Raise the Barre - Barre Fitness as a Complete Body Workout

By Kelly Peckholdt

When you think of ballet, you probably picture in your mind a slim, graceful ballerina gliding and prancing across the dance floor. But what’s their secret? Aside from the grace, elegance, and beauty of this dance form, ballet is also a total body workout and mental cleanse all wrapped into one. It is no wonder professional athletes often take ballet classes to help with their movement on the field!

The Power Barre class is designed to tone and stretch your entire body. Class begins with Pilates-inspired core strengthening exercises as a warm-up before moving to the barre. Barre exercises will tone and sculpt your legs while lifting your glutes – and they use different muscles than you use when lifting weights in a sculpt class or in the weight room, so you will see more results! Then, class will conclude with some upper body conditioning and yoga-based stretching to help increase flexibility. It is a great opportunity to switch up your workout routine – especially if you are looking for something low impact with big results! Flexibility training is just as important as cardio and strength training, and Power Barre will certainly help you reach your weekly stretching quota!

So what makes Power Barre a highly effective workout? For starters, it targets multiple muscle groups at once. There are a lot of isometric contractions and pulses in the movement used in class, which challenges a variety of muscles at once AND gets the heart rate up. It’s amazing how holding a lunge or pulsing in a lunge could be sneaky cardio! A barre class certainly should not replace your cardio regiment, but the point is that barre classes challenge your body in unexpected ways. The smaller movements used in a barre class also bring a new level of awareness to the body that you do not get in regular strength workouts, hence strengthening your mind-body connection. Also, much like Pilates and Yoga, barre classes will help to improve your posture by strengthening the core muscles and erector spinae (the small muscles that surround your spine) and making you more aware of the way you stand, sit, walk, and carry out your daily activities.

As a life-long dancer, I can attest to the benefits of studying ballet or other ballet-inspired forms. I put on my first of ballet shoes at age 3 and am still going strong. Power Barre is low-impact with big results. Plus, your body will thank you for taking 45 minutes out of your week to work on proper body alignment and stretching. I love cardio and weight lifting as much as the next person, but flexibility training is needed for a well-balanced body, too. So many of us have tight hips, hamstrings, and backs from a long commute and/or sitting in an office all day, and it is incredibly important to counteract the effects of all that sitting with stretching and lengthening. An important part of our overall wellness, too, is a healthy and strong mind-body connection. The movement involved in classes like barre, Pilates, and Yoga help to establish and build that connection.

Still need some convincing? Listen to what long-time participants Beverly Flaherty and Karyn Kirschbaum have to say about the class:

“Kelly’s ballet barre class is suitable for all fitness levels. Kelly is very welcoming and gives instruction as we go, so there’s no need to be intimidated! I enjoy the class and feel like it helps to tone and stretch in a quick half hour!” –Beverly

“I love waking up to the Barre class on Wednesday mornings. It’s the perfect way to stretch and strengthen muscles. And it complements my yoga and everything else I do. It’s gentle and intense at the same time. Kelly is awesome, the music is great, and the time flies!” –Karyn

Come enjoy some fun music with a challenging yet relaxing class. For more information, call (631) 669-8612 or visit http://www.positionsstudio.com/classes/.

Kelly Peckholdt is also a Certified Personal Trainer at Fitness Incentive and the owner of Positions Dance Studio in Babylon Village.