Get a dancer s body with the Ballet Beautiful fitness method

Professional dancer and exercise guru, Mary Helen, believes every woman can have a ballerina’s body.

It’s fair to say that Mary Helen Bowers is a bit of a big-wig in the ballet world.

She got a full scholarship to the school of American ballet at 15 and by 16 she was a full time member of the New York City ballet.

After a ten year career dancing all over the world she decided to create the Ballet Beautiful fitness method to help all women get the beauty, strength and grace of aballerina.

Now she’s put all of her techniques and diet advice into one incredible book with a forward by Natalie Portman, who credits Mary for getting her in shape for Oscar-winning ballet thriller, Black Swan.

The book doesn’t teach you how to be a prima ballerina; instead it shows you thekey stretches and movements that will strengthen and tone your muscles while improving flexibility and posture.

Here’s a sneak peek of one of the exercises from the book....

-Every ballet beautiful workout begins with a simple stretch to open and release the muscles in your back hips and legs. Hold stretches for anywhere from 10 to 90 seconds, depending on how much time you have available and how tight your body feels.

- Sit on the floor or your mat, legs in front of you. Bend your left knee towards your hips and extend your right leg out long on the floor in front of you.

-Extend your body forward towards your right foot, keeping your knee straight. Reach toward your right foot with both hands as the muscles begin to open through the back of your hamstring and leg.

-Don’t worry about whether your left hip reaches the floor or about how low it is; everyone’s hips are different. Your hips will loosen and open over time.

-For a more advanced variation add a twist in the upper body. While extending forward with the upper body, lift the arm on the same side as your extended leg into the air, looking up and back behind you and taking a gentle twist with the spine. Open through the chest and stretch long through the arms.

-Repeat on the other side.

For a video preview of Mary’s techniques click here!