In August of last year, I made the firm decision to let go of my fears that were preventing from being bolder and formulated the intention to be more adventurous, try new things and say “Yes!” to new opportunities more often. In an attempt fo fulfill my desire to broaden my horizons and try new things, I decided to give Yoga a try. I’ve already mentioned how much I love this activity and, despite not having done many classes myself, I like the spirit of Yoga and the benefits it provides to both the body and mind. I started searching for studios not too far from where I live and stumbled upon one that not only offered Yoga classes, but also Barre Fitness, Essentrics, Ballet, Zumba, Pilates and more activities of this sort.
I had noticed a Fitness girl I had recently started to follow on Instagram post stories of her at Barre Fitness and honestly grew intrigued because her posts were recurrent. I didn’t quite get how you could mix Ballet with Fitness, but I also severely questioned the physical demand of Barre Fitness. It certainly doesn’t sound like a very hard workout when you don’t know anything about it. So I really wondered how and why this Fitness girl who also happened to be a trainer by the way, kept going to Barre Fitness classes day after day. I had to try it for myself!
So as I booked all my classes at the studio for a week – I was going to discover a new activity everyday from Monday to Friday because I was about that “try new things” life – I tried Barre on Monday and it kicked my ass. I was shocked. Not only did my butt burn for an hour straight, but it also murdered my quads, arms and abs. That’s when I understood why the girl I was following was so addicted to Barre Fitness! Over the ensuing weeks, although the main reason that had brought me to the studio was Yoga, I found myself attending only Barre Fitness classes (not that the Yoga class and other activities I tried weren’t good, they were actually great, but due to my schedule and daily gym sessions, I couldn’t attend all the other classes that I loved at the studio). The classes I went to were given by three different instructors. The great thing was that they all had their unique styles but all made for killer workout sessions.
As you all know, I exercise twice a day, five days a week: five morning cardio sessions from home and 5 strength training sessions at home or at the gym. I fell so deeply in love with Barre Fitness, that I decided to find a way to implement it to my weekly training schedule. One week, without thinking too much about it, I did Barre and the next day I trained heavily my glutes and quads at the gym. I had never felt my butt working as much as that one time at the Fitness Centre. That’s when I realized that the Barre Fitness exercises served as glute (butt) activators and helped make my hardcore weight training session at the gym all the more efficient. My glutes were all the more solicited that they had been heavily activated with body weight exercises the day before. If you’re really into Fitness, you’ve probably already seen videos of girls doing butt activation exercises before their leg/butt workouts, well that’s exactly what this Barre Fitness class did to me. So I decided that attending Barre Fitness classes the day before my leg days at the gym was a great idea because it could actually promote muscle growth, and that’s exactly what it did.
If you wonder what exactly is Barre Fitness, it consists in mainly isometric strength training (holding your body still while you contract a specific set of muscles) with a Ballet barre as a support for balance. In the classes I have attended, the instructors always used an elastic band to work the arms and two two-pound balls to work both legs and arms. You will do pliés (kills your quads), and many kickback variations to work your butt from all angles and give it a nice round shape.
The other thing that Barre Fitness borrows from Ballet, is the feet and upper body posture. I quickly realized that the feeling in your derrière when doing a kickback with your feet in “Première” position versus with your feet in normal standing position is a whole different type of burn!
To conclude this post, I would like to quickly sum up the benefits of Barre Fitness for anyone who wants to try it (and I highly recommend it!):
- Increases muscle definition
- Works full body with an emphasis on quads and butt
- Improves posture
- Increases flexibility
Do you feel like trying it for yourself?
