First of all, thank you all for coming back to read about my
(mis)adventures in trying to keep fit! I have a certain lovely, amazing friend
who has recently become obsessed with the barre method (yes you!). I’d heard of
it before, but had never seriously considered going, especially after I picked
up my new favorite form of exercise, the subject to which this blog is
dedicated, pole dancing. But I’m stranded up here in Palo Alto without a car
for the month, which seriously limits the places I can go to for exercise.
Needless to say the minute I got here and got adjusted to my horrendous work
schedule, I looked up pole dancing studios in the palo alto/ SF area. All the
ones that looked decent were not within walking distance, so I resigned myself
to working out at home. One fortuitous day, as I was exploring sleepy little
palo alto, I stumbled across this place: http://www.purebarre.com/.
Ah! Yes! I committed the class schedule which was so elegantly etched onto the
front door to memory, and made a pact with myself to return to the Saturday
class. Saturday morning arrived (and none too hastily, might I add!), and I get up and start to get ready for class. I love and hate getting ready for new dance classes,
because I have no idea what to expect! What do I wear? Will I look totally
different than the other girls in the class? As most dancers can tell you,
a lot of dance classes have unspoken “uniforms”, partially dictated by the
nature of the exercise, and partially dictated by our inherent need to fit in.
A short bike ride later, and I arrive at the studio. It is meticulously appointed, complete with candles and a very nice
receptionist dressed in, you guessed it, a fancy lululemon tank top and
leggings. Alright, fine. I do the whole registration things, signing forms saying that I won't sue them if I die, etc, all the while talking
nonstop about how my friend loooves
the barre method and how this is my first class but it seems like fun! Do I need anything special? Is this ok to do the class in (gesture to ensemble) Did I
mention this was my first class?
The
class itself was great! I have never taken an “exercise” class before, only
dance classes, so the instructor walking around with a headset microphone and
all the people doing synchronous crunches were a foreign thing for me. But the
workout was fun, fast, paced, and most of all EFFECTIVE. I would have bet all
my worldly possessions that the warm up was the whole class, because I was
exhausted and shaking already, but the instructor’s cheerful “Alright! I hope
you are all warmed up and ready to work by now!” combined with an incredulous glance at the clock
which confirmed that indeed, only 20 minutes had gone by, dashed all those
hopes. A mix of Pilates and ballet- barre inspired moves, all kicked up a
thousand notches by the holding and pulsing we did constantly throughout class
caused all the muscle fibers in my arms, abs, butt and thighs to revolt one
after the other. My legs were literally shaking as we did a seemingly endless
succession of squats and leg lifts, all with very small, isometric movements very unlike the fluid, large movements I was used to in ballet class. I gripped the
barre for dear life while silently apologizing to the vertical poles I’d so
fallen in love with, convinced this torture was their retribution for my
infidelity. The class was only 55 minutes, but seemed to last 3 hours . At the end of it, that welcome rush of endorphins was coursing through my
body, which made me feel great, even though I'm pretty positive I was the worst
one in the class, except for maybe the devoted boyfriend who came with his girlfriend ! This class is definitely something I would recommend
to all those former dancers out there looking for a way to stay in shape that doesn’t
entail destroying your joints, as well as those brave of heart who like a
workout that employs pulses and isometrics.
P.S. I never knew what isometrics were until I looked it up:
Isometric exercise or isometrics are a type of strength
training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during
contraction. Isometrics are done in static positions, rather than being dynamic
through a range of motion.
Thanks Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isometric_exercise
