You want to see changes in your body, gain strength, and tone those hard-to-target muscles in your core, arms, and legs?!
While barre has origins in dance, the rhythmically challenged shouldn’t worry: No tapshoes, leotards, or any fancy footwork are required. “You don’t need any dance experience—you’re not going to be doing pirouettes,”
As for gear, the moves are typically bodyweight only, but you can use light hand weights or resistance bands to level up your arm exercises. So what’s the difference between barre and a typical strength training class? Rather than larger, compound movements (think squats and shoulder presses), you’ll perform tiny, one-inch increments called isometric movements, says Burr Leonard, fitness expert and founder of The Bar Method. That’s why you’ll often hear, “Down an inch, up an inch,” repeated by barre teachers.
For someone who’s used to HIIT or CrossFit, it may seem like you’re not working hard enough. But that’s absolutely not the case! In fact, you’re getting a killer workout because the one-inch increments are enough to fire up the muscle and make it more elastic, but not too big to tear the muscle.
FitFlow Barre every Wednesday 8:30am with Melanie
