The Physique 57 Solution (2 page)

We tried all of the usual tactics to get back in shape: joined gyms, attended Spin classes, did step aerobics, and took Pilates. Jennifer even tried running with weights strapped to her ankles (talk about agony!). But nothing ever seemed to work, and even though we’d lose a pound or two with each new effort, the look of our bodies stayed mostly the same. More important, none of these workout methods ever
felt
good or satisfying. They all felt like a chore, something we had to get through. We’d be doing a thousand steps in step class, or sweating away on machines at the gym (there’s nothing like grunting and sweating in public to make you feel attractive),
and all the while we’d be thinking to ourselves:
This may be burning calories, but it doesn’t
feel
good—is this REALLY how women were meant to stay fit?

During this time, we both came to further appreciate the grace and inherent logic of dance: the way the moves and sequences fit together, and the way that every single movement challenged our muscles through precision and form. As any dancer will tell you, ballet is one of the highest forms of athleticism you can find, yielding strong, supple muscles and a long, lean shape. Yet the only machinery you need is your body. There are no steps, no StairMasters, no clunky weights or strength-training machines—just your own form moving in ways that it has been naturally designed to do. We hadn’t danced to get in shape; we danced because we loved it. And until recently, it had been more effective at keeping us fit than any other exercise method. Why couldn’t we find a workout that felt like dance?

It was then that we each discovered the Lotte Berk Method
®
, a highly respected fitness technique created by the legendary Russian ballet dancer Lotte Berk, which had been flourishing among Manhattan’s elite for thirty years. Jennifer overheard someone talking about it at a party; Tanya answered an ad in the
Village Voice
that was looking for dancers to teach at the Method’s Upper East Side and Hamptons studios. We both tried it and were immediately hooked—Jennifer knew ten minutes into her first class that this was the technique she would do for the rest of her life. Tanya went for her audition and was stunned to discover that even the older women in the classes could outperform her in every way—they were stronger, more flexible, and had more stamina, even though Tanya was a professional dancer. Both of us realized that Berk had hit on something special, and that her Method was something we wanted to learn.

In the months that followed, each of us experienced firsthand the transformative results of Berk’s intense strengthening and stretching regimen. Tanya began teaching classes at the Lotte Berk Method, and watched the pounds disappear as her muscles became leaner and stronger than they had ever been in her life. Jennifer began taking classes three or four times a week, and just two months later was astonished when she had to have
all
of her clothes tailored and taken in. Her husband, her friends, and even her Wall Street colleagues began commenting on how, well,
hot
she looked! Walking down the hall at the office, she could actually
feel that her muscles were different: tight and strong. Even better, the back pain she’d experienced for nearly ten years disappeared. Plus, we both loved the rush we got from making it through one of the ultra-challenging workouts—we’d feel sore afterward, but also energized and powerful, and that feeling was nothing short of addictive.

But even though we both became regulars at the Lotte Berk Method—Tanya as an instructor and Jennifer as a client—it wasn’t until many years later that we actually met. In 2005, the studio regretfully announced that it would be closing its doors. We were crushed, but we also knew there was an opportunity. By that time, Tanya had been a master instructor at the Lotte Berk Method for ten years, and Jennifer, now a long-standing Berk devotee, had earned her MBA and was intrigued by the entrepreneurial possibilities. We both felt that the regimen deserved a much larger following, and that it had the potential to take the fitness world by storm. Jennifer even looked into buying the studio, but wasn’t making much headway… until one of the staff members suggested that we meet.

So we did. And from that moment on, we knew that we were at the start of an amazing partnership. We found that we had very similar visions: We wanted to take everything that was great about the Lotte Berk Method and build on it to make it even better. We knew that the foundations of the program were strong, but we also knew that after thirty-some years with minimal changes, it was definitely ripe for a makeover.

Together we set out to create the next incarnation of the technique and bring it to a wider audience. Tanya refined and updated the method to make it even more rigorous and effective by adding a greater variety of exercises, along with more strength- and stamina-building variations. We added other modern touches, set the moves to upbeat music, and streamlined the workout so it could be performed in less than an hour. When we happened to find the perfect studio space on New York City’s West 57th Street, the city’s main thoroughfare right off glamorous Fifth Avenue, the number seemed to tie everything together—and
voilà
, Physique 57 was born!

We’ve come a long way since those early days as a small group of teachers based out of a single Manhattan studio. Today we are a bona fide fitness movement with studios in Manhattan, the Hamptons, and Beverly Hills; a booming presence
online; celebrity clientele; and a best-selling series of award-winning instructional DVDs. But our promise to you remains the same: No matter what kind of shape you have genetically, whether you loathe the gym or already work out seven days a week, our breakthrough exercise regimen will completely transform your body—and you will love every minute of it.

Everything you need to achieve a gorgeous physique—the moves, the meals, and the motivation—is in this book. That said, it’s not enough just to read these pages and try out a few of the exercises and recipes. If you want a great body, you have to work for it. No matter what your age or starting point, whether you want to lose five pounds or fifty, what you put in is what you’ll get back out. So for these next two weeks, we want you to really
bring it
! Show us how fierce and unstoppable you are with every set of reps, every workout, every food choice, and every decision you make that supports your new, healthier lifestyle. We know you can do it, so take this moment right now to commit to giving this program your all. Put aside any fears, doubts, or excuses, and tap into the part of you that is hardworking, ambitious, and never, ever afraid of a challenge. Yes, many of the moves in our workouts will be new, and YES, we’re going to push you to feel the burn and fight through it because that’s when the magic happens. But we also know that you’re going to love the excitement of the Physique 57 experience: the fun choreography, the energizing pace, and the incredible rush that comes from knowing that even if you’re working out harder than you ever have in the past, you CAN do it, and it feels great!

