I always used to be a creature of habit with my fitness routine. Twenty minutes on the elliptical and 20-30 minutes of resistance training was usually about as adventurous as I got. Then we introduced Spinning at the gym I work at and I got tossed into my first Spin class. Fast forward a year later and I decided to get Spinning certified so that I could teach my own classes.
Since then I've decided to make it my mission to try as many different kinds of fitness classes as I can. So far I've ventured into Body Pump, Zumba, and Body Flow. In the future, I hope to try aerial yoga, Bikram, and pole dancing, just to name a few!
Here are some things I noticed in my first barre class, and what you might expect in yours, too.
+ YOU MUST WEAR SOCKS. My mom and I did not realize this and showed up in bare feet. Way to blow our cover of being totally new and confused. So we forked over $12 each for fancy grippy barre socks and headed on our merry way.
+ There are different barre heights. My mom didn't realize this at first and when we went to stretch our legs on the barre, she damn near pulled her leg out of its socket. Stand at the barre height where you can comfortably lift your leg onto the barre.
+ It's pretty intimidating! All of those soccer moms were in way better shape than me in their lululemon leggings and dri-fit strappy tank tops. The instructor herself was also RIPPED AS HELL. So I guess if this isn't motivation to take more barre classes, I don't know what is.
+ We took a 30 minute long sampler for this first barre class, so the instructor squeezed so much into that half hour. We began with some dynamic stretching, leg and balance work, followed by modified plies and releves. I know this because I'm a dance teacher, but I don't know if the average person is capable of performing this alignment correctly on the first try! Definitely watch the instructor closely and try to match your hips and body facing with hers.
+ The weights section is HARD. Unless you've been doing this for awhile, 2 lb. weights are just fine to absolutely burn the living hell out of your upper body muscles. Two pound weights certainly don't feel like 2 lbs. after they've been lifted over your head at a fast pace for three straight minutes.
+ Smaller movements (and more of them) are definitely the theme of barre. As someone who has taken ballet, Yoga and Pilates, I really enjoyed this weird fusion of all three.
+ It requires a lot of random equipment. A mat, a resistance band, two sets of weights, a small resistance ball, and a Yoga strap are just some of the accessories we played around with. Which can actually be a pain in the ass to gather and put away if you have somewhere to be after class!
So, overall...
I really enjoyed Barre! I would definitely recommend this class if you want to try something new and don't mind being a little bit confused and overwhelmed at the beginning. The results honestly speak for themselves, Barre instructors are some of the most toned people I've ever met.
Have you ever tried Barre?
What's your favorite specialty fitness class?
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