In the nineties, there was a time when all the girls in my class wanted to sign up for dance. It could be said that the ballet operated as a kind of European equivalent of what in American fiction fascinated us in the form of high school cheerleaders. However, as is the case with the cheerleading, it’s actually about a sport that requires commitment, concentration and effort. As much as its artistic and amazing aesthetic part can mislead. A very simple proof of how the physical demand of this discipline is not usually taken seriously enough is that it is not included as a training mode in the vast majority of smartwatches and quantifying bracelets. Although, luckily, times are changing…
ballet for dummies
In each step of the ballet the hands, the arms, the trunk, the head, the feet, the knees participate… That is to say: the whole body. It also does so in a simultaneous conjunction between muscles and mind that must be expressed in a total harmony of movements. Or what is the same: it is difficult and demanding that you shit and it is not for everyone. However, and to the delight of those of us who were left with the thorn stuck in not being good for classical dance, a modality has become popular in recent years that fuses it with fitness and that brings the best of both worlds to anyone willing to sweat the jersey.
It’s called Ballet Fit (or Ballet Beautiful) and it’s a sports modality born in the United States at the hands of Mary Helen Bowers, a former New York ballet dancer who was in charge of training Natalie Portman for her role in Black Swan. Nevertheless, We owe her arrival in Spain to the dancer and physical education teacher, Gloria Morales. Although it is still a relatively young discipline, it already has followers all over the world and ambassadors ranging from Margot Robbie to Paula Echevarría and passing through Gigi Hadid or Alexa Chung, among others.
Between that it is an excellent method of toning, that helps improve our body posture and flexibility, while strengthening the core and working on stability, I couldn’t wait to dress for the occasion and solve my sedentary life as an office worker. With my favorite black bodysuit, tight bow on point and the elegant Huawei Watch GT3 (which does include ballet among its more than 100 training modes) I went to try an initiation class with Gloria Morales herself.
First contact with ballet fit
To plant ourselves in a fit ballet class we do not need to have previous knowledge of classical dance and I can serve as the living example of this fact. And it is that, having been a true package for physical activity all my life, I advance now that I have loved it and I will repeat it.
Normally, it is practiced in 50-minute sessions, divided into three phases. The first of these is known as ballet barre and lasts 20 minutes. This is probably the part of the class that reconciles you the most with the girl who made her parents spend the money on tuition and all the equipment of an extracurricular that she left in the middle of the course (if not before). And it is that performed with the help of a barwhich makes you feel like a real dancer without being any of that.
Using the barre makes you feel like a real dancer
They are followed by 10 minutes of cardio-ballet and, finally, 20 minutes of Floor Ballet. However, don’t panic. because there are several reasons that will make you not give up on this occasion. The first is that, from the speakers, you won’t hear compositions coming out of Mozart or Chopin or anything before the invention of Spotify but current hits from the great pop divas, such as Ariana Grande or Britney Spears, who always trigger motivation.
In addition, the movements are not particularly difficult. These are mainly stretches that anyone can do. The complicated thing, yes, is to execute them while maintaining the proper posture. In my experience, coordination is the greatest technical difficulty presented by ballet fit but the rest is a matter of resistance. Although it may not seem like it from the outside, it is a modality with a lot of cardio and is very tiring.
My test session lasted 30 minutes which, I admit, I was unable to finish without having to stop to catch my breath when I wasn’t playing. Of course, to know when I could hold on a little longer or should give myself a break, it was especially helpful to look at the screen of the GT3, which is the ideal size to be able to do it on the move, and thus control my sustained heart rate, in addition to the spikes and quick falls.
However, I have to say that, with only this time, it was enough for me to burn 222 kcal and notice that my posture had improved. And I’m not exaggerating. I definitely left the studio feeling stretched out and lighter than when I entered. In addition to not wanting to binge on sweets due to anxiety and stress. As a reward, the clock marked me a well-deserved rest of a day as necessary time for my recovery, so Netflix & chill without remorse…
The feeling of achievement that comes from doing a class is a self-esteem boost
After my experience, I would dare to say that ballet fit is not only good for all the physical aspects mentioned above, but also improves mood thanks to lively music and the feeling of achievement that comes from having faced something that has ballet in the name is a real boost of self-esteem. That has it all, come on.
How to use GT3 to optimize the class
With what it costs to put on the shirt to sweat, since we put on, we put on well, right? That is, at least, my philosophy. So, since I don’t have the budget for a personal trainer, I let my smartwatch fulfill part of that function. In the case of the Huawei GT3, learning to use it is a very intuitive and relatively simple process.
Practically, he does everything himself and you only have to worry about the physical part. The most complicated part is the installation and initial set-up, but only because, if your mobile is not from the same firm, you have to download the Health app externally to your app store. In any case, it just takes a little more time than usual..
The Huawei GT3 is a strong candidate for the best smartwatch of the year
Once we have everything installed and the registration done, all that remains is to activate the “ballet” mode before starting our training. In addition, the rest of the day we can configure it to to remind us when it’s time to get up, drink water and exercise.
Thus, the watch sets daily goals and offers a smart reminder to help us develop healthy habits. As the only drawback I would say that its case is, perhaps, a little big for thin wrists like mine but, otherwise, it is an urban watch on the outside and sports on the inside, a very strong candidate for the best smartwatch of the year.
HUAWEI Watch GT 3 – Sports Watch with SPO 2 Monitoring, Large Screen, Light Gold, White Leather Strap
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Photos | Huawei and trends