Move
Meet a Runner Who Got Hooked on barre3
Before I knew what barre3 was all about, I didn’t know if it was for me. On my runs home from work, I would breeze past fit, young women wearing colorful workout gear inside barre3 studios. I envied those women behind the window, but barre3 intimidated me. Even though I run, take classes with weights, and practice yoga, I didn’t think I was young and fit enough to join the cool girls. Plus, I had quit ballet as a child after just a few months.
Then one day this past May, I saw that a barre3 studio was opening across the street from my apartment in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. Was this a sign? They were offering free classes in the coffee shop next door while they finished building out the studio space. I signed up.
When I showed up for class, the coffee shop was packed. Women placed their mats close to each other, carefully laid out like colorful bricks. As the workout got underway, two things surprised me. First, the instructor knew so many people’s names in the class. And second, the moves were familiar and yet completely unique. When we were squatting and reaching arms overhead, it reminded me of moves I’d done in other classes—yet without weights, the movement felt more like a continuous flow. We also held familiar yoga poses like mountain and downward-facing dog.
Starting with the athletic warmup and dynamic stretch in the center of the room, I loved how the variety of poses provided the missing elements from my weight and yoga classes. Weights often felt too strenuous to me, while yoga often felt too fluid and easy. Barre3 was the ideal mix. We worked hard and our tiny muscles quivered (I soon learned these are called “quakes”), yet the movements were graceful. I felt like the dancer I never thought I could be.
My favorite and the most challenging part of class happened when we had to find a support to serve as the bar. Hands rested on pillars, windowsills, and tables. From there, we did a seemingly endless repetition of the smallest leg movements. These movements reached the exact spots in my butt and hips that are hard to target in running and yoga.
When the class finished, I thanked the instructor. I told her how glad I was that we got at the “hidden muscles” that other types of exercise couldn’t access. I told her I was sure barre3 would help my running. She said she was also a runner, one whose lower back wouldn’t stop hurting until she found barre3. She had tried physical therapy, but only barre3 made her feel better. I left the class empowered. I was strong in my body and in the belief that barre3 may be just the thing to open my tight hips, tone my arms, and finally put my core to work.
Maybe even more important than the physical strength I felt during and after barre3 was the fact that it felt like a treat. Barre3 recognized and honored my body in a way that running, weight class, and yoga hadn’t. It allowed me to challenge my body while also taking care of it.
I couldn’t wait for my new neighborhood studio to open. I wanted to meet the community of barre3 and hear their stories. I wanted to relive that magical moment where strength meets grace. I was hooked.
Do you remember your first barre3 experience? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Before I knew what barre3 was all about, I didn’t know if it was for me. On my runs home from work, I would breeze past fit, young women wearing colorful workout gear inside barre3 studios. I envied those women behind the window, but barre3 intimidated me. Even though I run, take classes with weights, and practice yoga, I didn’t think I was young and fit enough to join the cool girls. Plus, I had quit ballet as a child after just a few months.
Then one day this past May, I saw that a barre3 studio was opening across the street from my apartment in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. Was this a sign? They were offering free classes in the coffee shop next door while they finished building out the studio space. I signed up.
When I showed up for class, the coffee shop was packed. Women placed their mats close to each other, carefully laid out like colorful bricks. As the workout got underway, two things surprised me. First, the instructor knew so many people’s names in the class. And second, the moves were familiar and yet completely unique. When we were squatting and reaching arms overhead, it reminded me of moves I’d done in other classes—yet without weights, the movement felt more like a continuous flow. We also held familiar yoga poses like mountain and downward-facing dog.
Starting with the athletic warmup and dynamic stretch in the center of the room, I loved how the variety of poses provided the missing elements from my weight and yoga classes. Weights often felt too strenuous to me, while yoga often felt too fluid and easy. Barre3 was the ideal mix. We worked hard and our tiny muscles quivered (I soon learned these are called “quakes”), yet the movements were graceful. I felt like the dancer I never thought I could be.
My favorite and the most challenging part of class happened when we had to find a support to serve as the bar. Hands rested on pillars, windowsills, and tables. From there, we did a seemingly endless repetition of the smallest leg movements. These movements reached the exact spots in my butt and hips that are hard to target in running and yoga.
When the class finished, I thanked the instructor. I told her how glad I was that we got at the “hidden muscles” that other types of exercise couldn’t access. I told her I was sure barre3 would help my running. She said she was also a runner, one whose lower back wouldn’t stop hurting until she found barre3. She had tried physical therapy, but only barre3 made her feel better. I left the class empowered. I was strong in my body and in the belief that barre3 may be just the thing to open my tight hips, tone my arms, and finally put my core to work.
Maybe even more important than the physical strength I felt during and after barre3 was the fact that it felt like a treat. Barre3 recognized and honored my body in a way that running, weight class, and yoga hadn’t. It allowed me to challenge my body while also taking care of it.
I couldn’t wait for my new neighborhood studio to open. I wanted to meet the community of barre3 and hear their stories. I wanted to relive that magical moment where strength meets grace. I was hooked.
Do you remember your first barre3 experience? Tell us about it in the comments below!
