Healthy Hollywood: Get Movin’ Monday – Get A Dancer’s Body Like Natalie Portman!

Natalie Portman is quite possibly one of the most gorgeous women in the world. Thanks to her upcoming role as a troubled ballerina in “Black Swan,” the 29-year-old actress now has the enviably sculpted body of a dancer. Former New York City Ballet dancer, Mary Helen Bowers, reveals to Healthy Hollywood that she trained Natalie for a solid year, adding, “Her preparation for the film was very intense. We trained anywhere from 5–8 hours a day, 6 days a week leading up to the film.”

While Natalie did take ballet until she was 13, the actress admitted at the Venice Film Festival, “…six months prior to (shooting) film, we went into a sort of hyper-training, where I was doing five hours a day of both ballet and cross-training with swimming.”

Not only did Natalie get a dancer’s body – she got a dancer – literally! She started up a romance with Benjamin Millepied, a dancer with the New York City Ballet, who helped choreograph the film… The two are still going strong.

While lessons in ballet don’t always have fairy tale endings of boy meets girl, I promise it will tone your tush, strengthen your core, and elongate your legs (maybe then you’ll meet your Prince Charming – Ha)! Former New York City Ballet dancer, Mary Helen Bowers, says she created “a highly customized program” for Ms. Portman that combined Mary Helen’s self-created Ballet Beautiful fitness program; a combo of mat work, ballet moves, and cardio. “Among the many exercises we did together, we used the Ballet Beautiful to strengthen the inside and backs of her legs.” Mary Helen also adds, “We did many upper body exercises to build strength through the back… We swam a mile daily for endurance, did low impact cardio and incorporated a difficult set of ‘swan arm’ exercises into her daily routine.”

Intense! But Mary Helen assures Healthy Hollywood that ballet is hardly just for Prima Ballerinas – it’s for everyone – even men! “The long, lean physique of a ballerina’s figure is attainable for anyone with the right workout program,” adding, “Ballet targets a very specific set of muscles, including the insides and back of the legs, deep in the center and throughout the upper body and back using repetition and the body’s own weight and resistance.”

Here are three basic moves Mary Helen recommends:

1. Stretch:
For a ballet dancer, every workout begins and ends with a really great stretch! To get started, sit up high and bend one knee in toward your chest. This is a wonderful stretch for back of the hips and butt. Lift through your upper body, grasp the bent knee in front and turn slightly toward the knee.

2. Ballet Bridge:
This is a terrific exercise to target the muscles on the inside, back of your legs and butt. Lie on back and pull the stomach in tight. Bending the knees in front of you, lift one leg off the floor – lift the hips up high, keeping the stomach pulled in flat. Drop the hips back down, not quite touching the mat. Lift and lower again. Repeat 30 times; then change legs.

3. Ballet Abs:
Strengthen your center of balance as you flatten your stomach. Begin lying on your back with the arms open wide to second position. Pull the stomach in flat as you lift the body up, closing arms to first position (arms alongside). Keep the stomach pulled in as you lift and lower. Repeat 30 times.

To learn more ballet moves, you can participate in live, interactive ballet classes at www.balletbeautiful.com.

Copyright © 2024 by NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read More

Ernie Hudson's Age-Defying Looks At 78 Leave 'Ghostbusters' Fans Stunned