Raise the Barre

by Giorla, Richard; House, Laurel

• ISBN13: 9780060786625
• ISBN10: 0060786620
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-12-14
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

A comprehensive guide to the hottest new fitness program in the country Cardio Barre a dancebased workout that combines cardio, strength training and stretching, in one fastpaced, fatburning, bodylengthening session. With a full nutrition program as well, you'll see lifechanging results in only eight weeks. While yoga, pilates, aerobics and weightlifting are all successful, popular fitness routines, each one of them is missing something that the others offer. And with our hectic lives that leave little time for sleep, let alone hours of daily exercise, the Cardio Barre workout is the perfect combination of cardio, strength training and stretchingachieving multiple desired results from one fastpaced workout. Richard Giorla is a classically trained dancer who has learned from his decades of training that the key to strength and endurance is developing core musclethe center of the body must be strong in order to support the other areas of the body. In Cardio Barre, you work from your coremaintaining your balance using a barre, a countertop, a chair, or even your own strengththen repeat lowresistance motions such as plies, arm extensions, and leg flexes. With no kicking, jumping, or punching, this effective and complete workout leaves participants with long, lean muscles, flexibility, and endurance. With the success of the Cardio Barre workout in LA, where it has gained celebrity adherents and a long waiting list of others, as well as the recent launch of Cardio Barre in New York, this is poised to become the new "it" workout. And unlike past fitness fads, Cardio Barre sets realistic goals, including following a healthy eating program, and offers the desired results of both cardio health and strength in only eight weeks.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	1	(12)
3 Key Elements of Fitness	13	(5)
The 8 Core Elements of Cardio Barre	18	(5)
3 Keys to Maintaining Optimum Health	23	(18)
Body Basics--Body Awareness	41	(8)
Terms and Proper Placement	49	(1)
It's All in the Details	50	(1)
Goal Setting	51	(2)
Women Need to Know	53	(10)
Prepare--A New Beginning	63	(1)
Self-assessment	64	(9)
What You Need	73	(4)
What to Expect	77	(4)
Feed Your Body	81	(5)
Guidelines for Planning Your New Nutritional Attitude	86	(11)
Week One--Let's Do This!	97	(3)
Getting Started	100	(3)
The Program-Mind Your Body: A New You Resolution	103	(2)
Move Your Body: Week One--3 days, 20 minutes	105	(64)
Changed My Life . . .	169	(6)
Week Two--Mind Your Body	175	(1)
Move Your Body: Week Two--3 days, 30 minutes	176	(20)
Changed My Life . . .	196	(5)
Week Three--Mind Your Body	201	(1)
Move Your Body: Week Three--4 days, 30 minutes	202	(2)
Changed My Life . . .	204	(3)
Week Four--Mind Your Body	207	(1)
Move Your Body: Week Four--4 days, 40 minutes	208	(11)
Changed My Life . . .	219	(4)
Week Five--Mind Your Body	223	(1)
Move Your Body: Week Five--5 days, 40 minutes	224	(2)
Changed My Life . . .	226	(7)
Week Six--Mind Your Body	233	(1)
Move Your Body: Week Six--5 days, 50 minutes	234	(10)
Changed My Life . . .	244	(7)
Week Seven--Mind Your Body	251	(2)
Move Your Body: Week Seven--6 days, 50 minutes	253	(2)
Changed My Life . . .	255	(6)
Week Eight--Mind Your Body	261	(1)
Move Your Body: Week Eight--6 days, 60 minutes	262	(13)
Changed My Life . . .	275	(4)
Cardio Living	279	(24)
Index	303

Excerpts

Raise the Barre
Introducing Cardio Barre--The Revolutionary 8-Week Program for Total Mind/Body Transformation

Chapter One

Three Key Elements of Fitness

Fitness is not just about running (cardio), lifting weights (strength training), or yoga (flexibility). According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), in order to have a complete workout, it is essential to incorporate all three elements. Lucky for you, the three key elements to any fitness program—cardio, resistance, and flexibility—are each woven throughout every Cardio Barre workout.

Cardio

If you want to burn fat and slim down, you have to do cardio. No, I am not telling you to run a 5k in order to get your heart rate up. We have no use for shin splints or blisters. Running often leads exercisers to get off on the wrong foot. Do you know how many women tell me they don’t do cardio because they don’t like running? There are other ways to get your heart pumping; Cardio Barre is one of them.

