Ballet Beautiful: Transform Your Body and Gain the Strength, Grace and Focus of a Ballet Dancer (18 page)

b
Bend the working knee back into attitude and then stretch and extend the knee again, stretching back into arabesque.

c
Remember to keep your upper body relaxed, your neck long, and your stomach engaged. Fully stretch your knee in arabesque each time.
8 counts, 2 sets.

/A.
For the advanced version, do 4 sets of 8 counts, remembering to keep your stomach pulled in and working.

a
Return to a Reverse Bridge with Arabesque Extension, with your stomach engaged and the working leg lifted into the air and stretched into an arabesque.

b
Now lower the leg slightly before lifting it higher into arabesque, then back onto the mat.
8 counts, 4 sets.

Stretch
:
Classic Hamstring Stretch and Upper Body Stretch with Port de Bras.

Repeat the last five exercises on the other leg.

In this section, we are transitioning into work on the abdominals, with a focus on the lower abdomen. Your lowers abs are the part of your stomach muscles that run deep through your center. They are a hard part of the stomach to tighten and tone, and that’s why I like to focus on them! Think about the area just between your hipbones and pull it in tight. This is your lower abdomen.

Here is the classic starting position for getting connected to your lower abs.

STARTING POSTION:
From a seated position on the floor, extend your legs out long. Pull your stomach in toward your spine and extend your upper body behind you, engaging with your center and taking a slight bend in your knees. Lift your arms out in front of you into first position. Make sure you have plenty of extra padding under your tailbone—I sometimes roll up my mat or towel for more comfort. Remember the principle of keeping the stomach pulled in tight and engaged—it’s important that you pull in and scoop through the stomach as you perform these abs exercises to get a flat, defined center and not one overly built up with muscles.

The range of motion on this exercise is small, but the movement deeply engages the abs. As you gain strength from the workout, your range of motion may increase.

a
Get started by extending back to a position where your abs are engaged and pulling your stomach in tight. Pull your upper body back by about 30 degrees and pull in to engage your lower abs.

b
Lean back slightly, pulling in through your abs as you lower and lift your upper body, making certain not to lift your torso up to a position that allows your stomach to relax. Keep your head and arms lifted and stay relaxed throughout your upper body so that you don’t strain your neck.
8 counts, 3 sets.
Hold on the last count of 8.

If you are just getting started and have pain in your lower back, start with one set of 10, take a break, and then try 10 more. When the abdominal muscles get fatigued and give out, your lower back sometimes takes over; at this point, stop, stretch, and start again. Working with fewer reps allows you to increase your strength over time and build up to the full number of reps.

As with Classic Ballet Beautiful Abs, the range of motion here is small—in fact, it’s even smaller!—but this exercise is very effective.

a
Hold back into the extended position, arms rounded in first position in front, and pull your stomach in tight.

b
Stay extended through your spine, with your chin slightly down as you open your arms to second position and pulse back toward the floor, pulling in through your lower abs. Don’t curve your shoulders or hunch, but feel yourself lifted as your core is engaged.
8 counts, 3 sets.

/B.
If you are just getting started, put your arms behind your knees or keep them resting behind you so that you can focus on your abs and on pulling them in. If you feel weak through your center or are experiencing lower back pain, go slowly on these. You can begin with sets of 5 or 10 reps and stretch as you go. As you build up strength through your center, add more reps—always remembering to listen to your body’s needs.

/A.
For an advanced version extend the arms side in second position.