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BARRE3 HELPS YOU BUILD A STRONG CORE WITH EVERY WORKOUT—HERE’S HOW
A strong core is key to optimal health—it’s the 360 degree powerhouse that helps you stabilize and move. That’s why, at barre3, our workouts incorporate postures that recruit and work every aspect of your core. Below, VP of Research and Development Lisa Schale-Drake shares why your core is more than just your abs, five extremely effective barre3 core postures, and what to keep in mind as you strengthen your core.
A Strong Core Helps You Move With Greater Ease And Mobility
Your core is where all movement in the body begins. The ability for our core to function impacts our stability and posture, and just like any muscle group, when it’s working at its greatest functional ability, you can move with less pain while increasing your flexibility and decreasing your risk of injury. That’s why how we train our core is key.
What Your Core Really Is—And Why It’s Important To Strengthen All Of It
The core is made up of around 35 different muscle groups. These muscles can be found in the front torso, hips, back, and side body. What’s important to remember, though, is that these muscles don’t work in isolation. Think about your abs: They help stabilize the front of your torso, flex your spine, and protect your inner organs from impact. The back muscles that run up and down your spine do the opposite: They extend your spine and protect it from resistance. If you only focused on strengthening your abs, you would create an imbalance in your back muscles, leading to discomfort, pain, lack of mobility, and even injury.
Barre3’s Unique Approach To Strengthening The Core
Barre3’s approach to core work is not only about working the core muscles, but also about focusing on the areas of your core that are commonly imbalanced and compromised by our everyday lifestyle. We focus on strengthening your glutes, side body stabilizers, abdominals, and even the muscles that help you breathe. That’s right—those last few minutes of breathwork are actually strengthening your core muscles!
How barre3 Core Work Has Evolved
We love to learn from experts and continue to implement the latest science into our classes. The biggest shift we’ve made is that instead of using movement to strengthen the core, we now stabilize and use resistance.
Here’s an example. Think of a crunch: You can use movement, like lifting your head off the floor, to activate your abs. While this works the core, we’ve learned that there are more highly effective postures that work the same muscles while also benefiting our bodies in the long-term. Flat-Back Core is a go-to barre3 core posture where instead of lifting your head, neck and shoulders to activate your abs, you’re keeping your spine still and flexing your entire core to keep the spine stable as you add resistance through the arms and legs. Not only does this recruit more core muscles, it’s also better for your back and is more effective in strengthening all of your core.
5 Key barre3 Postures That Help Build A Strong, Balanced Core
It’s always good to keep in mind that almost every barre3 posture recruits and works aspects of your core. Here are a few of our favorites for activating and strengthening the core.
Flat-Back Core
Flat-Back Core is a highly effective posture for strengthening the front core muscles. This posture lets you work in a neutral spine while also setting you up with endless ways to deepen your connection to the front of your body.
Bridge Lifts
We love Bridge Lifts for strengthening the back of the core. While the posture focuses on your glutes as the primary muscle group that lifts your hips, it doesn’t stop there. Depending on the variation you take, Bridge Lifts can also deliver amazing abdominal, hamstring, and back body strength.
Plank
Plank is another favorite because it challenges the front of your core while — bonus! — also working your shoulders, back, and even side-body core muscles, depending on the modification you take.
Sumo Squats
While Sumo Squats are known for their lower-body burn, they’re also an amazing core exercise. All 360 degrees of your core are activated to help keep the spine stable as you lower and lift.
Diamonds
We all know Diamonds as the challenging posture that turns your outer glutes on fast, but the move is also a great way to work your obliques. You’ll never have issues feeling your core working in this posture!
A Few Things To Keep In Mind When Doing Any Core-Focused Postures
Don’t hold your breath. We get it, exhaling and holding your breath can sometimes help you feel your core muscles kick on. But when you’re not letting air flow in, you risk turning off the foundation of your core. This can put unnecessary internal pressure on your inner core and pelvic floor. Try flexing your core muscles and think about taking sips of air. When you start to fatigue, take a quick break.
Core exercises are always about quality vs. quantity. While high reps are crucial to finding your edge, if you start to lose your form, or if you’re feeling different muscles kick on, it might be time for a quick reset. Stop, take a few breaths, let the body release the tension, and then come back into the posture.
Just because you feel the posture in one part of your body doesn’t mean other areas aren’t working as well. We love sensation—it connects us to our bodies and helps us build trust with the posture. However, it’s always good to know that not all muscles are equal in sensation. Just because you don’t feel a posture in a specific area doesn’t mean it isn’t working. Take Bridge Lifts: as you lift your hips, you are most likely going to feel the work in the glutes and hamstrings, but your abs are doing a big job of keeping your spine stable so you don’t overarch your low back as you lift. There’s still work happening, even if you don’t feel it.
Ready to kick your core muscles on and reap the benefits of a strong core? Find your local studio, or try the barre3 Core 360 online workout collection and the B3 Focus 10s Core series—get both free with a 15-day trial of barre3 online.
