2014 Mission #1…A B.you-tifully Toned Bubble Butt!!!

Strategy:  B.Silque Lifted Crab!!!!

Talk about a bubble burner…Lifted Crab will hurt so good and get you that toned bubble butt you’ve always wanted!  This exercise uses your  body weight and the silque as resistance to work your outer bum.  Begin by cradling your entire back side, from under your seat to over you head.  Hands and arms relax in an overhead prayer position.  Make sure your legs are fully extended toward the ceiling with feet flexed.  You will get the most resistance and benefit if you allow your toes to peek out the back of the silque as pictured down below!  

Once you’re in position, begin to press out on the silque, opening the legs wide with the goal of a straddle.  You will feel the burn instantly in your outer glute muscles!  This exercise uses your entire body’s weight as resistance as you press your legs open and contract the bubble.  Check out perfect form below:

When you complete the sets, you’ll desperately need to hug those knees to your chest for a quick release!!!  Then, it’s time to dismount.  As with all our transitions in B.Silque Lifted, the transitions are completely optional.  If you aren’t ready to brave the flip quite yet, then just sit up and step out of the silque.  But hey, it’s a New Year….so why not give it a shot?!?!?!  Here’s a step by step guide below.  Think….YES YOU CAN!!!!!!  

HAPPY SNOW DAY…HAPPY FRIDAY….AND HAPPY JANUARY BEAUTEES!!!!

Get those shapely and b.you-tiful TRICEPS this Form Friday as we highlight the Reverse Pushup!!!!   

As always, proper set up is key!  First you want to sit and plant your feet flat on the mat hips distance apart.  Place your palms just under your shoulders with your fingertips facing towards your heels or slightly out to the side.  Lift your hips from the mat just a few inches.  Now it’s time to move!  

In reverse push-ups, you want to bend your arm at your elbow towards the back.  This exercise is not a movement of the hips!  Just bend at the elbow and press up, only contracting the triceps.  But of course, keep that core tight!  

To make the movement more challenging, shift your hips back towards your palms, which gives more weight and more resistance.  You can also vary this exercise by extending one leg towards the ceiling (as pictured below) or in tabletop.  Try these tips next time in class, and your TRICEPS will feel the BURN!!!  

Have a Happy New Year, Beautees!!!! 

It’s Round Back time on this very chilly Form Friday!!!!

After pulling your mat halfway up the wall and sitting up against it, set up for round back by placing your palms beside your hips, lifting your hips up and tilting your pelvic floor up as you lower yourself back to the mat.  You should be sitting on the area just above your tailbone.  Feet are in parallel, hips distance apart and flat on the mat.  Press your hands up on the barre, while pressing your shoulders down away from your ears.  Your spine is rounded and belly button pulls down towards the mat. Core zips up and in.  

Once you find that perfect position and contraction, you can advance and bring your knees to tabletop.  Knees stack right on top of hips, legs in a 90 degree angle.  You can keep your palms pressing up on the barre or take a gentle grip on the back of your thighs as Steph is showing us in the picture below.  

Now pulse your knees slightly toward your chest, pulling your belly button down and in, exhaling and contracting.  Modify by keeping your feet flat on the mat in parallel.  

Don’t get discouraged if you have a difficult time finding your abs in round back!  Just keep trying these tips and you will get it!!!!!  Round back is an awesome core shaper!!!!  

Be safe and warm on this cold and snowy weekend!!!! XOXOXO Barre Beautees!!!!

It’s Form Friday and we decided to shake it up a bit!!!  We thought you might like to see our B.Silque Lifted™ Superman!!! It is one of our FAV transitional moves! It is challenging, yet oh so rewarding! Here we bring the How To straight to YOU!

First you take both feet in front of your body and bring your silque to the plumb line.  Take a single hand hug and pull your chin just over the silque and kick your legs through the center of the silque.  With control, land with your hips on the silque or just slightly below the hips in superman.  Once you are in a secure position, readjust your hands by sliding them up the silque and allow the chest to open more.  Legs now extend long and core-set tightens even more. To dismount, simply allow the left foot to lower to the mat followed by the right foot and let the chest lift to standing.