While walking is a cardio activity, this low-intensity workout effectively, but slowly, burns body fat. What does that mean? The intensity is the level at which your heart and breathing rate are elevated for a sustained period of time. Cardio Barre, on the other hand, is a high-intensity exercise, which has been said to burn body fat nine times faster than low intensity exercises. After a high-intensity workout, once the music stops and cool down begins, hormones that were released during your workout take over and continue to burn fat and calories for several hours! What could be better than not working out and still burning calories?

More than burning fat, studies show that a high-intensity cardio session has several health benefits including:

• Dramatically boosts the metabolism both during and after the workout
• Body fat is more readily transformed into energy, which is exerted during a workout
• Considerable increase in aerobic capacity, stamina, and strength
• Mental and physical stress and tension reduction
• Increased and sustained energy
• Improved sleep
• Strengthened heart and lungs
• More efficient use of oxygen
• Increased circulation
• Reduced risk of some cancers
• Reduced risk of heart disease
• Lower blood pressure
• Longer life

Strength Training

No, lifting a few light weights, and even a heavy one here and there (like your own body weight during push-ups), will not turn you into a muscle-bound meathead. When strength training, men develop muscles differently than women. Men will usually get bigger by increasing muscle fiber size, while women get stronger by using a higher percentage of muscle fibers. I know, many of you may still have a stigma against lifting weights, in fear that it will de-feminize you. But, believe me, it will only make you sexier. The unfortunate myth originated centuries ago when sports (particularly strength-driven) were designated as male-only activities. Finally, in the 1950s, women began to incorporate strength training into their workout routines to help improve their performance and athleticism in track and field. Though times have changed, the strength-training stigma sometimes persists. With few, if any, exceptions, female athletes today depend on strength training to be on top of their game. And, according to studies, 94 percent of athletes do not feel as though their strong musculature and athletic lifestyles makes them feel less feminine. They beautifully balance strength and femininity.

Women who strength train feel empowered. The ability to attempt and overcome daunting physical challenges, as well as to increase strength and muscle definition, make women feel as though they are the master of their domain, and that they can protect their own temple, without the help of a man, thank you very much! So why are women feeling so strong and in control? Because they are. Strength training helps trim fat and increase lean muscle. This recomposition may result in a slight gain of scale weight, but that is only because muscle weighs more than fat. Regardless of weight in pounds, inches are what matter. When you lose fat and gain muscle, you lose inches, especially in the lower body. You may notice a slight increase in girth in your upper body as your twiggy arms gain a little muscular definition. But, in general, unless you have a genetic predisposition to gain a lot of muscle mass, or you are doing high-weight, high-intensity weight lifting (which you won’t be doing in Cardio Barre), you will decrease in size.

The fact is that having a little muscle will actually help you burn more fat and create that lean, svelte feminine physique that you want. Strength training is what actually reshapes your body—creating tone and sculpting you sexy! The more muscle you have (again, I am not talking about bulky muscles), the faster your metabolism will be, the more calories and fat you will naturally burn . . . even while you sleep. Why? Well, muscle tissue is very active in nature. In order to maintain itself, one pound of muscle burns about 35 calories a day! Without you having to lift a weight. This is why having muscle will help you stay slim. As you lose muscle, your metabolism loses steam, making it harder to lose and keep weight off.

Studies have shown that one of the main reasons why yo-yo dieters are, well, yo-yo dieters is because of muscle loss. When calories are drastically cut, weight quickly falls off. But up to 25 percent of that weight is actually muscle tissue, which, as we just discussed, helps the body naturally burn fat. So, in the end, you are actually doing your diet a disservice when you lose muscle.

Incorporating strength training into your workout can benefit your body because it:

• Fortifies more than just your muscles, as your bones and connective tissue are strengthened as well. Osteoporosis is a major concern for women these days. Increasing bone density through strength training can minimize your risk of osteoporosis.
• After age 20, the average adult loses a half pound of muscle tissue each year. Remember, less muscle tissue means fewer calories burned.
• Life seems less strenuous when you are strong. Daily routines and tasks like carrying groceries and pushing a baby carriage are easier to do when you have strength of your side.

Raise the Barre
Introducing Cardio Barre--The Revolutionary 8-Week Program for Total Mind/Body Transformation. Copyright © by Richard Giorla. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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Excerpted from Raise the Barre: Introducing Cardio Barre -The Revolutionary 8-Week Program for Total Mind and Body Transformation by Richard Giorla
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.