A strong core is key to optimal health—it’s the 360 degree powerhouse that helps you stabilize and move. That’s why, at barre3, our workouts incorporate postures that recruit and work every aspect of your core. Below, VP of Research and Development Lisa Schale-Drake shares why your core is more than just your abs, five extremely effective barre3 core postures, and what to keep in mind as you strengthen your core.
A Strong Core Helps You Move With Greater Ease And Mobility
Your core is where all movement in the body begins. The ability for our core to function impacts our stability and posture, and just like any muscle group, when it’s working at its greatest functional ability, you can move with less pain while increasing your flexibility and decreasing your risk of injury. That’s why how we train our core is key.
What Your Core Really Is—And Why It’s Important To Strengthen All Of It
The core is made up of around 35 different muscle groups. These muscles can be found in the front torso, hips, back, and side body. What’s important to remember, though, is that these muscles don’t work in isolation. Think about your abs: They help stabilize the front of your torso, flex your spine, and protect your inner organs from impact. The back muscles that run up and down your spine do the opposite: They extend your spine and protect it from resistance. If you only focused on strengthening your abs, you would create an imbalance in your back muscles, leading to discomfort, pain, lack of mobility, and even injury.
Barre3’s Unique Approach To Strengthening The Core
Barre3’s approach to core work is not only about working the core muscles, but also about focusing on the areas of your core that are commonly imbalanced and compromised by our everyday lifestyle. We focus on strengthening your glutes, side body stabilizers, abdominals, and even the muscles that help you breathe. That’s right—those last few minutes of breathwork are actually strengthening your core muscles!
How barre3 Core Work Has Evolved
We love to learn from experts and continue to implement the latest science into our classes. The biggest shift we’ve made is that instead of using movement to strengthen the core, we now stabilize and use resistance.
Here’s an example. Think of a crunch: You can use movement, like lifting your head off the floor, to activate your abs. While this works the core, we’ve learned that there are more highly effective postures that work the same muscles while also benefiting our bodies in the long-term. Flat-Back Core is a go-to barre3 core posture where instead of lifting your head, neck and shoulders to activate your abs, you’re keeping your spine still and flexing your entire core to keep the spine stable as you add resistance through the arms and legs. Not only does this recruit more core muscles, it’s also better for your back and is more effective in strengthening all of your core.
5 Key barre3 Postures That Help Build A Strong, Balanced Core
It’s always good to keep in mind that almost every barre3 posture recruits and works aspects of your core. Here are a few of our favorites for activating and strengthening the core.
Flat-Back Core
Flat-Back Core is a highly effective posture for strengthening the front core muscles. This posture lets you work in a neutral spine while also setting you up with endless ways to deepen your connection to the front of your body.
Bridge Lifts
We love Bridge Lifts for strengthening the back of the core. While the posture focuses on your glutes as the primary muscle group that lifts your hips, it doesn’t stop there. Depending on the variation you take, Bridge Lifts can also deliver amazing abdominal, hamstring, and back body strength.
Plank
Plank is another favorite because it challenges the front of your core while — bonus! — also working your shoulders, back, and even side-body core muscles, depending on the modification you take.
Sumo Squats
While Sumo Squats are known for their lower-body burn, they’re also an amazing core exercise. All 360 degrees of your core are activated to help keep the spine stable as you lower and lift.
Diamonds
We all know Diamonds as the challenging posture that turns your outer glutes on fast, but the move is also a great way to work your obliques. You’ll never have issues feeling your core working in this posture!
A Few Things To Keep In Mind When Doing Any Core-Focused Postures
Don’t hold your breath. We get it, exhaling and holding your breath can sometimes help you feel your core muscles kick on. But when you’re not letting air flow in, you risk turning off the foundation of your core. This can put unnecessary internal pressure on your inner core and pelvic floor. Try flexing your core muscles and think about taking sips of air. When you start to fatigue, take a quick break.
Core exercises are always about quality vs. quantity. While high reps are crucial to finding your edge, if you start to lose your form, or if you’re feeling different muscles kick on, it might be time for a quick reset. Stop, take a few breaths, let the body release the tension, and then come back into the posture.
Just because you feel the posture in one part of your body doesn’t mean other areas aren’t working as well. We love sensation—it connects us to our bodies and helps us build trust with the posture. However, it’s always good to know that not all muscles are equal in sensation. Just because you don’t feel a posture in a specific area doesn’t mean it isn’t working. Take Bridge Lifts: as you lift your hips, you are most likely going to feel the work in the glutes and hamstrings, but your abs are doing a big job of keeping your spine stable so you don’t overarch your low back as you lift. There’s still work happening, even if you don’t feel it.
Ready to kick your core muscles on and reap the benefits of a strong core? Find your local studio, or try the barre3 Core 360 online workout collection and the B3 Focus 10s Core series—get both free with a 15-day trial of barre3 online.
