You don't need a tutu to raise the fitness barre

Columnist and Senior Features Writer

Thursday 5 July 2012

I LAST dabbled in ballet as a 10-year-old.

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health & wellbeing how i … got a ballet bod susan swarbrick

Someone at my gymnastics club had noted the long, fluid and graceful lines of the Russian and Romanian gymnasts who dominated at world level was down to regular ballet lessons and it was decided that a weekly class might just help our aspirations on the Scottish scene.

One rainy evening we arrived at the local Scout hall. I remember chalk markings on the splintered wooden floor, a lot of standing around and being told off for talking when I should have been perfecting first position.I went once and didn't return, feigning illness each Wednesday night that miraculously dissipated once 6pm had come and gone.While my gymnastics days are long gone, I'm a keen cyclist and enjoy lifting weights. As someone who builds bulky muscle easily, however, I have noticed that lately I've been getting a little, shall we say, chunky.There's been a lot of buzz in fitness circles about Mary Helen Bowers, a former dancer with New York City Ballet who trained Natalie Portman for her role in Black Swan.In addition to Portman, Bowers has reportedly helped sculpt a whole host of celebrity bodies including Liv Tyler, Zooey Deschanel and Helena Christensen. Her book Ballet Beautiful publishes in the UK this week. What attracts me is that Bowers uses words such as "powerful", "strong" and "lean", rather than skinny or slim as many fitness programmes boast. Most interestingly: it promises visible results in just two weeks.Key to her philosophy is that the masculine energy present in many fitness programmes has never worked for her. Bowers believes the measure of a good fitness programme is how well we can maintain it – because if we aren't happy, it isn't going to work.The book is divided into three parts: mindset, programme and lifestyle. To be honest the first and last are a little too new age for me, so I focus on the programme itself. This begins with a run-through of the five basic positions then moves on to key stretches and posture checks. A 60-minute workout plan features a series of movements targeting different muscle groups from bottom and legs to core and arms. While on paper they lack the punch of jumping around in a cardio class, 10 minutes in the sweat was lashing off me at an embarrassing rate. One downside is that following illustrations in a book is not as easy as doing an instructor-led class or using an exercise video. I use a full length mirror to keep checks on my posture.Bowers makes it look deceptively easy. There is a moment where I am copying her classic swan arms pose. In my head I look graceful, but the reflection staring back at me is akin to one of the ghouls in Scooby-Doo chasing Shaggy and the gang down a deserted mine shaft. As the days pass, however, muscle memory starts to kick in and I do get better at. So does it work? To an extent. Perhaps the biggest benefit is improved posture and that my often stiff joints feel looser. My energy levels are more buoyant too.When I skip the exercises for three days due to a busy diary, I notice the familiar slumped position return to my shoulders as I sit at my desk. So while I might not be performing at Sadler's Wells any time soon, I have a definite spring in my step.Ballet Beautiful by Mary Helen Bowers is published by Vermilion, priced £14.99

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You don't need a tutu to raise the fitness barre

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