The word is in our name and our tagline “Barre Intensity. Intense Shape. Intense You.” But come on, how do you make a low impact barre class so intense? We’re happy to share with you our secrets.
LAYERS
Pick a primary muscle or group of muscles to fatigue and layer the moves accordingly. Start with your main piece of choreography, bicep curls for example, and layer variations (hammer curls, pulses, biceps reach) before even thinking about switching gears to triceps. Gradually add in additional levers… taking us to our next point.
LEVERS
Multiple muscles groups working at the same time, just about all of the time. Bicep curls with squats, shoulder press with calf raises, abdominal work with weights in the hands. The more the merrier; at least we think so.
RANGE OF MOTION
Yes, we do like small range of motion. We wouldn’t be able to call ourselves “barre” if we didn’t. But we also like BIG. After you hold, pulse, burn, and shake, you’re going to kick, reach, swing and sweat.
SPEED
Slow and steady doesn’t always win our race. In addition to our controlled movements you’ll find a bit of speed as well. We like to get our muscles and our heart working.
ACTIVE STRETCHING
We believe in working through our stretches. A Barre Intensity Kick is a stretch for the hamstrings, bridge work is a stretch for the quads and hip flexors, and side bends are stretches for the obliques. By eliminating the “breaks” we can keep class moving and your body shaking.
TRANSITIONS
Speaking of keeping class moving…we place an emphasis on working through the transitions; a constant flow to the class. From the second the music starts to the time you take your final standing stretch you NEVER STOP MOVING.