There is no doubt that one of the best workouts going around is Xtend Barre, which offers an ultimate full-body workout that combines the science of Pilates with the energy of dance to create a dynamic and safe workout. 

Inspired by the exercises traditionally practised by ballerinas at a barre to strengthen up their muscles and joints, this workout is not only enjoyable, but it will seriously sculpt you too. This is one of those workouts where you will no doubt discover muscles that you didn’t even know you had. 

While there are studios dotted around Australia, you can also Xtend at home via live stream or on demand. To get you started, here are 5 of the easiest barre exercises to do at home.

Plié

Plié is a French word meaning to bend and stretch the legs. It is a foundational exercise in barre and is great for toning the lower body. Use a barre, kitchen table or a chair that is above hip height to help you balance. 

  • Start by standing up straight with your legs and feet together in parallel.
  • Rock back on the heels and open your toes into natural turnout or first position to create a v shape with the feet.
  • Bend and stretch your legs down and up.
  • To bend, pretend to slide down an imaginary wall. Keep shoulders over hips, and hips stacked over feet.
  • To stand, press into the floor with four corners of the feet, squeeze bottom and slide the spine back up the imaginary wall.
  • Keep heels connected to the floor at all times and bend the knees to create a diamond shape, with the knees tracking over the second and third toes.

Once you’ve got the hang of the plié movement, you can add pulses at the bottom and step the feet out just wider than the hips to perform the same movement in second position of the feet. 

This is a great exercises for strengthening your legs, toning your glutes and improving your hip and ankle mobility. You can also add in arm movements to tone your arms at the same time too.

Plié to passe

A plié to passe adds more cardio, balance and strength to the movement. It is great for strengthening your legs and glutes but also exceptionally good for your abs. 

You can do this movement from a first or second position plié as described above.

The passe itself is when you are standing on one leg (usually on the ball of your foot) with the other leg lifted in a diamond shape and the toe drawn up to knee height. So like a half standing plié. 

How you do the exercise is:

  • Stand side on to the barre/ chair/ kitchen bench and hold onto it with one hand
  • Start in first or second position, then bend your legs into a plié, knees over second and third toe 
  • As you push yourself back to standing, start to rise onto the ball of the foot closest to your barre/ chair/ kitchen bench that you are working with. Your weight will move to be over that leg. Then, bring the other leg up so the foot ends at your knee to make a half diamond shape. Your food should end slightly just above your knee
  • Try and balance here for a few seconds, drawing your belly button to your spine and lifting tall through the crown of your head. Then release the leg back out towards the ground where you started and repeat. 

Plié to Curtsy

  • From second position plié, step the leg further away from your barre back behind you so your toe is in line with the front heel
  • Front foot stays flat and the back foot should have a high heel
  • Both knees are bent, keeping your weight even between both front and back foot
  • Step back to second plie and repeat, opening arms out and in to mimic the legs

Foldover

Foldover is another key Xtend Barre move, usually performed at the end of the barre series to work the glutes, hamstrings and core.

  • Face towards your barre/chair/bench top, take a step back, and bring the legs and feet together in parallel
  • Hinge from the hips to lift up and over and place folded arms onto the barre
  • Heels stay directly under hips, and soften your knees
  • Stretch one leg behind you, with tip of the toe on the floor, keep weight in other leg to support you
  • Lift the leg up into the air in line with the rest of your body, no higher, and lower with control

Keep the shoulders drawing down and away from your ears, and draw the belly button up towards the spine to protect your lower back. Stretch your leg long like it’s going to hit the wall behind you. Use the breath to help you in the movement – exhale to lift the leg, inhale to lower.

To make it more challenging hold the leg up in the air and pulse it up and inch and down an inch. You can also move into a hamstring curl by flexing the foot and bending to knee to bring the heel towards your tailbone and back out. Don’t forget to repeat on the other leg to even yourself up!

Lunge into a knee lift and lunge pulses 

Lunges are a great exercise for toning up your legs and your lower abs. You can do this at the barre or you can balance on your own too.

  • Stand up straight with your feet shoulder width apart
  • Step one leg backwards to make 2 x 90 degree angles in the legs, with the back knee pointing towards the floor and the front knee over the ankle

That is the fundamentals of a lunge, to progress it you can do pulses where you slightly pulse up and down to tone the smaller muscles in your legs and glutes. You can also do a lunge to knee lift. From the lunge position, simply press down into the front foot and sweep the bag leg forwards bringing the foot off the floor and the knee towards your chest.

Mini arm workout with small weights or veggie cans

You need to hit all your muscles in a workout and that is why a mini arm workout is great. With very light weights or even cans of veggies, reach your arms out to the side, with palms facing forward and a soft bend in your elbows. Make sure you can see your fingers in your peripheral vision in and lift tall through the crown of your head, shoulders relaxed.

  • Slowly circle your arms back for 30 seconds
  • Slowly circle your arms forward for 30 seconds
  • Close and open your arms for 30 seconds, bringing the fingers towards one another and then reaching back out to the side like you are hugging a tree
  • Turn the palms up to the ceiling, squeeze your elbows into your waist and then reach the arms back out to shoulder height for 30 seconds
  • Finish with the arms out to the side and take little mini reaches through the fingers for 30 seconds