Seems simple enough right? This simple transition flip from say ankle cradle bridge to lifted Core-set duty, works the WHOLE upper body as well as the core! Join us Friday’s at 11am or all week long during our B.Silque Lifted™ class to master Superman!

Happy Friday Beautees

XOXO

B.YOU™ Inspire-ers

Flatten your belly in FLAT BACK!!!!

It’s time to fight the holiday pounds and flatten your belly in Flat Back…a huge core toner!!!!  But don’t get discouraged, this exercise takes time and practice to master!!!  Take these Form Friday tips to your next b.barre class, and you will feel the tone and burn!!!  

First, you’ll want to make sure your back is completely glued to the wall/mat.  Hinging forward and inching yourself back will ensure you are flush and ready to work!  Next, you’ll want to take an underhand grip on the barre, keeping your elbows close and shoulders plugged down.  Gently pulling out on the barre and slightly hinging  your chest over your abdominal wall will help you press your lower back into the wall and pull your abdominals up and in.  Lifting the abs will lift the pelvis and put you in perfect form to get ready to move!

Check out Stephanie below in perfect FLAT BACK form….

No matter which variation you are doing (legs bent or extended), you’ll want to make sure you don’t use your thighs to lift.  It’s a huge mind body connection in FLAT BACK!  You have to take the work out of your quads and put the contraction in your abdominals.    Try lowering your legs or alternating one leg at a time to help you focus more on the core.  

Try these tips and if you still have trouble finding the connection, ask your Inspire-er for help before or after class.  That’s what we’re here for…to help YOU master the exercises and get the most out of your workout!!!  

HAPPY FRIDAY BEAUTEES!!!!

Your LOW carb Pretzel!

This Friday we have decided to take on Pretzel! When performed in proper form, the reward is body changing! Practice makes perfect in this glute focused variation and we are here to help you master it!

Standing pretzel is where we LOVE it most at B.YOU. Whether standing profile to the barre or facing it, the set up of a perfect pretzel remains the same. Lets work together this week to shape & lift the bubble 🙂

Pictured below Stephanie is facing profile to the barre, with the inside hip lightly touching the barre. The standing leg is soft with the hips squared forward and abs engaged. Start to extend the outside leg back behind the standing leg and then out at a diagonal. Bend the leg in half and rotate the outside hip externally! Engage by shifting the outside hip back forward!

Now lets check alignment! For the outside glute to engage, the working leg needs to be behind the standing leg. The hip is open and the knee is pointed out. The working leg’s toe should be pointed or flexed based on your Inspire-er’s cue, but the foot is pointing towards the foot that is on the mat. This will help bring the working leg’s shin parallel to the wall behind you! Check the abs, hips, chest, & chin! Keep them lifted & engaged throughout the exercise!

Before you start your variations cued by the Inspire-er, make sure you are contracted in your targeted glute. If you don’t have it, don’t move it. Keep adjusting until you find your glute muscles catch! Be careful not to over extend the spine or tuck the pelvis! Keep your hips inline with each other and your chest and shoulders strong!

Make sure you learn your proper pretzel position this week! Inspire-ers are standing by to help you succeed!!!

Happy Friday Beautees!

Oh So AB-ilicious

Who does not like ab work?!? We base our figure and our fitness level off of how are abs look…which is wrong! At B.YOU™ we focus on keeping our CORE-set tight through out every exercise, which is working all of our abdominal muscles. We use them for stability, balance, and to protect the rest of our body!

We give YOU a polisher at the end of BarreAmped classes with our fun & abdominal exercise C-Curve aka The Curl. You are working all of your abdominals to the top of your chest, your obliques {side} and into your pelvic floor. Love it? Hate it? Yes, it is a love-hate relationship that makes us feel amazing afterwards! Success starts with set up, here YOU go:

Begin sitting up tall with a long neutral spine with your feet flat in front of you and hips distance apart. Take your pinky through pointer finger under your knee caps with your thumbs on top of your knees. Allow your shoulders to roll down away from ears with your elbows out. Chin is lifted off your chest and your chest is open, now is where you begin to roll down allowing your abs to curl your pelvic floor up, with belly button pressing down towards the mat and chest rolling over your abdominal muscles. This creates the C shape in your spine. Your goal is to strengthen your abs enough to allow you to go lower with the small of your back into the mat.

