Your Prism Fitness Essentials for a Home Barre Workout
Barre classes seem to be popping up all over, and gaining in popularity. These classes are often a mixture of inspired moves from ballet, yoga, and pilates, although you don’t have to have a background as a dancer to jump into a class. Many people can gain a benefit from the fluid, graceful movements, and concentrated muscle work. This type of class style is very inclusive. Beginners benefit because the moves are not complicated, and hardcore gym-goers find the moves to be a perfect complement to the pounding their bodies take in other fitness endeavors.
A barre workout puts a focus on small, deliberate movements that target specific groups of muscles, including specific small muscles that may not be used in other workouts.
Posture and proper form body alignment are stressed, which can lead to a positive strengthening of core muscles and highlight the appearance of an aligned, lean body.
A barre workout can be a perfect countermeasure to the confines of desk work, phone usage, or even a job that keeps you moving at a fast pace all day.
The difference between a typical strength class and barre is that instead of large compound movements, you’ll focus on small, one-inch increments. These movements continuously engage the muscle through high repetitions of isometric moves that work to increase endurance.
Isometric movements work by strengthening muscles without straining tendons or ligaments, which makes Barre workouts less risky in terms of injury.
Barre can be highly efficient in targeting multiple muscle groups at once while you are doing several movement patterns, such as holding, pulsing, and stretching. For example, in a plie, your legs are diamond-shaped, heels raised, and you’re challenging not just your quads, but calves, hamstrings, glutes, abs, and upper-back muscles all at once just to stay in position, not to mention the added work of a series of pulses.
Barre Essentials from Prism Fitness
If you don’t have access to a class, barre is a very approachable workout to try at home, or on the gym floor. Unlike some Pilates classes, it doesn’t require the room or expense of a reformer, and you don’t have to be an expert to learn the moves. Here are some equipment ideas to get you started on building your studio!
TIP ALERT!
No Barre? Try a Plyo Cube instead!