If you had asked me six or seven months if I would ever be interested in barre workouts, I would have laughed in your face. If it didn't involve heavy weights, high intensity, and exhausting myself to the point of puking, it wasn't worth my time.
But oh, how the times have changed...
Either I am getting older and wiser, or I had a personality transplant, but now I am really beginning to like barre. Maybe even loving it? Whoa, whoa...ok, maybe I am not ready for the type of commitment yet. Still, I have to admit that my opinion has changed and think I am becoming a convert.
Once-upon-a-time, I viewed barre style workout as boring, slow-moving, lacking challenge, and too shallow for my tastes. A dancer's body? Long, lean muscles? Don't you need good genes to get that? Even my Tracy Anderson-loving self found that premise to be laughable.
But at the same time, my bad-ass, tough-as-nails fitness preferences blinded me from seeing the forest from the trees (I know, I am clichéd).
I remember all the raves and gushing over barre received. So many women proclaiming that they loved it, how it change their bodies like nothing else, how they would never do traditional weightlifting again, etc. Damn, ladies! What am I missing?!
Now that I have been incorporating barre workouts into my rotation for the past few weeks, I am realizing that barre is certainly not for wimps. It is tough, not in the same way plyometrics or bootcamp workout are, but tough in its own right. It requires a good amount of balance, stamina, concentration, and (here is the kicker) strength. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine working my muscles to the point of exhaustion while doing a barre workout!
As a big proponent of functional fitness, I was pleasantly surprised to find that barre had plenty of hidden Easter eggs when it comes to functional fitness. For one thing, my flexibility is starting to increase. My balance and coordination, while still pretty lousy, went from terrible to sorta mediocre (that is still a work in progress).
My favorite function fitness gain, so far, has to be the strength gains in my quads. I know there are some barre fans who dislike quad-extensive exercises in some barre workouts (P57, for example), but I personally have found that the quad exercises in barre have strengthened my quads like nothing else. In fact, I noticed that I can do more lunges with better form that I did prior to using barre. I also noticed that I float up like a ghost when taking the stairs. Ok, maybe that is an exaggeration, but walking up stairs seems to be less exhausting than it once was.
I remember thinking barre was boring the first time I tried it, but now I like it for its serene demeanor and the calming effect it has over me. You see, even though my muscles are dying towards the end of the workout, barre doesn't have this woozy effect over my body the way a circuit workout would. I don't get DOMs (which I love) after the workout, but I feel sufficiently worked. Sometimes, after a traditional strength workout, I feel a little nauseous and needing to rest for awhile. It might take an hour or so for me to feel that workout high. After a barre workout, the high is instant. I feel like taking on the world after doing barre!
I think this barre thing can turn into an obsession. Last night, I just found myself ordering some DVDs from the Bar Method, as taught by Burr Leonard, one of the more prominent instructors in barre. I hope this doesn't turn into my Beachbody obsession of 2010, where I managed to purchase a whopping 5 systems. That cost me a pretty penny!
Here is hoping this is a mainstay in my fitness regiment and not just a trend...
But oh, how the times have changed...
Either I am getting older and wiser, or I had a personality transplant, but now I am really beginning to like barre. Maybe even loving it? Whoa, whoa...ok, maybe I am not ready for the type of commitment yet. Still, I have to admit that my opinion has changed and think I am becoming a convert.
Once-upon-a-time, I viewed barre style workout as boring, slow-moving, lacking challenge, and too shallow for my tastes. A dancer's body? Long, lean muscles? Don't you need good genes to get that? Even my Tracy Anderson-loving self found that premise to be laughable.
But at the same time, my bad-ass, tough-as-nails fitness preferences blinded me from seeing the forest from the trees (I know, I am clichéd).
I remember all the raves and gushing over barre received. So many women proclaiming that they loved it, how it change their bodies like nothing else, how they would never do traditional weightlifting again, etc. Damn, ladies! What am I missing?!
Now that I have been incorporating barre workouts into my rotation for the past few weeks, I am realizing that barre is certainly not for wimps. It is tough, not in the same way plyometrics or bootcamp workout are, but tough in its own right. It requires a good amount of balance, stamina, concentration, and (here is the kicker) strength. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine working my muscles to the point of exhaustion while doing a barre workout!
As a big proponent of functional fitness, I was pleasantly surprised to find that barre had plenty of hidden Easter eggs when it comes to functional fitness. For one thing, my flexibility is starting to increase. My balance and coordination, while still pretty lousy, went from terrible to sorta mediocre (that is still a work in progress).
My favorite function fitness gain, so far, has to be the strength gains in my quads. I know there are some barre fans who dislike quad-extensive exercises in some barre workouts (P57, for example), but I personally have found that the quad exercises in barre have strengthened my quads like nothing else. In fact, I noticed that I can do more lunges with better form that I did prior to using barre. I also noticed that I float up like a ghost when taking the stairs. Ok, maybe that is an exaggeration, but walking up stairs seems to be less exhausting than it once was.
I remember thinking barre was boring the first time I tried it, but now I like it for its serene demeanor and the calming effect it has over me. You see, even though my muscles are dying towards the end of the workout, barre doesn't have this woozy effect over my body the way a circuit workout would. I don't get DOMs (which I love) after the workout, but I feel sufficiently worked. Sometimes, after a traditional strength workout, I feel a little nauseous and needing to rest for awhile. It might take an hour or so for me to feel that workout high. After a barre workout, the high is instant. I feel like taking on the world after doing barre!
I think this barre thing can turn into an obsession. Last night, I just found myself ordering some DVDs from the Bar Method, as taught by Burr Leonard, one of the more prominent instructors in barre. I hope this doesn't turn into my Beachbody obsession of 2010, where I managed to purchase a whopping 5 systems. That cost me a pretty penny!
Here is hoping this is a mainstay in my fitness regiment and not just a trend...
2 comments:
I'm a late convert to barre too. Being a heavy lifter at heart, I used to scoff at it, but have found it complements traditional heavy lifting in that it has strengthened my formerly lazy ass and all the muscles around my hips - not to mention increasing my unilateral strength, so I can perform exercises like single-leg deadlifts and single-leg squats with ease. I can't say that I've noticed an increase in quad strength, but I've always had strong quads anyway.
Then there's the functional fitness aspect. The first time I did Squeeze and Tracy said "The knee of your working leg should be behind your hip", I looked down at my legs and said "Wha? That's crazy talk!" but after doing it a few times, I noticed a massive increase in my hip mobility.
Then there are the aesthetic benefits. I'm sure everyone in video-fitness land is sick of hearing about how I had to get all my pants taken in, so I won't talk about that any more!
I think barre is magic because it highlights and improves our individual weaknesses - whether it's improving balance, increasing hip mobility or strengthening under-utilised muscles.
There is no shame in mentioning the aesthetic benefits, especially if it involves losing a few pant sizes ;). Congrats!
It just reminds me as to why I'm glad I gave barre a second chance.
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