Skip to main content

4 Ballet Moves For A Beautiful Body

Mary Helen Bowers, who trained Natalie Portman for Black Swan, reveals key exercises from the actress's fitness routine.

Every good workout begins with mat work! Ballet Beautiful founder Mary Helen Bowers shares a few of her favorite exercises from her new video series, debuting online next month.
1. Lengthen Your Bod
“Stretching before and after every workout keeps muscles supple and helps elongate the lines of a ballerina’s limbs,” says Bowers. “Begin by lying on your back and bringing your leg above you, pulling the ankle gently toward your head. Work toward stretching your knee all the way straight over time. Change legs.”
Ballet BeautifulBallet Beautiful
2. Be Ab-Fab:
“For a ballerina, the center of balance is everything—creating a strong center of balance begins with building strong abdominal muscles,” says Bowers. “Lie on your back with your knees slightly bent and the arms open wide in second position. Lift the body up, contracting the abs as you close the arms to first position—a wide yet graceful circle with the hands—just above the abdomen. Pull the stomach in, closing and opening the arms as you lift up and lower. Repeat 30 times.”
Ballet Beautiful
Ballet Beautiful
3. Firm Your Behind
According to Bowers, ballerinas are known for their “tight, toned butts!” To work on your derrière, begin on your hands and knees and make sure you have plenty of cushion underneath. “Bring one knee into your chest and then extend the leg straight back, into arabesque,” says Bowers. “Stretch the knee all the way and be sure to pull in through your stomach. Repeat 30 times, then change legs.”
Ballet Beautiful
Ballet Beautiful
4. Tone Those Arms!
Ballerinas are known for their elegant posture and strong yet graceful upper bodies. “Sitting down on the mat, extend your legs out straight and place your hands just behind your hips, with the fingers facing the outer edge of the mat,” says Bowers. “Lift your hips off the mat as you stretch the elbows, keeping your chest open and your neck long. Pull your stomach in tight and then bend the elbows slightly. Repeat this 30 times.”
Ballet Beautiful
Ballet Beautiful

Read More From ELLE

Natalie Portman's Hairstyles - Vote For Her Best Looks

Cher vs. Christina: Whose Hair & Makeup Is Hottest?

History's Sexiest Bombshells
Related: work out, stretching, stretching, natalie portman, natalie portman, dance, black swan, black swan, ballet, ballet, ballerina, ballerina

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blake Griffin with his head at the rim

After knocking himself out of the 2009-10 season after hurting his knee during a dunk attempt, it's still OK to cringe a bit every time you see Blake Griffin (notes) readying a launch. And apparently, now we have to worry about his head knocking the rim just as much as his knees handling the descent. It speaks to the level of credibility that the Dunk Contest owns these days that when word hit Wednesday that Blake Griffin was open to the idea of entering the NBA's annual stuffing show, we were actually more concerned than excited. Would Griffin, clearly the master of the in-game dunk just two months into his NBA career, be able to in any way match his prowess in an exhibition setting? Was there a risk of him needlessly hurting himself in the process? About 11 minutes into Wednesday's Rockets/Clippers matchup, the worries became outright fears. Because Blake went and did this. That's a 6-9 guy jumping off a surgically repaired kneecap with his head at th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Payroll tax cut worries Social Security advocates

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's plan to cut payroll taxes for a year would provide big savings for many workers, but makes Social Security advocates nervous that it could jeopardize the retirement program's finances. The plan is part of a package of tax cuts and extended unemployment benefits that Obama negotiated with Senate Republican leaders. It would cut workers' share of Social Security taxes by nearly one-third for 2011. Workers making $50,000 in wages would get a $1,000 tax cut; those making $100,000 would get a $2,000 tax cut. The government would borrow about $112 billion to make Social Security whole. Advocates and some lawmakers worry that relying on borrowed money to fund Social Security could eventually force it to compete with other federal programs for scarce dollars, leading to cuts. Social Security taxes "ought to be held sacrosanct," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., chairman of the House Ways and Means subco...
Post a Comment
Read more

Look at Kim Kardashian's Engangement Ring

Behold, the $2 million, 20.5 carat ring Kris Humphries gave to Kim Kardashian . Humphries designed the ring with jeweler Lorraine Schwartz, who is a "longtime Kardashian friend." Kardashian gushed about the rock to People . "In high school I went to Macy's and bought this fake ring, my 'perfect' ring, and this is almost the exact same," she said. "It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It's perfect." Kim said she wanted something that would be "her own," distinct from sister Khloe's $850,000, radiant-cut ring. So they went for an emerald cut, with a 16.5-carat center stone and a couple of two-carat trapezoid stones surrounding it. As for Humphries, it seems the basketball player had one thing on his mind in selecting the perfect ring. "I just knew I wanted it to be big!" he told People . And in that, he undoubtedly succeeded. Bauergriffinonline.com has more photos of Kim Kardashian and ...
Post a Comment
Read more