Body Bar: Strength Resolutions

Body Bar Strength Resolutions is a 60 minute workout led by Lashaun Dale and two other frequent Body Bar workout background exercisers. They show frequent modifications. The set is familiar in other Body Bar, BOSU, and various workouts, as is the music. The music in this workout is very upbeat as compared to some other Body Bar workouts. All instrumental, and nothing distracting or annoying.

I would call this a solid "intermediate" workout, and I'm an intermediate/advanced exerciser. The emphasis is constantly on form and balance. It looks like they're using a nine pound body bar throughout most of it, which is what I used. They also use two four pound, two foot bars. I used two, one foot long, 2.5 pound bars. You could use hand weights during these segments, but Lashaun goes very fast with some of the moves, so I would be extremely careful about going past five pounds.

Before I describe the workout, and please keep in mind I am not an exercise physiologist so these are only my observations, during the side lateral shoulder raises she goes above the line of her shoulders at times. I've always been taught not to do this, so please be careful if you have impingement issues which I do. As I said before, using smaller weights is recommended. I found I could have used heavier ones, but I would not attempt this part of the workout with anything over five pounds in each hand.

A step is used until the very last two segments, and Lashaun and one background exerciser have it at 8 inches, the other one is at 6. I no longer do step, but I had mine at 8 inches as well because we don't do much traditonal step on it. She also uses it as a weight bench in a few later segments, so 8 inches felt "right" to me. The warm up is a combination of dynamic stretching moves plus very basic step work. She then moves to a squat combination, using no weight at first, then repeating most of the moves with the body bar. All during this is an emphasis on balance as well as strength. This is a long segment, and she incorporates a few upper body moves as well.

The back and biceps work is fast, but not so fast you sacrifice form. If you aren't used to working with a body bar, pick a lighter one until you get used to it. It has a different feel than dumbbells or a barbell, but I always have DOMS after using it correctly. Rows and shoulder presses are incorporated with some unique over the step squatting moves, which resemble familiar functional fitness moves. Pay attention to form, and you will feel these. She does some VERY challenging isolation moves toward the end of this segment - OUCH, but effective!

You stay over the step for push-ups and plank work - very challenging! At this point she switches to the two smaller bars, but as I said my one foot bars worked fine, and I can see dumbbells working fine here as well. We then sit on the bench to do more rows, and stand to do shoulder work. She does some tricep work at the end.

Step-ups onto the bench are then interspersed with very challenging balance work. She then does triceps kick backs, and they are FAST. Use light weight please! Standing oblique work follows, and I thought this part was a bit lacking. I didn't really "feel" my obliques at all. However ... we then move to the floor to do more push-up/plank combos, and I most definitely felt my chest and arms here! Thankfully, we only do 8 reps! Traditional triceps and some unique abdominal work then follows, and you will need the longer bar again for triceps extensions over your head. The stretch uses the bar as a prop, but it's not necessary.

Overall, a VERY effective and very FUN workout!

Instructor Comments:
This workout was FUN! The music is fun, Lashaun is more animated and fun in this than I have seen her in other Body Bar leads, and the moves are unique and enjoyable! She gives excellent posture tips and form pointers throughout, and takes time to correctly set up the move before proceeding. If you pay attention to her pointers and your own form, you are sure to feel this one the next day, even though it may seem while you're doing it that you aren't "working" hard. You are!

Carol_is_fit

Carol did a nice breakdown of this workout, so i will just provide my impressions of it. I did the vhs version.

I used a 12# body bar and 2, 5# dumbbells. A step is used for the 1st 45 minutes of the workout: for the warm-up and then later as a bench and for planks.

First impressions: this is an AWT/Functional fitness type of workout. It almost struck me as “Firmish” with its 4-limbish movements, the step, and the high reps. As Carol mentioned, there are some balance moves using the lighter bar(s). The functional fitness aspect comes into play when she has you holding the light bar in one hand, you stand on 1 foot, do a deadlift, move back into upright position (with leg not touching the ground), then extend the leg out whilst holding the bar, repeat without touching the ground with that lifted foot. Lots of sequences like the one I mentioned where she has you stand on 1 foot. I didn’t have my HRM on, but I can tell that due to the high reps and use of larger muscles groups (shoulder and then leg muscles), it had an aerobic effect.

The warm-up using the step was non-complex, but at the same time, it was a bit hard to follow because in a few instances, I noticed that she doesn’t use “conventional” terms when cueing. After that, the standing moves flowed a bit better. Toward the end of the 1st 45 minutes, it seemed a little tedious only because she does many different moves on each side of the body. After that, it was quite pleasant because the core work is not your usual ab-crunching segment, but several different moves that flowed nicely together.

I got this vhs as a sase and was wondering whether to get the DVD version since it is on sale at BodyBar. At this point, I am undecided. It’s very similar to other workouts that I own.

This is the second video I’ve done with Lashaun (the other was Equanimity, which is a different type of workout but good).

Instructor Comments:
upbeat but not overly perky, inventive choreography.

She strikes you as cheerleader-ish in trying to motivate you but this didn’t detract from the workout. For example, she said “Are you there” to her 2 background exercisers (Clare Dunphy and Violet Zaki) but they didn’t reply as if they had tuned her out! She is definitely knowledgeable and provides form pointers throughout.

bzar