Go behind barre for the lowdown on workout
Participants gain camaraderie and flexibility from classes, but shouldn’t expect ballerina bodies
As its name suggests, barre class is inspired by ballet. Although the workout may leave attendees feeling more confident in their Lululemons, barre class alone isn’t likely to make you look like a ballerina. Here’s the lowdown on this popular workout and what experts say is also required to attain a long, lean, toned look.
At boutique studios, classes generally last 45 to 60 minutes. (Prices vary depending on whether you buy a single session, a punch card or a membership. Some gyms also offer barre as part of their roster of workout classes.)
Most studios require pants or capris (no shorts allowed) and socks. If you’re going to make a habit of barre, it’s worth buying a pair of barre socks, which feature rubber grips on the soles. While not required, snug-fitting clothes make it easier for instructors to spot any flaws in your form. Mirrored walls can help you self-monitor, but if you prefer not to exercise with your reflection, consider showing up early to stake out a spot near a strategically placed column.
Expect a warm-up to elevate your heart rate and engage your core, followed by several sets of exercises, each set aimed at a target area, including shoulders-armsback, core, thighs and seat. Each segment concludes with stretching the muscles worked before hitting the next muscle group.
While most of the moves rely on gravity and body weight for resistance, some require accoutrements such as exercise balls, resistance bands and light (two-kilogram maximum) dumbbells. Common exercises include variations on planks, pushups, pliés and lunges. To the rhythm of music with a strong beat, you’ll pulse, lift, circle and hold nearly every part of your body until it trembles and burns.
Though you might not sweat during a traditional barre class, expect it to hurt (during and afterward). Despite regularly lifting barbells and occasionally riding my bike up a mountain for fun, I have yet to escape a class without experiencing burning, shaking muscles. I also have yet to raise my heart rate beyond 110 beats per minute during a traditional class. I never feel even slightly out of breath. (The cardio classes, featuring bigger, faster movements, are designed to be more intense.)
The goal of the classes is to “create those longer, leaner muscles through muscular endurance,” not to build muscle mass, says Michelle Risinger, a barre instructor with Balance Gym in Washington, D.C., who holds a national certification in group fitness and two barre certifications. She says that happens through “dozens and dozens and dozens” of repetitions, featuring pulses at the end range of a movement (isometric contractions), many repetitions of lifting light weights, and moving through limited ranges of motion (i.e., assuming a plié and flexing your knees up and down a few centimetres until your quads are on fire).
Jill Dailey, founder of the Dailey Method, a barre and cycling studio franchise, says barre improves postural alignment, flexibility, core strength and functional fitness, while the low-impact format minimizes the risk of injury: “It’s very relatable to the rest of your life.” While she acknowledges that pulsing a one-kilo weight until your triceps scream for mercy won’t make it any easier to lift, say, a much-heavier barbell, Dailey says the benefits of barre class enhance your ability to safely move everyday items such as groceries.
For those who like to suffer among friends, barre also offers a sense of camaraderie. Dailey says the community is “one of the biggest draws” for her students. Risinger says that sense of community helps create “a very empowering environment in our class.” And it’s that desire to feel empowered — not the wish for a leaner body — that has led studios such as Barre3 to focus on how barre makes participants feel rather than how it makes them look.
Barre can be an excellent complement to the repetitive, single-plane motions characteristic of workouts such as running and cycling. For example, you’ll work your quads while standing at the barre in second position, where your stance is wide and your feet are turned out. This position opens your hips and awakens “muscles you didn’t know you had,” Risinger says. Similarly, the “pretzel,” which, as the name suggests, challenges your body to become a pretzel (and is just as hard as it sounds), engages “smaller muscle groups that have been dominated by major muscles,” she says. “If you have underdeveloped muscle groups because of the type of training you’re doing, barre can (target) those spots and bring you back to a more balanced state.”
If you’re hoping barre class will completely change your physique, you should adjust your expectations — and your workout — says Holly Roser, a San Mateo, Calif., personal trainer. While she considers barre “perfect for an active recovery day” and a good choice if you’re “already in shape,” you won’t find in it the kind of cardio and weightlifting regimens that, along with nutrition, promote weight loss and a toned look, she says.
If a longer, leaner physique is your goal, experts seem to agree, nutrition is key. Dailey says she’s seen people who use barre as their sole form of exercise make “significant changes” to their figures “regardless of (their) size or body type.” But “everybody is different. Some people have slower metabolisms, and to truly lose weight they may need to add more cardio work into their regimen.” Also, she says, “intake is a huge component of success at weight loss for any exercise program.” Risinger, too, says that “most esthetic changes happen through healthy eating.”
So the emphasis needs to be on your plate, as well as your pliés.