classical stretch all the time?

[calendria]

i was wondering if people still do classical stretch all the time?

or have most of you guys moved on to the ballet/barre workouts?

what are there similarities? how are they different?

[Demeris]

I do classical stretch regularly--at least 2Xs a week, but it doesn't replace my barre workouts; it complements them.

[JackieB]

I do Classical Stretch/Essentrics daily. I mix it up with outdoor walking, Ellen Barrett workouts, and Qi Gong. Sometimes I might do a short barre workout.

I have to say this is the slimmest I've been since having kids. I've pretty much been doing CS daily for three years.

Jackie

[Pam61]

The longest I've done Classical Stretch has been for a year at a time, or maybe a bit more than that. I tend to use it in conjunction with heavy weights or kettlebell work as a warmup or cooldown.

I skipped it when I was doing an Ultimate Yogi rotation, so there have been times when I've gone for a long stretch without it.

Currently, it's not in my rotation, because of time constraints. I will probably get back to it, at some point. And, I really like Miranda, too! Plus, the outdoor scenery is terrific.

I think it compliments ballet/barre rotations very nicely. I go through phases with ballet/barre type workouts, though. Too many workouts that I need to cycle thru.

Pam

[Paine]

Miranda said that Classical Stretch is the only form of exercise she does to stay in shape--she does not lift weights or do any other form of exercise.

I usually do Classical Stretch/Essentrics several times a week after my main workout. Ideally, each day I'd like to do one main workout (weights or barre) followed by an episode of CS but sometimes I don't have time to add on that CS episode.

[dela]

I have been doing about 4-6 CS and Essentrics episodes per week since December.

I do them in conjunction with any other workout I am doing, right now that is the Drop 2 Sizes rotation plus heavy bag boxing classes and other random cardio dvds depending on my mood. Before this it was XTrain. I also do them on days I don't do other workouts, and find for a few months I have very few rest days where I did not workout at all.

I generally do CS at a different time than my other workouts since they are so easy to fit in anywhere. But if I have time I follow a workout with an episode because it feels good.

Now I find I crave them, I can tell my posture is improving, I feel like I stand differently, I definitely have increased flexibility, and overall, I am having more success in general with my overall fitness progress by combining CS with other workouts.

[glowacki]

Originally Posted by calendria

i was wondering if people still do classical stretch all the time?

or have most of you guys moved on to the ballet/barre workouts?

what are there similarities? how are they different?

I've been doing about 4-6 CS and Essentrics episodes per week since September 2011. It's my main form of exercise, supplemented with Yoga Today (2-5/wk) and a weight lifting class at my local Park and Rec (1/wk). I rarely do cardio anymore.

At one point, in an effort not to burn out on CS, I spent a good deal of money on various ballet and barre-type dvds (Tracey Mallett, Xtend Barre, Balletone, Barre 3), thinking they were similar to CS. They are NOT. Ballet Beautiful comes the closest, because a lot of the movements involve extension and posture. In my opinion, CS is unique. I get a great workout that feels good at the same time.

Truth be told, I sometimes miss my old workouts (Taebo, Cathe, The Firm, Brazil Butt Lift) or want to try new ones, but then that would be time away from CS and I'm not making that trade off. I think it's a combination of CS/Essentrics and yoga - not CS by itself - but I have the same muscle tone and definition as when I was doing STS.

[JackieB]

Originally Posted by glowacki

In my opinion, CS is unique. I get a great workout that feels good at the same time.

Truth be told, I sometimes miss my old workouts (Taebo, Cathe, The Firm, Brazil Butt Lift) or want to try new ones, but then that would be time away from CS and I'm not making that trade off. I think it's a combination of CS/Essentrics and yoga - not CS by itself - but I have the same muscle tone and definition as when I was doing STS.

I feel this way, also. I still have quite a few workouts on my shelf. My priority is CS, though. I have better definition and for sure less pain. I remember my last rotation of CLX...it just wasn't working for me and I was developing so many injuries from working out. I'm sticking with my CS.

I do think that Ellen compliments CS nicely...she even includes some stretches that are similar to Miranda's.

Jackie

[calendria]

thanx. I think I will KEEP it in my rotation then.

[Elzabee5]

Originally Posted by glowacki

I've been doing about 4-6 CS and Essentrics episodes per week since September 2011. It's my main form of exercise, supplemented with Yoga Today (2-5/wk) and a weight lifting class at my local Park and Rec (1/wk). I rarely do cardio anymore.

I think it's a combination of CS/Essentrics and yoga - not CS by itself - but I have the same muscle tone and definition as when I was doing STS.

All of the comments in response to this thread are interesting-- particularly this one. I have been interested in Classical stretch, but to be honest, I can never figure out exactly what it IS. I recently posted about yoga and solutions for the lower half... Does CS do the trick? From your post, it seems it may.

The downside of the whole classical stretch thing though is that I don't see where you can try it out to good effect without spending a decent deal of $. So far as I can tell, it is not on my PBS station. How is it different than yoga (other than, of course, it's obviously NOT yoga)? I guess I was concerned that the benefit of CS would be the same as yoga (flexibility, good posture), but done in a different form. Is there a decent focus on the lower body? Again, I don't mean to be "thick," but even after searching threads on CS, I still don't really get what it IS. I do have ballet beautiful, which while boring, is OK. Is this like a more interesting version of ballet beautiful? Glowacki's rotation seems very interesting to me. Thanks.