Squeeze: Stronger

Tracy Effinger
Year Released: 2008

Categories: Abs/Core , Ballet/Barre, Lower Body Strength , Pilates/Core Strength , Upper Body Strength


Squeeze Stronger is an advanced, challenging 78-minute workout that offers an athletic take on the "barre" genre. The DVD is well chaptered and it offers two convenient premixes (upper body & waist; lower body & abs). Here is a breakdown of the workout:

Warm-up (3 min.)
The warm-up consists of 3 sets of deadlifts (15 reps) and alternate knee lifts (15 reps each knee). I like how the warm-up establishes that Squeeze is an integration of high-rep weight lifting (with the deadlifts) and barre work (with the traditional Lotte Berk knee lift warm-up move). Tracy uses heavier weights here (8lbs?) but 5 lbs fels better to me in a warm-up.

Biceps (6:30 min.)
You do 3 giant sets of (1) Ws, (2) close grip alt. bicep curl, (3) twisting curls – 15 reps each. I like to use 5 lbs here but the pace is slow enough that you could go heavier. This is a great complement to the original Squeeze workout, which emphasizes the triceps.

Shoulders (6 min.)
Again, you do 3 giant sets of (1) front raise, (2) lateral raise, and (3) rear delt raise.

Shoulders / Pecs / Triceps (5:30 min.)
This standing segment includes: scissor, chest fly crossing the arms in front, and pec deck. Then you lean forward and do: shoulder extension, circle arms out, press arms in and up, small triceps press. Tracy uses lighter weights for this segment.

Standing core work (8:30 min.)
You place the Squeeze stick across the shoulders (a broom works well, too) and do side bends, then torso twists (lifting the knee to the opposite elbow). Then you hold on to a chair and do “side kicks”, which are more of a leg lift to the back corner of the room. Repeat everything with some variations (e.g., instead of the torso twists, you do a standing crunch). Tracy displays great flexibility in this segment and I find I have to use a smaller range of motion to keep good form. I definitely feel this in my obliques and in the spot right above the glutes.

Pecs and Triceps (4:30 min.)
Move to the floor for one set each of pushups, triceps pushups, and one-arm triceps pushups.

Plié Series (6 min.)
• V-plié in first position with heels up: (1) down and hold, up and hold, (2) hold down and press, then hold again.
• Sissy squat plié with feet parallel and hip-width apart: (1) down 2 counts and up 2 counts, (2)hold down, tuck hips and release, (3) hold the tuck and lean back, then press down.
• Ball squeeze plié in wide 2nd position and holding a ball in front of chest: (1) small presses down, squeezing the ball with the hands, (2) small presses with the ball overhead, (3) full range pliés. Then turn feet parallel and repeat the small presses and full range movement.
This is a relatively short plié series but the slow pace, the small presses and long holds make it challenging. In case your thighs are not quivering yet, you then move on to knee dancing…

Knee dancing (2 min.)
Start in a kneeling position, then lower the hips to the feet, tuck the hips under and lift back up. Tracy does a few “slow” reps and then moves on to double time. This is very fast/advanced and prefer to use a smaller range of motion (staying lower and not lifting all the way back up); you could also stay with the slower reps. Tracy does some neat variations: side-to-side, then tap down twice and lift up. To finish, you extend your arms to the side, lean back, and then tuck the hips and release. This is sure to fry your quads!

Stretch (4:30)
Blissful yoga-inspired stretch focusing on the quads and hamstrings.

Side series (12 min.)
These 12 minutes are worth the price of the DVD for me… that’s how much I LOVE this segment! It is pretty hard to describe because Tracy flows seamlessly from one position to the next, working the hips/ outer thighs from all angles:
• In a pretzel position: (1) lift leg & lower, (2) keep leg up and lift from there, (3) circle the knee back, (4) press the leg back, (5) extend the leg and bend.
• Keep leg extended to the back corner and bring the elbows to the floor: leg lifts.
• Flex the foot and bring the leg to the side in line with the body: (1) leg lifts, (2) tap knee down in front of the body and extend out to the side.
• Knees bent 90 degrees in front: (1) lift & lower, (2) rotate at the hip to open the knee – like the clam in Winsor, (3) turn knee down and toes up, then lift & lower, (4) hip rotation with knees down and feet up, then add a leg extension.
• Brief hip stretch (thank you!) and then repeat on the other side.

Abs (10 minutes)
A super tough sequence of mostly isometric moves, with tons of variety. My favorite is the abs rolldown:
• Abs rolldown: Sit with legs extended in front of you, holding the stick in front of the chest: (1) curl down half way and do tiny curl in C-shape, (2) lower down a bit more and repeat, (3) lower down a bit more and repeat. Then you repeat everything with some variations: rowing side-to-side, pulsing the arms up, and pulling the stick in and pushing out.
• Abs on elbows
• Abs isolators

Back dancing (3 min.)
• Knees and feet together: (1) lift and lower the hips, (2) hold the hips up, then circle the hips, (3) turn the knees and feet to one side, then lift and lower the hips.
• Feet in first position: Lift hips and lower.
• Feet apart and parallel: Lift hips and lower.
Tracy uses more of a pilates form here, doing a bridge rather than the smaller range of motion tuck we usually see in Lotte Berk.

Final stretch (4 min.)
Long spinal twists (ahhhh….), followed by a challenging seated hamstring stretch (you have to be really flexible for this one but it’s easy to adapt by doing the move lying on your back), and a seated forward bend.

Instructor Comments:
Tracy is a superb instructor. She looks completely natural on camera and she delivers clear, motivating cueing.

Fuzzie

08/24/2009