also a bit straining for my back, so I use my squishy ball behind by low back to provide some support (Jen shows a modification with a pillow).

Following the core work, Burr comes to a reclined position for "back dancing," a series of quick pelvic tucks to work the seat. These are performed at various tempos, first with the feet hip-distance apart, then with the feet further (about mat distance). The 4.5 minute stretch segment is performed mostly lying, starting with a happy baby pose stretch and then moving right into a crossed legs stretch. Next, Burr uses the strap to perform reclined leg stretch for the hamstrings. Finally, she comes to seated for a neck stretch on either side to finish. I clocked the total time for this workout at 51.5 minutes.

This is a TOUGH workout, but because Burr interspersed stretch breaks throughout, it felt very doable, and the time went by very quickly (the upbeat music helped with this too). Burr's instruction is excellent; she provides plenty of form pointers making this DVD appropriate for those who are new to barre workouts. However, because this routine is quite challenging, it is NOT appropriate for beginning exercisers. I am a daily exerciser (I generally consider myself in the high intermediate range, depending on the workout) who has had some prior experience with barre workouts, and I found CHANGE YOUR BODY to be sufficiently taxing. Time will tell whether this workout will actually provide body-changing results, but I believe that it certainly has the potential to do so.

Instructor Comments:
I definitely liked Burr better here than I did in Fat Free and Designer Sculpting; I think that she seems more natural as an instructor now and much less formal/scripted than she did in those earlier workouts. Also, as noted above, she does an excellent job providing form pointers throughout this workout. What I didn't like so much here were the background exercisers--unfortunately, they seemed very stiff, stilted, and they almost NEVER smiled! :(

Beth C (aka toaster)