Part Pilates and part ballet class, the Fluidity system brings a dance-studio bar into your home, along with corresponding DVD workouts and additional fitness equipment. The program promises users lean, balanced muscles by combining bar moves with the strength of their own body weight. However, some of Fluidity's claims don't match up with what federal physical activity guidelines recommend.
History
Fitness instructor Michelle Austin created the Fluidity system in 1999. Fluidity began as a class in a New York City fitness center, followed by a line of gym equipment in 2002. Home-gym equipment and a series of DVDs were introduced in 2006, making the Fluidity system available to a mass fitness market. The Fluidity system includes DVDs with three levels of workouts -- beginner, intermediate and advanced.
Lotte Berk Method
Fluidity is based on a style of barre exercises called the Lotte Berk Method. Lotte Berk, a London ballerina, developed a routine to create a "dancer's body" in 1959. Rather than depending on free weights, Berk's method claimed to use a person's own body weight and a ballet barre to develop strength. The Fluidity system allows you to get a Berk-style workout at home by making the bar portable.
Fluidity Bar
The Fluidity Bar is the main component of the system. It's designed to simulate a ballet barre-style workout in a home setting. The bar is adjustable to your hip height and flexibility level. According to the manufacturer, the Fluidity bar strengthens the muscles in the back of your body, bringing them into balance with the front muscles. Additional pieces of equipment, such as resistance bands and a small exercise ball, work the shoulders and arms.
Considerations
The Fluidity system discourages the use of free weights -- its website claims that they "develop the arms disproportionately" -- but the United States Department of Health and Human Services recommends using weights and other forms of muscle-strengthening. And although the Fluidity system promises to deliver results with just two workouts per week, federal guidelines recommend getting exercise several days per week for a total of 150 minutes. The bar has a 300-lb. weight limit, making it possibly unsafe to use by very heavy people or by more than one person at a time.
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