"Your Body Doesn't Just Have A Front And A Back..."

"It also has sides."

Ellen Barrett shared that odd bit of painfully obvious information with me yesterday afternoon during my first attempt at "Grace & Gusto". I laughed and likely even barked something snarky back.

Fast forward to today. Whadya know? My body has sides. And holy mother of moly do they hurt.

If you want a deceptively simple workout, try this one. As you've likely gleaned, I'm a big fan of Ellen Barrett's workouts. I started with her Crunch titles for about a year and have now moved on to her fusion studio series (a bunch of which are live - and that really ups the energy), starting with Power Fusion for the past four months, 2x a week. There are a whole bunch of titles in the series and they all blend together for a full week of workouts if that's something you're after - there's Power Fusion, Grace & Gusto, Fusion Flow, Fat Burning Fusion and Barefoot Cardio. I can only vouch for PF and G&G so far.

All of her workouts feature a methodical mashup of yoga, pilates and dance - and you don't have to have any clue about any of these disciplines to get through them.  She blends them together seamlessly. In fact, if you were thinking of getting into yoga or pilates and are more familiar with basic cardio routines, this series is probably a great bridge.

Overall, what I like about Ellen's approach: Her workouts move around a lot. There's little repetition - at least, what does repeat doesn't happen all at the same time - so, they're not monotonous. She explains things - the how and the why of every move. She lets you off easy and doesn't scream at you a la Jillian Michaels (so not my cup of tea - I prefer to yell, not to be yelled at). She works to build your total body fitness (explaining the "flow" mentioned in many titles). This helps you learn how to use your whole body, as opposed to merely targeting trouble spots in isolation. Oh, and the only piece of equipment you need is your body and a mat. Honestly, if you have a carpet, you don't even need a mat!

This 45 minute workout really flew by and I was surprised by how not wiped out I felt afterwards. Part of me wondered if it really had any affect at all.

Oh...it did. This one's definitely staying in the rotation. It works a lot of the same areas as the kettlebells, actually - with a lot less power and potential danger. I think my kettlebell is going to become a glorified dumbbell for my strength training days - or a doorstop. My lower back is going to be thrilled.