How One Simple Ballet Fitness Exercise Improves Blood Sugar Regulation and Helps You Burn Fat
- Jul 15, 2025
- 6 min read
Written by Flik Swan, Co-Founder of Sleek Technique
Well known as the creators of the Sleek Technique method and establishing it as the first online dance fitness business in the UK, Victoria and Flik have a wealth of expertise in the health and fitness industry. Seamlessly blending the benefits of ballet with mainstream fitness they help women across the globe achieve their fitness goals.
You may have looked admiringly at the beautiful, lean muscle on the body of a dancer as they leap powerfully into the air, or dart across the stage at speed and thought, what do they do to achieve that effortless, athletic physique? Is it how they fuel their bodies or is it what they do when they workout in the studio? Well it may come as no surprise that the answer is both. Thankfully, you don't need the full pro dancer lifestyle to gain the same body boosting benefits for yourself.
Having retired from my career as a professional dancer I now spend my time as a fitness trainer, functional nutrition and health coach and the cofounder of Sleek ballet fitness. I prioritise healthy blood sugar levels and body fat maintenance more than ever before. So I am going to share with you how one ballet fitness exercise, can help you achieve a fitter, healthier body, manage your blood sugar levels and support your body to burn more fat, without even stepping into a studio.
Ballet fitness: What is it?
Ballet fitness is a combination of the artistic movements that professional dancers practice day in and day out, paired with functional fitness exercises that keep us fit, strong, healthy and ageing well. The result is a ballet fitness workout that doesn't actually feel like a workout but rather a beautiful, elegant yet challenging dance method that leaves you with better posture, improved mobility and flexibility, a healthier body composition and greater confidence in yourself and your body's abilities. Ballet fitness classes also burn calories, improve your muscle quality and give you an endorphin boost at the same time. Online ballet fitness classes are super convenient as they require minimal equipment, you only need a small space to move in and can be practiced from your own home and on your schedule.
Ballet fitness, blood sugar levels and fat burning: What's the story?
Let's go back to some basics, beginning with what we put into our mouths. When we eat carbohydrates, the body sees them as one thing only, sugar. Depending on the type of carbohydrate eaten, that sugar sooner or later, ends up as glucose, otherwise known as blood sugar. When blood sugar enters our blood stream it needs to be cleared out for two main reasons.
So our body can use it for energy (anything from doing the washing up to those powerful ballerina leaps on the air)
Too much sugar in our blood over a long period of time is harmful to the walls of our blood vessels, increasing our risk of cardiovascular disease
Sugar in our blood stream. How does our body handle it?
You have probably heard of a hormone called insulin. When carbohydrates come into our bodies, 3 things happen: they are either used for energy production, stored as glycogen in our muscles and liver, or stored in our fat cells. Insulin is the boss that dictates this and that is a good thing from our body's point of view. We want insulin present to do its job, in the right order and at the right time.
Insulin only becomes an issue when we consistently begin to eat too many carbohydrates for our body to burn. This means insulin has to hang around a lot, at an elevated level, doing its job on overtime. And remember insulin tells the body to store excess carbohydrates as fat and so therefore prevents us from burning fat for fuel. In other words, when insulin is high, we just cannot burn fat.
So aside from embarking on a low or no carb, keto diet, what can we do to help regulate our blood sugar levels so we don't end up storing excess fat, damaging our blood vessels and making us insulin resistant down the line?
How ballet fitness improves blood sugar regulation
Ballet fitness gets you moving and in the most efficient and effective way. Ballet fitness classes include an exercise called a plié, a key movement that hones and shapes a dancer's lower body and is done without fail in every single ballet fitness class you will take. It involves bending and stretching your legs at varying depths and in multiple positions of the feet – either close together in first position or wide apart in second position.
Pliés repeatedly engage your quads, glutes and hamstrings, the big muscles in your body. If you want to increase this, add a jump onto the end of the plié and propel yourself off the ground and into the air. This jumping action, called a sauté, will increase the effectiveness on your muscle output even further. Pliés and sautés are one of the fastest routes to get your blood sugar more stable by using that big musculature you have available. Your quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings will act like sponges when they're working in a plié and a jump. They will pull blood sugar from the blood, into the muscle, where your body can use it for energy instead of storing it as fat. This lowers your blood glucose levels and signals to insulin that is can take a rest. And without the presence of insulin, your body can burn fat.
Sounds good! How many pliés should I do and when?
If you want to improve your overall blood glucose levels then try 3 sets of plies or sautes with a 15 second rest in between, after you eat.
To really enhance the benefits of ballet fitness for your overall longterm health and fitness including better body composition, muscle awareness, posture, flexibility, bone density and of course fat burning, then include a 30 minute online ballet fitness workout, 3-6 times a week into your schedule. At Sleek, our online ballet fitness classes will take you through a full body workout that will build on increasing your overall health and fitness levels. These are challenging but achievable classes for all age groups and experience levels and that fit beautifully around your busy schedule. Some classes start from as little as 10 minutes and last up to 60 minutes, each bringing about maximum ballet fitness benefits for your body.
Can I still eat carbohydrates?
It is important to remember that carbohydrates are not built equally. A can of fizzy drink is not absorbed and used in the body in the same way that a portion of brown rice is. Everybody is different, has a different lifestyle and a personal approach to the diet and nutrition that is right for them. As a cofounder of Sleek Ballet Fitness, professional dancer, functional nutrition and health coach and busy mum of two, I do include carbohydrates in my diet to fuel my active lifestyle which includes teaching ballet fitness classes and barre workouts several times a week. I just make sure these carbs are balanced with high protein and healthy fats and come mainly from wholefood, complex carbohydrate sources which include starches and fibre to benefit my gut microbiome as well as my energy levels.
What next?
Try our 7-day Strength & Grace program which includes classes that show you how to plié and sauté correctly. It is available online and free to access without any subscription commitment. It’s a simple, thoughtful way to get a feel for ballet-inspired fitness and discover how graceful movement can not just feel good but can effectively improve your health from the inside out. Join Victoria and I today and drop into one of our Sleek online live classes and we can chat through the right nutrition plan for your body too.
Read more from Flik Swan
Flik Swan, Co-Founder of Sleek Technique
After 20 years at the top of the professional dance world, Victoria and Flik brought their combined expertise in dance and fitness together and pioneered the first online dance fitness business in the UK. Laying the groundwork for many others to follow, they continue to bring creative, effective fitness to women everywhere regardless of location.