YOU will get there!

Never roll down too low where your abs don’t have a chance to engage and your feet float off the mat. This usually will create a lot of negative tension in your neck! We don’t want that. We want your obliques and every inch of your abs to be quivering! So press your feet into the floor through all 4 points of your feet and make sure your abs are buying not your neck! 

We hope you have enjoyed this Form Friday as well as enjoyed your Halloween!

Have a FAB-you-lous weekend

XOXO

We are feeling the weather change this week and bundling up!!! Make sure you check out our cover ups and comfy scarves to help you keep warm and comfortable before & after workouts!

This Friday we bring you Water Ski to help your body stay warm! This BarreAmped burner will leave you feeling untouchably strong & your leg muscles ignited during this cold front!

This advanced thigh exercise is slightly difficult to properly find yourself in and we want to help you become successful because the results are phenomenal! As you know, form is key! Here is the proper set up to melt your body into perfect form:

1. Start by bringing your hips to the barre and place your hands about shoulder width apart with palms down. Grabbing around the barre place the tips of your toes only 1 inch from the baseboard and your heels together.

2. In one swift move engage your core & begin squeezing your heels together as you lift your heels to High V {toes only 2 in. apart from one another} and allow your knees to flare open. Your hips in tandem will be lifting towards the barre and your chest rounds over your abdominal wall creating the S shape in your body.

3. Now it’s time to check form once your body seems engaged. Start from the feet up! High releve’ with heels glued and big toes just slightly apart in a narrow V. Knees are open and hips are pressed towards the barre while your abs are engaged and your chest rounds over your abdominal wall.

4. Ensure you check your shoulders. We want them pressed away from the ears and maintained in their pockets! Chest is always open and chin always lifted. Just like always maintain the chin-pelvis alignment as well as the back of your head with the tailbone! This ensures a safe spine!

One thing to check in this exercise is that 1. Your heels don’t drop & 2. You are not squeezing your seat to lift the hips! Its all core 🙂

We hope you enjoyed this Form Friday and just remember to take your mind back to the warmer weather as you feel like you are Skiing on the water!!!

If you haven’t read our last post-Stretching to B. your Best YOU, check it out!     Because stretching is so important, we’ve devoted 2 weeks & B.Silque™ Stretched is this week!

Check Rashna out in this inverted child’s pose! This stretch focuses on your lower back, your arms, shoulders and allows your entire body to relax! It not only relaxes your body, but this fantastic stretch allows your mind to unwind!

In order to melt into this relaxing stretch you must first properly get into an inversion! Follow these steps to success: Stand in front your silque {silk}, with your hands in a back hand hug place the silque at the small of your back. Leaning in to your silque, keeping your spinal alignment, allow your silque to be secure by your body weight and slide your hands a little higher than your hips. Core must be completely engaged to prevent injury! As you lean back, straddle both legs wide and allow your thighs to catch you from falling through the silque. The wider you allow your straddle, the more secure and successful you will be! Keep holding onto your silque and allow your heels and feet to come in front of your silque and in front of your body and slide them through the silque latching your toes around the fabric. Keeping your knees bent you will now feel locked into your silque and you can release your hands!  You should feel very comfortable and secure in your silque and with your inversion at this time. If you do not feel locked, your feet may be wrapped the wrong direction. You can always set back up and try again! Once you are ready allow your arms to spread and the ops of your hands to skim the top of the floor! Once you stop swinging, you can take your hands down to the mat and walk yourself forward into your inverted child’s pose!

We hope you are now relaxed and your mind unwinding! Enjoy this awesome stretch next time you are in our B.Silque™ Lifted I class!

xoxo

Happy Friday Beautees