Health & Fitness: Get shaking with Bodytree Body dancer bootcamp

Kara Martin 10:18 15/10/2015
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  • BodyTree Body sessions bring together fat-blasting cardio and choreography.

    If you think circuit training and CrossFit is tough, try Bodytree Body, the dancer’s equivalent of a boot camp which marries high-energy, fat-blasting cardio and choreography.

    There are no bulky exercise units, weight plates, bars, rowing machines, or massive tractor tyres to flip in this studio; just mirrors, ballet bars, mats, impossibly small weights in pretty colours, and a small selection of non-threatening looking “toys” to further assist in what is already a brutal workout on its own. 

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    The walls aren’t painted with graffiti, the windows aren’t blacked out. In fact, Saadiyat Beach Club’s studio boasts one of the most heavenly views in Abu Dhabi of palm-tree lined pools, sun, sand and sea. 

    Gangsta rap is not needed to boost morale here; these guys blast happy dance remixes of popular radio songs which somehow, 
    accompanied with the complex choreography, just make you want to whimper and cry instead of shake a leg. And actually, your legs will shake on their own eventually, involuntarily. 

    Bodytree Body instructor Anya Tarasiuk says: “Bodytree Body was devised when two of our head trainers thought to come up with a high-intensity training class to offer clients, but one with a dance element still in it (as dance is one of the core practices Bodytree is known for). 

    “Dancing is just plain fun. To have that element in a class that’s also designed to get your heart rate up, work you hard and rapidly burn fat is the ideal, right?”

    After a thorough warm-up, Anya takes us straight into a dance cardio segment that takes a little co-ordination and getting used to. You will start off looking very out of place, but 30 minutes into the class and you’ll know the routine so well when it comes around again that it’s like a dress rehearsal for a show you’re in that evening.

    It's not just for ladies; men to can enjoy BodyTree Body sessions.

    “There’re a few steps that we learn bit by bit each class that gets put together. And it’s not hard, it’s just so that everyone can eventually get it and move together quickly to get their heart rates up without it feeling too much like a serious workout,” explains Anya, her big tip throughout our huffing and puffing being just to smile through it. 

    Thoroughly warm now, next is a section of exercises where weights are strapped round our wrists to work arms.

    “These are really light weights, about .45kg each, but they really make a difference in targeting the little tiny muscles of the arms,” says Anya. “You’ll be surprised how much it burns.”

    And yet, she ups the ante and makes us grab hold of light weights as well for small but sneakily painful moves that encourage a full range of motion. 

    Basically, it’s not just ‘dumbbells up, dumbbells down’ here; it’s ‘up, down, then take them behind you as you swivel your arms clockwise, then counterclockwise, punch and pulse’; and your muscles are just not used to that much variety if you’re a run-of-the-mill fitness class goer.

    Each body part, from chest to core, legs and glutes, receives this treatment in exhaustive repetitions at some point during the class, ensuring that both the surface as well as the underlying muscles, all corners of the body, are engaged and affected in full.

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    “The creators of Bodytree Body, Nadia Sehweil and Anissa Lickrish, are actually ballet-trained and that’s evident in a great deal of the moves,” explains Anya, who likens it to higher-energy ballet barre classes.

    One way to double the amount of calories you burn is through interval training, which consists of alternating periods of high-and low-intensity activity, and Anya loves it. This stop-start movement is said to strengthen the heart muscles and improve a person’s aerobic capacity, permitting them to exercise for longer and/or at more intense levels.

    We do eight timed intervals in the middle of Bodytree Body. They consist of 30 seconds of hard work per exercise (body weight exercises like squat twists, lunge jumps, plank jumping jacks, and the infamous burpees), each followed by 30 seconds rest.  

    And when you feel like you’ve sweated enough, you haven’t as it’s either down on the mats or back in front of the mirror to “play” with “toys” like resistance bands and ankle weights in painful yet highly effective attempts to tighten and tone.

    “Indeed, Bodytree Body works on toning a whole lot. Seriously, ladies wanting to curve and tighten up in the lower region should check it out as we really get to work on the three major gluteal muscles,” says Anya.

    “More than just toning, it’s a programme designed for quick fat and calorie burning (during and even after the class), and just whole-body strength.

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    “I believe that people should really be doing lots of different types of workouts all the time to mix things up and surprise the body and Bodytree Body offers a whole range of stuff in the one session. Even better, the hour goes by so fast.

    She adds: “It’s a challenging class. If anyone is currently doing Barre classes already, they’ll love this because it takes it up to another level.  

    “That said, I believe it’s suited to everyone (unless you’re injured because there’s a lot of impact work and jumping around). 

    “And it’s not just for women, men come and get on well in my classes too.” 

    Various styles and levels of Bodytree Body classes currently run several times a week at the main Bodytree Studio in Khalidiyah, and at Saadiyat Beach Club on Mondays at 9am. Mixed as well as ladies-only sessions are available, and prices vary per venue. 

    What: Bodytree Body classes
    Where: Bodytree Studio, Khalidiyah and Saadiyat Beach Club
    Where: www.bodytreestudio.com

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