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I WAS TERRIFIED TO TRY BARRE3—AND NOW I’M AN INSTRUCTOR
Christine Maus is an instructor at barre3 Needham, near Boston. When she’s not encouraging clients to find their edge, she’s running her photography business, Christine Maus Photography, or spending time with her husband and three children.
I was terrified to go to my first barre3 class. I thought only tall, beautifully fit women went to it—and I certainly wasn’t feeling like one of those women at the moment. I was overweight (in fact I had stopped weighing myself because I didn’t want to see the number), and I had stopped buying clothes that weren’t spandex (I relied on the extra “give”). I had an image of the kind of body that frequented a barre3 studio, and mine certainly wasn’t it.
My “workout plan” at the time was spending an exorbitant amount of money each month to belong to a fancy gym, where I’d walk for a bit on the treadmill while watching TV and then sit in the sauna. Not surprisingly, this regimen wasn’t delivering stellar results. I knew that if I really wanted to get healthy, I needed to try something new, so when a friend invited me to go to a barre3 class with her I agreed—and I fretted. What if I couldn’t do the moves? What if I couldn’t even make it through the class?
My fears were assuaged the minute I walked through the studio doors. Everything and everyone was so warm and lovely and inviting that I felt at home immediately. Meg was our instructor that day, and she talked to us about making the class our own. That’s when I realized, OK, I don’t have to be Superwoman—and as simple as it sounds, that revelation was a total game-changer for me.
I’m not saying the class wasn’t hard. I remember meeting my new frenemy, Power Leg, that day and almost crying, thinking “this hurts so good!” But I completed the entire class and I had fun—something that had never happened to me in an exercise class before. And here’s the crazy part: Even though I started the class telling myself I didn’t have to be Superwoman, I walked out of there feeling incredibly powerful. Something about the emphasis on length and grace really resonated with me, and after just one class I felt taller and more confident.
I immediately signed up for another class, and then another, and another. I found a strategy that suited me perfectly: I’d rock one section each class. I’d tell myself, ”I’ll kill it in legs today, and I can go easy in combo work.” The next class, I’d concentrate on combo work. That way at the end of each hour, even if I dialed it back in one area, I’d know I nailed it in another.
When the 2015 January Challenge rolled around, I signed up immediately. This is when the true transformation began. I went from going to class two or three times a week to four, five, six times a week. As I built strength, I found that my energy went up, too. Suddenly, I realized I could rock leg work and combo work in the same hour. I also started cooking barre3 recipes. The weight started falling off me at that point. I felt better than I’d ever felt in my life.
That’s when I decided I wanted to become a barre3 instructor. At first it felt like a pipe dream, but finally I got the courage up to ask my local studio owner, Liz Hay, about it, and before I knew it I was in training. I didn’t pass the training class the first time I took it. Before barre3, I might have seen this as a setback, but instead I saw it as an opportunity to grow. That’s what I love about barre3. It has taught me that an unexpected turn doesn’t mean you’ve failed, but that you have an opportunity to learn.
When I took the training class the second time I dove in wholeheartedly, opening myself up fully to learning everything I possibly could. I passed, and I absolutely couldn’t wait to start teaching. I’ve never been so excited about anything in my life—I was literally grabbing people off the street asking them to come take my classes. When I became an instructor, one of my friends—who has watched me throughout this journey—said to me, “You’ve become my inspiration.” That, to me, sums up what barre3 is all about. It’s not about ripping out an airbrushed photo of your favorite celebrity and taping it to your refrigerator for inspiration, but being inspired by real women. I love that as a client turned instructor I can inspire and motivate others.
Nearly a year after that first Challenge, I’m 50 pounds lighter and a thousand times happier.* From the outside, it might look like I’m “done.” Not even close. By that I don’t mean that I want to lose more weight, I just mean that I see this whole wellbeing thing as a process. It’s not about a goal weight, it’s about ongoing health, and it’s about balance. I’m committed to a healthy lifestyle, but I’m not so rigid that I don’t allow myself to bend every now and then. I’m Italian—I love pasta, I love bread, I love wine. I think it’s important not to say I can never have those things. I can’t have a loaf of bread, but I can have a piece. Instead of a massive bowl of pasta, I’ll make it a side. And amazingly, the less I eat these things, the less I crave them.
I apply the same notion of balance to my entire life. I’m an instructor at barre3 Needham, the owner of a photography business, and a mom of three kids. I know I might look absurdly busy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My kids are my heart, my photography is my passion, and barre3? It makes me feel like me. When you find something that reaches you on that level, you do whatever you can to make it a permanent part of your world. I can say with confidence that barre3—and any Challenge it offers up—will always be a part of my life.
Have you joined the barre3 Challenge yet? It’s not too late! Sign up now and mark your calendar for Sadie Lincoln’s live Q+A session on January 4th at 5pm PT. She and functional nutritionist Andrea Nakayama will answer all of your burning questions.
