​Barre.

So what is a Barre workout?

 

While barre has origins in dance, the rhythmically challenged shouldn’t worry.  There are no dance skills needed!  My barre classes follow the same basic structure: You’ll start with a mat-based warm-up full of planks and push-ups, do a series of arm exercises, and continue at the bar with a lower-body section to work your thighs and glutes. At the end, you’ll finish with a series of core-focused moves on the mat.

 

 

As for gear, the moves are typically bodyweight only, but you can use light hand weights (usually two or three pounds) or resistance bands to level up your arm exercises. For lower-body work, a soft exercise ball (playground ball) is often used to help engage leg muscles. Like yoga and Pilates classes, you generally won't wear shoes or socks during a barre workout, but some people like to wear special "grippy" socks.

 

 

But what's the difference between barre and a typical strength training class? Rather than larger, compound movements, you’ll perform tiny, one-inch increments called isometric movements. Isometric movements help isolate specific muscles.  You can do more reps with smaller movements like these, which fatigue your muscles in a different way. These higher-rep, low-weight exercises target slow-twitch muscles, which help increase endurance. Plus, isometric movements can help strengthen muscles without straining tendons or ligaments, so there’s less risk of injury compared to more traditional strength training.

 

 

Depending on your body type and fitness level, you’ll see and feel changes in as little as 3 weeks!