Ballet Beautiful: Transform Your Body and Gain the Strength, Grace and Focus of a Ballet Dancer
Authors: Mary Helen Bowers
Praise for Mary Helen Bowers and
Ballet Beautiful
:
“Ballet Beautiful completely transformed my body in a way I never thought possible. It toned and lengthened the muscles in my arms and legs and . . . eradicated cellulite and lifted and firmed my butt. I never thought I would comfortably wear short shorts again, but Ballet Beautiful changed that! The best part is it’s so easy to maintain because I can do it from anywhere. Mary Helen Bowers is truly a body-sculpting magician. I could seriously go on forever about Ballet Beautiful—it is simply life-altering.”
—Rachel Antonoff, designer
“[A] demanding—and rewarding—program that has attracted a roster of models and actresses, including Karen Elson.”
—Vogue
“In the ten plus years I’ve been an editor at
Harper’s Bazaar,
I’ve tried every exercise program imaginable, from complicated machines to simply sweating it out. But nothing—or no one—has transformed my body the way Mary Helen Bowers’ Ballet Beautiful program has. Mary Helen’s method garners results: long, lean muscle tone, better posture, a more controlled core. Mary Helen has made it impossible not to do Ballet Beautiful, whether it’s her private sessions, group classes, online workouts or DVDs, so not only do I love how I look and feel, but I love that there are no excuses.”
—Kristina O’Neill, executive editor,
Harper’s Bazaar
“I SWEAR to you that after my first class with Mary Helen my tight jeans that I usually have to wiggle myself into slid on with no problem.”
—Tracee Ellis Ross, actress
“[T]he class strengthens and limbers the body through ballet-based movements.”
—New York
magazine
“Women have long coveted sinewy arms, high and tight derrieres, lean legs and a regal posture. Now, in search of this shape, many of them are ditching yoga and Pilates and lining up at the ballet barre. . . . At the front of the corps is Mary Helen Bowers, who trained Ms. [Natalie] Portman for the movie
[Black Swan].”
—The New York Times
“All you need is enough space for a yoga mat . . . but the movements are designed to strengthen the muscles you would use if you were taking a ballet class.”
—Wall Street Journal
“Shows off a celebrity fitness trend that could just be the next Pilates.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The program definitely works . . . but feeling like a dancer in training is enough to keep us coming back for more.”
“Ballerina Mary Helen Bowers . . . set the barre high.”
—Womens’ Health
BALLET BEAUTIFUL
BALLET
BEAUTIFUL
Transform Your Body and
Gain the Strength, Grace, and
Focus of a Ballet Dancer
MARY HELEN BOWERS
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Copyright © 2012 by Mary Helen Bowers
Ballet Beautiful Registered Trademark © 2012 by Mary Helen Bowers Photos by Yelena Yemchuk Illustrations on pages 50-52 by Costanza Theodoli-Braschi
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, Third Floor, Boston, MA 02210
Design by Cynthia Young at Sagecraft.
Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
First Da Capo Press edition 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7382-1589-1 (e-book)
Published by Da Capo Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Note
: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. This book is intended only as an informative guide for those wishing to know more about health issues. In no way is this book intended to replace, countermand, or conflict with the advice given to you by your own physician. The ultimate decision concerning care should be made between you and your doctor. We strongly recommend you follow his or her advice. Information in this book is general and is offered with no guarantees on the part of the authors or Da Capo Press. The authors and publisher disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book. The names and identifying details of people associated with events described in this book have been changed. Any similarity to actual persons is coincidental.
Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, or call (800) 810–4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail
[email protected]
.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my parents,
who taught me that no dream is ever out of reach,
and to my brothers, who taught me to be tough!
And to Paul,
a source of endless inspiration and love.
CONTENTS
PART I
BUILDING YOUR BALLET BEAUTIFUL MINDSET
1
The Genesis of Ballet Beautiful: My Story
2
Mindset: The Key to Health, Happiness, and Success
3
Your Baseline: Achieving Balance and Paying Attention to How You Feel
PART II
THE BALLET BEAUTIFUL PROGRAM
4
The Ballet Beautiful Method: The Basics
5
The Classic 60-Minute Ballet Beautiful Workout
6
15-Minute Ballet Beautiful Blasts!
PART III
THE BALLET BEAUTIFUL LIFESTYLE
9
Putting It All Together: What a Ballet Beautiful Week Looks Like
When I go to the ballet, I am always in awe of the dancers’ bodies as much as I am of the beauty they express through movement: the definition in their arms, their strong legs, and the length—that beautiful line that extends from their fingertips to their toes, through their necks and torsos. I had the privilege of working with Mary Helen Bowers for a year in preparation for the film
Black Swan,
and her system works for nondancers by simplifying the balletic exercises that result in these beautiful lines.
Mary Helen’s technique is based on the motions that ballerinas use all day long. It allows anyone to achieve the long, toned physique of a dancer. I had had essentially the same body since I was 14 years old, and after a couple of months working with Mary Helen it had been completely transformed. I gained length, strength, and tone. My arms and legs completely changed shape. My posture looked, as my dad said, like I had swallowed a broom. And it was all possible without equipment. For so many of us, with our transient lives and hectic schedules, the ability to do a workout at home with zero equipment is truly a gift.
My new regimen gave me a sense of discipline, a much better body image, and so much more strength, but in a way that always guarded against injury. Mary Helen’s knowledge of healthy diet in conjunction with the exercises was also helpful in achieving the fitness goals we had set out. It was a truly comprehensive approach that allowed me to be physically convincing as a ballet dancer in a relatively short time. I hope that with this book you will also enjoy the insider knowledge that Mary Helen shares and learn how simply you too can attain the ballet body.
—Natalie Portman
Artistic, Athletic, Attainable
Those three words have become my inspiration for the type of life I want to create, one that is healthy, fun, and full of possibility—not just for myself but for others. These words are close to my heart because they also represent the promise of Ballet Beautiful, a transformative approach to reshaping the body so that it becomes slender, long, and lean with the strength, grace, and elegant carriage of a ballerina. I used this method to train and prepare Natalie Portman for her Academy Award—winning role in
Black Swan.
I have also helped thousands of women around the world lose weight, turn fat into lean muscle, and recontour their bodies so that they too achieve the elegant posture and grace of a ballerina. The basis of my Ballet Beautiful program—and the book you now hold in your hands—is deeply connected to ballet’s incredible artistry and rich yet mysterious tradition. Grace matched with strength is the essence of ballet and the inspiration for this program.