Raising the barre

Karen Vale of Columbia County had always been active, enjoying horseback riding and other outdoor activities, but as she got older, she found that just being active wasn’t enough to keep her in shape.

“I started gaining weight, not a lot, but just enough to annoy me,” she said.

She wasn’t interested in going to a big gym and joining a high impact aerobics or cycling class.

“All that stuff is not me,” she said.

Then she found the barre workout, which she enjoys by taking classes at Core Bodies, a Town of Poughkeepsie Pilates studio.

“The barre spoke to me because it’s smaller and personalized. It’s doing an exercise without the high impact involved in group aerobics classes,” Vale said. “The class uses light weights and helps with your balance and your flexibility. I took one class, and I was sold.”

A full-body workout

Deborah Murphy, owner of Core Bodies, said the barre workout is a full-body workout.

“It’s a ballerina warm-up. It’s what ballet dancers do to warm up their bodies before they work out for 10 hours a day,” she said.

Murphy said the concept of barre is that you isolate a muscle, work it to fatigue, and then you stretch it.

“So you get those nice long, lean muscles that the ballerinas have. We start every class with a warm-up and then a nice stretch, which is done on the barre,” she said.

Following that, Murphy said, the workout includes three different types of pushups and then an upper body workout, which is done with weights.

“We use small weights, because we do a lot of repetitions,” she said.

For the standing portion of the upper body workout, one- to three-pound weights are used. On the floor, Murphy said, five- to eight-pound weights are used. Unlike a gym, where you might start with a low weight and build up, in the barre workout, it’s just the opposite.

“You start out using a higher weight and then you work it until you can’t, and then you drop to a lower weight.”

This method allows you to fatigue the muscle you are working, she said. “If you have an injury, you can use no weights. That’s fine.”

“After that, we do the lower body. One nice thing about the barre is that there are so many different sets of exercises, so the classes generally aren’t the same all the time. We do quads, inner thighs, outer thighs, all those exercises and there is a magnitude,” Murphy added.

Improves flexibility

In addition to improving the look of our bodies, the barre workout also helps improve or sustain coordination and balance as people age and increase lexibility.

“It improves flexibility unbelievably. When I started years and years ago, I always had flexibility issues,” Murphy said. “What’s nice about the barre work is that you actually see improvement rather quickly. I recommend three classes a week, but even at two classes a week, you’re going to start to see changes in your body. You’ll see different changes in your muscles. I see them very quickly in people. And your flexibility and coordination improves unbelievably,” she said.

Vale said she saw a difference within a couple of months.

“I started seeing a streamlining of my shape. The muffin top was gone, and I was seeing muscle definition. It was like night and day. I drive a good distance to get to the class at Core Bodies, but I do it because I love it and it works,” she said.

While the class is beneficial for the mature population, Murphy said it’s good for any age and fitness level.

“I have people that haven’t worked out in 20 years come to class. You do not have to be a dancer. I have zero dance background. My background is in personal training. You do not have to have any background. Everything is to your level and what you can do that day. Because, let’s face it, there are days the muscles work really well and days they don’t, so there’s no pushing.”

The class seems to appeal to a certain kind of personality as well.

“All the girls that I have in all my different classes are all really nice, and the people that have been there for a while are all really encouraging to newcomers,” Murphy said.

Tara Gregorio of Tara Gregorio Holistic Healing also offers barre workout classes at her studio in Cold Spring.

“We offer an Intro to Barre class, Total Barre, which was developed by Merrithew Health & Fitness, and a Barre Burn class. The classes have become a highlight of my studio,” she said.

Gregorio agreed that participants would begin to see improvements in their bodies in the form of strong, long, lean muscles.

“This is because you’re performing strengthening exercises, standing with your own body weight,” she said. “So you become very stable in your joints and able to mobilize the joints more freely, and you’re not constricted as you would be with strength equipment at the gym.”

Unlike Pilates, where Gregorio said there is a lot of crunching and flexion through sit-ups, the barre helps people develop core strength while standing, as well as pelvic floor strength, which is also great for pre- and post-natal mothers.

Gregorio also said the workout is good for any age and fitness level.

“The company I am certified through, Merrithew Health & Fitness, has developed a barre class for special populations. So a lot of my clients will do privates for their age and fitness levels. If someone is more mature and wants to learn the basics, they could try the intro class or a private. Pre and post-natal are welcome as well because the exercises are done standing, and we also offer modifications to the core work.”

Bonus for expectant mothers, Gregorio said the workout, with its plié positions and strengthening exercises, is actually very good for labor.

What to wear to class?

“You want comfortable workout clothes. You want to be able to move,” Murphy said. “Stretchy pants and a T-shirt is fine, but not so loose that I can’t see what your body is doing. This way we can correct things as we go along.”

Gregorio added that a stretchy capri-type pant is best.

“There is a lot of footwork and pliés, and there might be some relevés or brushing of the legs, so it’s best to have more of a capri-type pant on. The top can be anything comfortable.”

Murphy said the barre workout is done barefoot in her class.

“We like to work the feet out also. The feet are very important on the body because they hold us up,” she said, adding that during winter months, some students wear socks with grips on the bottom to keep the feet warm.

Gregorio added that ballet shoes are welcome, too.

“That allows more of a brushing of the foot,” she said.

Vale said she wears three-quarter length yoga pants and a tank top to class.

“I wear very comfy clothes. It’s not about how you look. It’s not about having the correct yoga outfit. It’s not like that at all,” she said.

From a student viewpoint, Vale offered the following advice, “Don’t be afraid. People are afraid they won’t be able to keep up, or that they will look like they don’t know what they’re doing. At Core Bodies, the class and the instructor are so good. You get personalized attention. It doesn’t matter what level you’re at, everyone fits in and Deb makes sure that everybody works to their ability. She always says, it’s not about how many reps you do, or how high you lift your leg, or how flexible you are. It’s working within your own ability.”

For more information on class times, both studios’ websites include schedules.

Jackie DiMarzo is a freelance writer. Reach her at livingbeing@poughkeepsiejournal.com

Resources

Tara Gregorio Holistic Healing: 3590 Route 9, Cold Spring. Call 617-512-9501. Email: info@taragregorio.com. Web: www.taragregorio.com.

Core Bodies: 50 Raymond Ave., Poughkeepsie. Call 845-452-8018. Email: info@corebodies.com. www.corebodies.com.