Move
YOUR BARRE3 QUESTIONS, ANSWERED: WHY WE EVOLVED CORE WORK, TIPS FOR SORE MUSCLES, AND MORE
The best questions about the barre3 practice come from you. That’s why we launched our Your Barre3 Questions, Answered series last summer. Since then, we’ve received tons of thoughtful, relevant questions about the barre3 practice. For this installment, we sat down with VP of Research and Development Lisa Schale-Drake to get answers for you.
B3 MAGAZINE: I’m gaining weight! Feeling more toned, but my hope would be to lose some lbs.!
Lisa: Feeling stronger and more toned is great! This means your body is gaining strength and power, which we all need to live a healthy life. It’s important to know that weight gain can be caused for many reasons. Muscle is about 18% denser than fat, so it weighs more by volume. If you’re gaining muscle—and it sounds like you are—the scale will reflect that.
Weight gain can also be caused by hormones and stress, and you can connect with your doctor or naturopath to make sure your other systems are in balance. Lastly, genetics do play into where and how our body gains weight. Since you can’t change this, focus your energy instead on how you feel in your body.
B3 MAGAZINE: I would like to increase my barre3 practice, but I’m finding it really hard for my muscles to recover, especially my quads. It doesn’t seem to matter if I do more classes, or if I take more time off between classes—they just feel really tired and sore every time I come back to class. Is there anything I can do to help with this and to bounce back more quickly?
Lisa: Yes! We definitely have tools that will help you integrate more into your barre3 practice. First, assess how you are approaching a barre3 class. If you are the type that always goes 100% turbo, I encourage you to explore our modifications. They are designed so you can adapt your workout every time to meet your needs.
So, if you’re feeling tired, you will have the ability to still move your body without depleting your system. I also recommend looking at ways to help your body recover between barre3 classes. I’m a BIG fan of foam rolling—a simple yet highly effective technique to help your muscles recover. And finally, good sleep, walking, and Epsom-salt baths are the bomb!
B3 MAGAZINE: Core work feels so different lately! What’s the thinking behind the new techniques?
Lisa: I’m so glad you’ve noticed this evolution. Science is continually making new discoveries about the body, and barre3 is committed to evolving our approaches and techniques along with it. We work with an amazing panel of experts who are continuously researching more effective ways to move and balance the body in a functional and healthy way. Through this, we’ve learned that the safest and most effective way to strengthen the core is through stability work—in other words, keeping the spine still as forces around it are trying to move it.
When the core is trained to be strong and stable, it will react the same in everyday life. For example, if a large dog suddenly pulls you on the leash, your core will remember forces like this and turn on to stabilize your entire spine. This way, you’ll have less risk of injuring yourself and actually feel more mobile through time.
Put what you learn to practice and try barre3 today! Get started with a 15-day free trial of barre3 online or find your studio to move with your local barre3 community.
The best questions about the barre3 practice come from you. That’s why we launched our Your Barre3 Questions, Answered series last summer. Since then, we’ve received tons of thoughtful, relevant questions about the barre3 practice. For this installment, we sat down with VP of Research and Development Lisa Schale-Drake to get answers for you.
B3 MAGAZINE: I’m gaining weight! Feeling more toned, but my hope would be to lose some lbs.!
Lisa: Feeling stronger and more toned is great! This means your body is gaining strength and power, which we all need to live a healthy life. It’s important to know that weight gain can be caused for many reasons. Muscle is about 18% denser than fat, so it weighs more by volume. If you’re gaining muscle—and it sounds like you are—the scale will reflect that.
Weight gain can also be caused by hormones and stress, and you can connect with your doctor or naturopath to make sure your other systems are in balance. Lastly, genetics do play into where and how our body gains weight. Since you can’t change this, focus your energy instead on how you feel in your body.
B3 MAGAZINE: I would like to increase my barre3 practice, but I’m finding it really hard for my muscles to recover, especially my quads. It doesn’t seem to matter if I do more classes, or if I take more time off between classes—they just feel really tired and sore every time I come back to class. Is there anything I can do to help with this and to bounce back more quickly?
Lisa: Yes! We definitely have tools that will help you integrate more into your barre3 practice. First, assess how you are approaching a barre3 class. If you are the type that always goes 100% turbo, I encourage you to explore our modifications. They are designed so you can adapt your workout every time to meet your needs.
So, if you’re feeling tired, you will have the ability to still move your body without depleting your system. I also recommend looking at ways to help your body recover between barre3 classes. I’m a BIG fan of foam rolling—a simple yet highly effective technique to help your muscles recover. And finally, good sleep, walking, and Epsom-salt baths are the bomb!
B3 MAGAZINE: Core work feels so different lately! What’s the thinking behind the new techniques?
Lisa: I’m so glad you’ve noticed this evolution. Science is continually making new discoveries about the body, and barre3 is committed to evolving our approaches and techniques along with it. We work with an amazing panel of experts who are continuously researching more effective ways to move and balance the body in a functional and healthy way. Through this, we’ve learned that the safest and most effective way to strengthen the core is through stability work—in other words, keeping the spine still as forces around it are trying to move it.
When the core is trained to be strong and stable, it will react the same in everyday life. For example, if a large dog suddenly pulls you on the leash, your core will remember forces like this and turn on to stabilize your entire spine. This way, you’ll have less risk of injuring yourself and actually feel more mobile through time.
Put what you learn to practice and try barre3 today! Get started with a 15-day free trial of barre3 online or find your studio to move with your local barre3 community.
