A Weekend Double–Non-Run Sweat

376 days ago, I went to my first barre class.

Saturday, I finally went back.

(ps people don’t really wear shorts and compression sleeves to bar. stick to crops/tights and maybe a more graceful pose)

Bri is an instructor now, and bribed invited me to come get my plié on at one of her Xtend Barre classes. Truthfully I think she just has some cannibalistic need for fresh meat to torture – I saw her eyes light up when my knees started clanking together in the first 10 minutes and am pretty sure I heard an evil snigger when I tried to discreetly wipe the boob-sweat from my neck during bridge pose.

I did my long run (12 miles, booyah) before class so my legs were pretty toast even before we started, and I was pretty certain I’d be spending 90% of the time in the barre’s equivalent of child’s pose. The snarky “good luck!”s from Sarah and Katie as they left the 8:30 class (I went to the 9:45) didn’t help.

But I survived, for two reasons I think : 1) quick movements between exercises and 2) It was fun. We’d do a shoulder move for like 20 seconds, then a slightly different shoulder move, then another slight change, then move on to the other arm or muscle group. Same for legs, buns, abs, etc. So just as soon as you got to “OMG CAN’T DO ANOTHER SECOND LITERALLY GOING TO DIE” Bri was all peppy like, “and just 4, 3, 2, 1… good work! Ok get your weights MOVE NOW BACK TO THE BARRE!”

from Xtend’s FB page. that’s Bri – participating, not teaching – in the grey/white black!

It was intense and I sweated and shook and collapsed on the floor afterwards – completely spent after maxing out every last ounce of energy from my baby muscles but loved it. (and yes, I’m quite sore today)

Like yoga, spin, and (I’d assume) other aerobics’y classes, what you get out of class is what you put in – take it kinda easy, kick your own ass, pick your poison.

And as a newbie, I didn’t feel intimidated or overly challenged by they technique or movements. Bri made it super easy to follow along, and came around making adjustments as needed. I’d assume that’s pretty standard, but it might just mean Bri’s extra awesome. Regardless, don’t shy away from barre just because you’ve “never done it” or “don’t want to look stupid” or “hate ballerinas” or anything. If you’re looking for an effective full-body strength workout, give the barre a shot.

No tutus required.

Unfortunately for me, the studio is 30+min away so regular attendance at Bri’s classes will be hard. I might look into one of the local studios, but classes are pretty pricey and I’d feel bad measuring everyone else against Bri and Xtend. Losing battle, there.

• Have you taken a barre class? Were you scared your first time? If you haven’t, do you want to? Does anyone have pointe shoes they want to send me? I think that’s the natural progression from here…

Sarah OUaL

post-script : SR’s superhero status is confirmed – no idea how she regularly pulls doubles running AND barre’ing. Crazy woman.