It’s not an exaggeration when I say that barre classes changed my life.
In case you haven’t heard me talk about it before, I’ve had three foot surgeries. Twice, on each foot (right and left), I’ve had my ankles fused with screws during a surgery called ‘Talonavicular Fusion’. Essentially, because I had short Achilles’ tendons, my gate put pressure on the ball and socket of my ankles, rubbing away at the cartilage in-between. This eventually caused bone spurs and hairline fractures in both of my feet. I first felt this foot pain in high school back in 2006, but continued to walk on it for years.
The Talonavicular Fusion surgery is a long recovery, with optimal mobility at 18 months post-op. My left foot was operated on in 2011, and seemed to recover in those advised 18 months. My right foot was operated on in 2013. I continued to have chronic pain in the right foot and had another surgery on it in late 2014 to try and reduce pain by removing some of the hardware. While my left leg had full recovery, my right continues to get pain to this day.
All of this is to say that I’ve had pretty traumatic injuries, surgeries, and pain that negatively impacted my ability to exercise or find balance. Growing up, I was on myriad sports teams, but spent the majority of my time in dance classes. At twelve, I was in pointe shoes for ballet, and while I wasn’t the best ballerina, I was pretty athletic. The ankle injuries took away a lot of my original athleticism.
Barre Classes Made Me More balanced
Despite attending a lot of physical therapy for my foot recoveries, I probably could have done more. At least that’s what I tell myself. We as humans are always trying to assign blame.
After my first week of barre classes, this theory was solidified in my mind. It acts a lot like physical therapy! Besides using my abs while doing moves at the bar, we also do floor work in each class that includes ab exercises. Barre class is all about using the core, having good form, and keeping good posture. If you aren’t aligning your core during class, you simply aren’t getting the same effects out of the moves!
This seems like a lot of pressure, and it’s not something to forget during class, but the teachers are there to help! They’re always offering kind corrections and watching each client to see that everyone is safe in their positions. However, I’ve found that even with those teaching moments, I learn more about a position each class. The truth is that the stronger you get, the more you’re able to recognize when you’re hitting a targeted muscle group just right in a barre position.
After 30 barre classes, there was no denying that my balance had improved. My lopsided stance from surgery, that could be knocked with a gust of wind, was suddenly solid. I was able to stand on one leg, while lifting the other, and not feel like a teeter-totter. No more feeling like a baby taking their first steps when walking, I’m a balanced babe now!
SHOP MY FAVE BARRE CLASS LEGGINGS
I got stronger from taking Barre Classes
My muscles ached from constant plié at the bar, but my core sure was tight! Not only that, but my legs were strong.
Barre class works muscles groups that we tend to neglect in the gym. In fact, it consistently exerts those muscles to the point of exhaustion in almost every class! It’s not uncommon to get ‘the shakes’ while in second position lunging 30+ times in 90 seconds. I’m no stranger to turning to jello in class, and it takes constant willpower to fight the urge to jump out of the uncomfortable positions.
It’s a full-body workout consisting of arms, core, and legs (even includes some gluteus maximus exercises). Being in my early thirties, I thought that having to peel myself out of bed in the morning was normal. After a month of taking barre, I realized that was actually because my muscles weren’t being worked properly. My upper back has gotten stronger, and it’s reduced my shoulder and neck pain. I feel springy again when jumping out of bed! Need to carry in the groceries? I can do it in one trip! Let’s not even talk about how easy it became to lift my leg up on the shower wall while I shaved (something that was nearly impossible before with my injured foot and bad balance). I’m stronger at 30 than I was at 23, and proud of it.
I Lost Inches and Gained Muscle
Be honest, the real reason many of you are here is to know if I lost weight. Listen, it was one of the first things I looked up when I signed up for a barre class. I didn’t lead with it because the other results have proven to be even more beneficial to me personally. However, the before and after photos (seen below) of 30 barre classes cannot lie!
I think I speak for many when I say that I gained a quarantine-15. More like twenty-five over here; I tend to eat my feelings and stress. These aren’t hard numbers, however, as I try not to make a habit of weighing myself.
Starting on September 15th to my 30th class on October 28th, I truly ate whatever I wanted. That’s not to say I overindulged. As a rule, I stay away from a ton of sugary dessert food because it makes me feel lethargic. However, carbs, including weekly pizza and pasta, were on the menu at all times! I still chose nutritious options with lots of fresh fruit and veggies whenever my body asked for them.
Attending 3-4 classes a week seemed to provide the perfect balance to my foodie lifestyle. In fact, if you take a look at the before and after photos, you’ll see that I lost inches and gained muscle just by going to barre class. Even better, because of the continuous stretching throughout class, it was giving me the long and lean muscles that every former-ballerina strives for. For those of you truly interested in knowing how much weight I lost, I checked! I’ve lost about 4.5 pounds over the course of a month and a half.
SHOP MY FAVE BARRE CLASS TOPS
Barre Classes introduced me to cool people
Furthermore, former ballerinas love barre class! While there, I’ve met quite a few that went to ballet school in their twenties. If you’re looking for a community of (mostly) women that are organized, go-getters, and empowering, then you need to attend The Bar Method!
It’s unreal to be working out next to an 85 year-old woman that’s more flexible than yourself. I’ll always remember an exchange I had with a lady my grandma’s age talking about how she has too many leggings to count. All the while, during this chat, she had one leg up on the bar stretching her hamstrings with perfect balance. It was one of those moments that I realized I need to be doing this type of workout for the rest of myself. Not only are these women flexible, but they are confident, healthy, and extremely full of love, light and life.
If you do one thing for yourself this month, it should be signing up for a barre class!
SHOP MY FAVE SPORTS BRAS
What do you think?