X-Tend yourself!

There are some moments in life that you’ll never forget; moments you’re transported straight back to upon the waft of a certain smell or hearing a particular song. For me, laying my eyes on the iconic Arnott’s biscuit tin takes me right back to the age of 9, standing centre stage at the Burswood Theatre.

It was the annual Betty Bentley Dance Academy concert and I had just caused my dance partner and I to ruin our part of our class' Jazz routine, which we'd been practising for months. As I was served a spray of insults from my partner, the tears welled in my eyes and I knew I wouldn't be able to face the class again. So much so, that I didn't even say goodbye to my teacher. The Christmas present I'd bought her; a tin of Arnott's biscuits, proceeded to sit in our pantry for months, serving as a reminder of how terrible I was at dancing.

Stupid biscuits

Back in the present, almost eighteen years after my dancing days were cut short, a friend of mine Sarah, suggested I join her at an X-Tend Barre class. X-Tend Barre is an exercise class which fuses dance, Pilates and sculpting exercises at the ballet barre. After the initial shock and countless images of that stupid biscuit tin wore off, I thought it was about time I got over my fear of dancing and decided to join her.

 

I've got to admit, I was super nervous and to make matters worse, I had no idea what to wear! Luckily Sarah advised the day before, that normal gym clothes would suffice, saving me the embarrassment of rocking up with a brand new tutu and set of ballet pumps.

 

 

 

 

 

The class

 

The class started like any other gym class, with a cardio warm up. However instead of grapevines and knee repeaters, we were faced with choreography involving classic ballet moves such as demi-plie's, tendu's and releve's. After 5 minutes of this I was a little dishevelled, a little self conscious and most certainly out of breath, but it was starting to sink in.

After the warm up we quickly moved onto working our arms, which involved ballet moves with 1kg dumbbells in each hand. "1kg!?!" I hear you say...Let's just say I couldn't raise my arms into 'fifth position' for the rest of the week!

Finally we made it onto the barre, which quickly became my favourite part of the X-Tend barre class. We pulsed through more tendus, leg lifts, plies, ball squeezes and arabesques until we were giggling like 6 years olds at the sight of our shaky jelly legs.

Most of the exercises are done up on your toes, something I've found quite
difficult to get used to!

Now we all know that no workout is complete without working the abs, so we hit the floor once more and then finished the class with a series of graceful stretches and a big clap for our super fit instructor. 

 

The price

I enjoyed my classes at Perth Pilates Studio, where new members can purchase 1 month unlimited passes for just $89. However, if you wish to attend a single session, you'll pay about $23 per class.

 

The benefits

 

This 55-minute full body workout is certainly a new way to look at exercise. Not quite as slow as Pilates, and not requiring as much co-ordination as ballet itself. It has been said that if you commit to 3 or more session per week, it will strengthen, lengthen, and stretch the body from top to bottom with the end result being a long and lean physique… without added bulk. I'm yet to see results, even though I've been attending a couple of times a week (I might add that I feel this has nothing to do with the amount of food I've been enjoying of late).

The verdict

 

So will I continue? Well, I am almost at the end of my month of unlimited classes and although I have really enjoyed the new challenge, I'm not sure I will.

 

I am a sucker for a good workout which leaves you drenched with sweat and unable to drive a manual car home. Although I woke up sore after each session, it just didn't seem enough for me. And at $23 per class, you'd want it to!

 

You'll also be pleased to know that you can still get through the class if you're a terrible dancer. There's also no need for a partner, so if you stuff up just smile politely and make sure you say goodbye to the teacher on your way out. 

 

Tune into channel 9 news tonight to see xtend barre and power plate featured as 2 of the hottest exercise trends this year!