Barre exercise classes

[happinessischocolate]

Does anyone do barre exercise classes, i quite fancy trying it but don't know what to expect, apparently it's based on ballet?

Peloton app have done barre classes I think. The app is 12.99 per month or you can ask a friend with peloton for a link for 2 months free.

Les Mills do Barre and their subscription is 7.99 a month. I never do it s can't comment if it's any good. They also have body balance.

I went to a few at a fancy yoga place near me, I loved it, but it was intense and an amazing work put fir lower body and core. I wish I could still go, but funds and work get in the way!

I did barrecore when I lived in London (and had no DC and WAY more disposable cash). I thought it was gonna be all gentle and chilled out, but my god it’s a tough workout!

Thank you, I was imagining a chilled ballet type stretching class but obviously I'm wrong 😂 maybe I'll improve my fitness first

Do you wear trainers or is it socks/bare feet like yoga?

I too thought it'd be some lovely, graceful, ballet stretches.

It was brutal. I can't remember the finer point details other than I found it almost impossible and sweated a grim amount despite hardly moving.

And that's coming from someone who did Spinning three times a week and reformer pilates at least once a week.

I wore plates socks (like little soft ballet shoes with grips on the bottom), 3/4 leggings and a gym vest top.

I did a barre class this morning in my socks.

I find it easier than pilates and yoga; there's much prancing about with small weights but nothing too strenuous at my class.

I did a lot of barre classes last year. My local studio has a beginners class maybe you could see if somewhere near you has one or ask if they have a class that isn't as popular where the instructor can give you a bit more attention and explain the exercises to you? I loved doing barre, after 5 sessions I got really into it and went 2/3 times per week but I'm expecting now and don't have the same energy for it.

Thanks all, there's 2 classes at the local gym, one is completely booked up each time and the other has spaces, just need to find out which is the easy class 😁

I find it easier than pilates and yoga; there's much prancing about with small weights but nothing too strenuous at my class.

Prancing about with small weights is totally what I'm looking for 😁

Results Wellness Lifestyle have a £1 offer for 30 days at the moment. I have really enjoyed the barre classes they have on there. Can sign up on their website or app and do the classes from home www.resultswellnesslifestyle.com

I love barre classes. I do them at home, using my kitchen island as the barre! As PP have said, it's much harder work than you might think, so start with a ten minute session and build up from there. My pelvic floor has also really improved as a result of strengthening my core in general.

The LesMills Barre videos are amazing. Worth trying out for a month. It’s similar to a ballet class but without most of the jumping. It is a hard workout but you feel benefits pretty quickly, once you’re able to move again.

I did it once, it certainly wasn't brutal, it was quite gentle really

I do the peloton ones
Makes muscles cramp and ache that I didn't know existed!!

peloton barre is great! I love their pilates too

It's not brutal. It's similar to pilates, with much lighter weights than you'd use in a body pump class, for example. It's good for core strength, quads and bum.

apparently it's based on ballet?

It's nothing like ballet. If you want to do ballet, do a proper class. There are loads for adults around. If you want to be toned, and have good posture, do Pilates.

So-called "barre classes" are horrendous. They misalign your body, they pretend that you're using ballet movement vocabulary but the exercises lead to turned in sickled feet, sticking out bottoms & pelvic tilt, hyper-extended backs, necks & arms, and so on (all of these have no place in ballet)

I do barre a lot at home because there's little jumping so I wasn't worried about thumping around like an elephant for our downstairs neighbours!! Also I can do most of the videos without a sports bra so that was a massive plus as well. That being said, it's a proper workout - just without jumping or any pressure on your knees if that bothers you.

I started out with free videos on YouTube by a lady called Coach Kel, and it's the only kind of exercise I've ever stuck with so I now have signed up to her online website with masses of videos to choose from. Highly recommend!

It’s similar to a ballet class but without most of the jumping.

They're really not (trained ballet dancer here). They really are not.

I've never had a ballet class but I didn't think it was supposed to be like that anyway - as far as I can see barre is more like HIIT without jumping. Gets my heart rate up, anyway!

Many barre classes do contain balletic-type movements, which is all people probably mean when they say it is a bit like ballet. To the untrained ballet eye (which is most of us) doing a plie with your heals together is "like ballet"!

@EasterIsland do you have evidence (either anecdotal or scientific) about the damaging effects, or is that just your opinion? I have been doing barre for a while with no such consequences. Loads of respected exercise class apps/websites have them, so I would be surprised if they were as damaging as you suggest. Are you also a trained fitness professional or just a trained ballet dancer?

doing a plie with your heals together is "like ballet"!

Hmmmmm. If you want to be toned & "sleek" (as a lot of these sites advertise) then a lot of the so-called "Barre " exercises are actually quite antithetical. Just putting your heels together in a semblance of turn out, and then bending your knees, is not a plié. And if you do a fake plié wrongly, there'll be a tendency to build muscles in ways which are not toning or sleek.

A plié comes from first of all engaging your rotator muscles, which should determine the extent of the turned out angle of the feet, and then thinking of sending the knees sideways, while maintaining a neutral pelvis and a completely upright body position, while not sitting in the knee bend, or allowing the knees to collapse inward.

The amazing Balanchine dancer, Suzanne Farrell says that the plié is the first thing you learn, and the last thing you master.

The gym-based "Barre' exercises encourage sickled feet & turned-in legs, and an anterior pelvic tilt. I should think the reason people don't get injuries is because the exercises don't actually push the body terribly much, which is just as well, really.

If you want "toning" and better posture, Pilates and/or Alexander technique are the thing. "Barre" classes are just aerobics dressed up with "ballerina" glamour. But to the trained eye, they're pretty hideous.

I didn’t say it was THE SAME as a ballet class, I said it was similar to. It is based on the basic positions, uses pliés, arabesques, tendus and the French names for the moves and positions will be recognisable to people who’ve done ballet in the past. It’s probably a slightly better overall workout than a ballet class as it’s sequenced to increase strength and fitness. The two instructors behind the main instructor are professional ballet dancers so you can see correct alignment etc. FYI, I live in a major city and there is no adult ballet available here. I don’t think a barre class is particularly high-risk for injury, in fact more risk of injury in a classical ballet class where forcing turnout is common if not encouraged. I’ve done plenty of ballet in my life, no need to act superior on the internet.

I did a lot of online ballet classes during lockdown (sort of from desperation, as the gym was shut). I liked a lot of aspects of it, but learning to do a plie and a deep knee bend etc. really threw out my technique for squatting etc. when the gym reopened. It's a whole different way of thinking about/moving the body I think.

It definitely improved my balance though. And my ability to get my legs really straight when doing leg raises.

Real ballet dancers are a whole different creature though. Incredible.