We like to remind our clients at the beginning of every session, “
You
are the sculptor. You are in charge.” And it’s true: You are the architect of your body, and you have the power to design it any way you want. Together, we are going to chisel, sculpt, and cinch every inch of you to create the physique you’ve always wanted. So to get going, let’s learn a bit more about what makes our workout so effective and unique. Then it’s time to wake up those muscles, rev up your metabolism, and start feeling some heat! We can’t wait, because we know what lies ahead.

You’re going to be amazing. This is your time to shine.

PART ONE

WHAT IS PHYSIQUE 57?

I
F YOU’RE ANYTHING LIKE US, YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE
when it comes to getting fit isn’t a lack of interest—and it certainly isn’t laziness. On the contrary, if you’re like most of the women we know, you are already your own version of Superwoman: hardworking, kind, and capable of juggling dozens of responsibilities and commitments every day. The problem is that everything else on your to-do list often seems far more interesting and enjoyable than exercise. And let’s face it—it usually is! After all, who wants to be running to nowhere on a treadmill when you could be out socializing with your friends or playing with your kids?

If this is your first experience with Physique 57, we can promise you that it is like nothing you’ve ever seen in a gym, and it’s far from a typical aerobics or step class. Our workout is designed for maximum effectiveness and efficiency—but it’s also designed to be FUN. Most of today’s big fitness names and personal trainers use the same techniques and exercises that have been around for decades: a combination of weight training and cardio that includes jogging in place, lunges, squats, side bends, crunches, and all the other classic moves, just rearranged in different combinations. Talk about uninspiring! Our workout, on the other hand, is 100 percent unique: a totally creative sequence of moves designed to keep you challenged, motivated,
and
entertained. We know that the key to sticking with
any workout is to enjoy it so much that you and your body actually crave it, because only then will it become a lifestyle.

We also believe that in addition to the moves themselves, the tone and feel of the workout really matter. Many of today’s fitness gurus apply the straight-talking, boot-camp-style approach to exercise, and while this might make for great reality television, we prefer a decidedly different approach. Because our program is fundamentally based on classical ballet and the Lotte Berk Method, our workouts retain a sense of grace and femininity. We’re all about feeling the burn and pushing ourselves to the limit, but we’re also about creating something beautiful: beautiful posture, beautiful movements, and ultimately a beautiful you. We firmly believe that the way you work out determines how you design your body; if you desire a long, lean, sexy shape, your exercise regimen should make you feel like a dancer, not a bodybuilder. Every single minute of our workouts is designed not only to make you stronger, but also to beautify the way you stand, the way you move, and the way you carry yourself in the world each day.

Now that you understand our fitness philosophy, let’s take a closer look at the Physique 57 method and how it works.

Physique 57’s most important precursor, the Lotte Berk Method, was developed during the 1950s by Russian ballet dancer Lotte Berk. Berk was a London-based, classically trained dancer who had a distinguished career with a prominent dance company until a car accident left her with a serious spinal injury. Working with orthopedic specialists, she began to design a series of exercises based on her own ballet barre routines that would strengthen her spine and core and assist in her rehabilitation. Her aim was to regain her former strength and suppleness, as well as tone and shape her entire musculature, which had weakened substantially during the long months of inactivity.

Berk’s strengthening regimen worked so well that she was able to make a full recovery. Soon she began sharing her exercise method with others, and the results she saw in her students led her to open her own studio in 1959. In addition to being
rehabilitative, the method seemed to deliver an especially beautiful, long, lean physique—a dancer’s body, even for women who had never had any dance training at all.

It wasn’t long before word spread about Berk’s method among dancers, actors, and Londoners in the know. In 1971, the Lotte Berk Method studio opened its doors for the first time in New York City, where the technique and its original founder quickly became a word-of-mouth success. Berk’s groundbreaking synthesis of strength training, dance, and orthopedic back exercises was a brand-new combination that delivered a different kind of body and set a new standard for what the average woman could achieve through exercise. Best of all, even though the exercises were rigorous, the workouts retained a sense of femininity and fun—something few women could resist.

In the years since the Lotte Berk Method studio closed its doors, we have used the many advances in sports science and exercise physiology to further develop her technique and create a new incarnation that retains all of the fundamentals, but yields even more impressive results. The difference—and the secret that keeps us ahead of the fitness curve—lies in our own groundbreaking process: Interval Overload + Isometrics + Stretching.

Physique 57 is an innovative form of fusion fitness that combines interval training, isometric exercises, and orthopedic stretches to systematically lengthen and sculpt your muscles to create a beautiful, sexy body. While many workouts do some form of interval training, we’ve taken the concept to the next level to make it even more effective. With our interval sets, your muscles are targeted and overloaded to the point of fatigue, then stretched for relief. We call this process Interval Overload. Bringing the muscle to the point of fatigue—the point where it starts to burn and shake—ensures that you are providing it with the greatest possible stimulus, and as a result you see greater changes faster, and with fewer reps. The stretches between the sets allow your muscles to recover and train them to always take their full length—so that you appear taller and more graceful, rather than muscular and bulked up.

We also make tremendous use of isometrics: exercises that challenge your muscles without any visible contractions or movements. Often, simply holding and bracing a particular muscle can be more powerful than doing a hundred reps, so we begin each of our interval sets with an isometric hold—an innovative starting position designed to engage the target muscles as well as ancillary ones before you even start doing the movements. The isometric hold not only makes the interval sets more challenging, but also pushes you to recruit additional muscles throughout the body to help you stabilize the position and perform the reps in the proper way. In this way, you end up toning far more than just the target muscle group with every single Physique 57 move.