Barre3 28 to Great 5 DVD & Ball Set

Works great!

This is the perfect workout for me!! Love all the variety, the instructors are through, and always reminding you of proper alignment. I've had sore hips for a couple years, went to a physical therapist and she suggested these tapes. Best tip ever!! Hips are restored!!

These may serve as a good introduction to barre for people who have not done it before or are just starting a workout routine. As a regular attendee of more energetic barre classes, however, I found them too slow and not challenging enough.

I absolutely love this workout program!

As an hourglass, I have to be careful with barre workouts that work the quads too much since they tend to bulk up my quads to the point where my pants stop fitting in the thighs. I've had this happen when I did Physique 57 for awhile, and also the Ballet Physique workouts. I've only been doing these Barre 3 workouts for about ten days, but already my pants are looser on me. I really like them, and the time flies by!As a heads-up, right now the online shopping channel that starts with a "Q" is selling this entire set for about thirty-six dollars, plus shipping and handling. I don't think that these are worth the hundred-dollar retail price that they're going for, but if you shop around, you can get this entire set for basically a little more than what you'd pay for three of these workouts if you bought them individually.As to the workouts themselves, I really like them. I own a lot of barre workouts (from Physique 57, Ballet Physique, Core Fusion, Tracey Mallett, and Xtend Barre), and these still contain many unique moves that I haven't seen before. For that reason, there is definitely no boredom factor for me. In fact, I've found that barre workouts might seem "easy" at first, but the more you do them and the deeper you go into the moves, the more challenging they become.What is also unique about these workouts is that they're a nice mix of barre, ballet, pilates, and even yoga. The instructors use moves from all three disciplines, but combine them in such a way where you feel lean and lengthened.What I also love about this set is that the two instructors do a lot of stretching, so I really do feel lengthened out with these. Besides losing a bit of weight, I've also found that my posture is much better.The workouts are led by two instructors, Sadie Lincoln (the founder of Barre3) and Candace Ofcacek, both of whom are great instructors. They give lots of form pointers and tips, and have an easy-going attitude, while still encouraging you to work hard.All of the workouts are filmed in a beautiful Barre 3 studio, with wood floors and white curtains on the walls. The music is low-key, but nice. Honestly, when I'm doing these I'm usually shaking so badly that I don't pay too much attention to the music! ;-)To do the workouts, you'll need the following equipment:* A chair or barre to hold onto* Some light dumbbells -- since these rely on high reps, you'll probably want to stick to 2- or 3-pound weights* A yoga mat* The Barre 3 core ball that comes with this setThe set contains the following items:* Burner DVD (40 Minutes) -- with Sadie* Ballet Fit DVD (40 Minutes plus bonus 10 Minute Ballet Core) -- with Candace* Ballet Boot Camp (30 Minutes) -- with Candace* Studio Shape DVD (60 Minutes) -- with Sadie* Standing Slim DVD (30 minutes) -- with Sadie* Barre3 Core Ball* "28 to Great Guide" -- a small pamphlet that gives you a suggested rotation on how to use these for a monthThere is also some diet information included, but it's pretty basic. The idea is to rely on whole, unprocessed foods.Overall, I'm really pleased with this set! As I mentioned at the start of my review, I had been worried about bulking up with these, but I found that they are leaning me out, and my pants, which have been snug recently are fitting better. I even had to grab a belt yesterday to wear a pair of pants that I bought just two months ago. I definitely recommend these!

This workout feels real good on the body yet challenging. Using the ball, most of the exercises work the whole body even if a certain body part, like obliques, is being focused on. Paying attention to the details of holding your heels together, gripping the ball with your thighs and keeping your belly flattened can be very effective. Even after doing this routine for a while, there are still workouts I need to take a break. By the way, I had little dance experience before this. When I was in college, I took a Modern Dance class as part of my art requirement and even though I didn't always look forward to the class, I used to feel amazing and light afterwards. Once I started taking these barre classes, I started to have some of that old feeling with a more practical experience of targeting my butt and core.Drawbacks - it can be confusing which leg you are on for some of the leg routines, better to use the leg she indicates (left, right) versus what you see in order to better keep track. Also, with some of the leg lift exercises, your belly is supposed to stay flat and not jut out but I can't seem to do it if I lower my legs even a little bit - maybe I'm missing something here.These barre workouts are very accessible, and effective enough where results are immediately seen, yet not too taxing where you eventually burnout. As an example of how effective they are, when I do miss a week or so due to vacation or other conflict, some of the stuff can become challenging again, especially the straight arm plank which I never seem to completely get used to. I do believe if these were harder, I would not be as apt to do them everyday. I have taken the studio classes when I am near one, which are much harder and intense, but you also have the energy of the instructor and the studio to keep you motivated – not so much at home.I do have plans to try their on-line challenge to see if there are workouts that are a little more intense for certain days (Sadie did mention plyometric moves that involve jumping). On the fifth day of this workout, instead of using one of the other workouts, I like to use either the Brazil Butt Lift dvds such as 'Bum Bum' and/or 'Sculpt' or Pop Physiques’ 'Hardcore'.I bought these per Leann’s review and at a much cheaper price on another site. Compared to Beachbody sets of similar size, Amazon’s price is way out of line even with the ball included.

I bought this set when I needed a change from the Ballet Body series. At first I didn't find it as challenging as Ballet Body but I really got hooked on the unique workouts. Their way of instructing not only makes you feel comfortable but is very clear on the proper way to do the different moves. It caters to all levels of fitness and is even great for people back and knee problems. I feel great after doing these workouts and my posture has improved greatly (I have scoliosis in my upper and lower spine). I'm kind of a Barre 3 addict now and have even subscribed to their online workouts.