*Results may vary
Christine Maus is an instructor at barre3 Needham, near Boston. When she’s not encouraging clients to find their edge, she’s running her photography business, Christine Maus Photography, or spending time with her husband and three children.
I was terrified to go to my first barre3 class. I thought only tall, beautifully fit women went to it—and I certainly wasn’t feeling like one of those women at the moment. I was overweight (in fact I had stopped weighing myself because I didn’t want to see the number), and I had stopped buying clothes that weren’t spandex (I relied on the extra “give”). I had an image of the kind of body that frequented a barre3 studio, and mine certainly wasn’t it.
My “workout plan” at the time was spending an exorbitant amount of money each month to belong to a fancy gym, where I’d walk for a bit on the treadmill while watching TV and then sit in the sauna. Not surprisingly, this regimen wasn’t delivering stellar results. I knew that if I really wanted to get healthy, I needed to try something new, so when a friend invited me to go to a barre3 class with her I agreed—and I fretted. What if I couldn’t do the moves? What if I couldn’t even make it through the class?
My fears were assuaged the minute I walked through the studio doors. Everything and everyone was so warm and lovely and inviting that I felt at home immediately. Meg was our instructor that day, and she talked to us about making the class our own. That’s when I realized, OK, I don’t have to be Superwoman—and as simple as it sounds, that revelation was a total game-changer for me.
I’m not saying the class wasn’t hard. I remember meeting my new frenemy, Power Leg, that day and almost crying, thinking “this hurts so good!” But I completed the entire class and I had fun—something that had never happened to me in an exercise class before. And here’s the crazy part: Even though I started the class telling myself I didn’t have to be Superwoman, I walked out of there feeling incredibly powerful. Something about the emphasis on length and grace really resonated with me, and after just one class I felt taller and more confident.
I immediately signed up for another class, and then another, and another. I found a strategy that suited me perfectly: I’d rock one section each class. I’d tell myself, ”I’ll kill it in legs today, and I can go easy in combo work.” The next class, I’d concentrate on combo work. That way at the end of each hour, even if I dialed it back in one area, I’d know I nailed it in another.
When the 2015 January Challenge rolled around, I signed up immediately. This is when the true transformation began. I went from going to class two or three times a week to four, five, six times a week. As I built strength, I found that my energy went up, too. Suddenly, I realized I could rock leg work and combo work in the same hour. I also started cooking barre3 recipes. The weight started falling off me at that point. I felt better than I’d ever felt in my life.
That’s when I decided I wanted to become a barre3 instructor. At first it felt like a pipe dream, but finally I got the courage up to ask my local studio owner, Liz Hay, about it, and before I knew it I was in training. I didn’t pass the training class the first time I took it. Before barre3, I might have seen this as a setback, but instead I saw it as an opportunity to grow. That’s what I love about barre3. It has taught me that an unexpected turn doesn’t mean you’ve failed, but that you have an opportunity to learn.
When I took the training class the second time I dove in wholeheartedly, opening myself up fully to learning everything I possibly could. I passed, and I absolutely couldn’t wait to start teaching. I’ve never been so excited about anything in my life—I was literally grabbing people off the street asking them to come take my classes. When I became an instructor, one of my friends—who has watched me throughout this journey—said to me, “You’ve become my inspiration.” That, to me, sums up what barre3 is all about. It’s not about ripping out an airbrushed photo of your favorite celebrity and taping it to your refrigerator for inspiration, but being inspired by real women. I love that as a client turned instructor I can inspire and motivate others.
Nearly a year after that first Challenge, I’m 50 pounds lighter and a thousand times happier.* From the outside, it might look like I’m “done.” Not even close. By that I don’t mean that I want to lose more weight, I just mean that I see this whole wellbeing thing as a process. It’s not about a goal weight, it’s about ongoing health, and it’s about balance. I’m committed to a healthy lifestyle, but I’m not so rigid that I don’t allow myself to bend every now and then. I’m Italian—I love pasta, I love bread, I love wine. I think it’s important not to say I can never have those things. I can’t have a loaf of bread, but I can have a piece. Instead of a massive bowl of pasta, I’ll make it a side. And amazingly, the less I eat these things, the less I crave them.
I apply the same notion of balance to my entire life. I’m an instructor at barre3 Needham, the owner of a photography business, and a mom of three kids. I know I might look absurdly busy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My kids are my heart, my photography is my passion, and barre3? It makes me feel like me. When you find something that reaches you on that level, you do whatever you can to make it a permanent part of your world. I can say with confidence that barre3—and any Challenge it offers up—will always be a part of my life.
Have you joined the barre3 Challenge yet? It’s not too late! Sign up now and mark your calendar for Sadie Lincoln’s live Q+A session on January 4th at 5pm PT. She and functional nutritionist Andrea Nakayama will answer all of your burning questions.
*Results may vary
