If you follow recent fitness trends, then you know barre workouts are all the rage right now. Known for their ability to create a long, lean and graceful physiques, barre workouts are much more than just pliés and pointed toes.
This form of fitness uses a horizontal, waist level bar as a balancing prop to help execute a variety of isometric and stretching exercises. Barre engages the entire body and fuses the best elements of ballet, pilates, sports conditioning and stretching to give you a “dancer’s body.”
Looking to add some variety to my workout, I decided to take a barre class at Barre3 to see what all the hype was about.
Barre3 was founded in 2008 by renowned fitness and wellness expert Sadie Lincoln and has over 70 locations worldwide, including two in Atlanta (Midtown and East Cobb).
I decided to visit their Midtown location and I was greeted by studio owner and instructor Katie. She gave a quick introduction to Barre3, a tour of the studio and handed me the equipment I would need during class (a towel, one-pound hand weight and a 9-inch exercise ball) and I was ready for my workout.
The class started off with isometric holds like Warrior pose (yoga), that work the muscles to their deepest point and increase strength and endurance. Then we moved on to controlled 1-inch arm movements and lunges which gave my body the shakes.
