My Barre Certification Recap

I can barely walk!  My calf, glute, quad....oh who are we kidding...I'm sore all over!!!  See yesterday was my Barre certification course....8 hours of Barre!

Now to some of you reading this who have never done a Barre class...you may be thinking 'ya sure...that's cause you did 8 hours.'  However....to those who have experienced a class....you know that only 60 minutes can kick your ass!  I mean....we did 2 minutes of calf work...and I may not walk down stairs properly for a few days....I feel like I ran the Boston Marathon (which we all know will never happen)!

But let me recap!  I was excited to meet new people who were all there for the same reason....to better ourselves and to pass on an amazing workout to others.  We quickly got down to business as our BarrEast manuals were handed out.


Pretty sure people were wondering
why I was taking pictures of everything

The instructor lead us through the layout of the day and then said "Okay....time for a 60 minute class."  Oh boy...this is what I had come for!  "Grab a ball and a set of weights.....if you've never done Barre before....start small."


Those are 2 pound weights!

There were several times during the workout, specifically quad and calf work, where I had to stop and stretch out the muscles....man it was a crazy burn!  Isolating the muscles and working them to fatigue before moving on to the next gives a fantastic workout!!!

And then it was onto 'theory' time.  Now when I hear theory, I'm like 'yawn...boring'...but nope...this theory was more 'active'.  That's right...we continued to work through each 'section' of a class and practice the moves and what we'd say in an actual class.  Let me just say....by about 4pm...I was exhausted.  The instructor then threw in another 45 minute class...I couldn't.  I have 3 classes to teach today at 360Fit...I have to be able to move...LOL.  (edited to add: "And most of the participants were 10-12 years my junior....whippersnappers...LOL)

The thing that is unfortunate about Barre is that many guys won't do it....and that is sad!  This is a very tough class and I challenge any guy to take it.  These big guys are used to macho movements, not being on their toes....which many need to target the often ignored calf muscles.  As a retired gymnast, I have the big shoulders, and not so pretty plies.  Who cares....get your butt into a class and try it!!!  As a runner....I have to say that this class targeted my legs and glutes in small areas that other 'big' movements don't hit!!!  And my physiotherapist will be thrilled to hear how my glutes got a crazy workout....sorry Jeff....but we may have to break up due to Barre!  LOL

Now all I have to do is video tape me doing a 'mock' class and send it to the instructors for critique...wonder if I can find some volunteers to help me. :-)

I'm going to try and see if I can bring it to 360Fit somehow, but in the mean time....watch out members because I'll be throwing some Barre stuff into the regular classes for sure!  Please check out a Barre class near you and get ready to have some fun (cause there is kick ass music as well)!