Move
I’M GOING TO CLIMB 2 MOUNTAINS IN 1 DAY. HERE’S HOW BARRE3 IS HELPING ME TRAIN.
With our emphasis on building a strong, stable core and a balanced body, barre3 is gaining a following among athletes looking to take their performance to the next level. Willie McBride is doing exactly that. The co-owner of Wy’east Wolfpack, an organization that connects people to the joys of physical activity, Willie is training for a major physical challenge: climbing two mountains in one day (!). Read on to learn how barre3 is helping him prepare for this feat.
From an early age, I’ve loved getting outdoors whenever possible, away from the city and into places with forests and mountains. I grew to love challenging myself physically—and mentally—in those special places, climbing to mountaintops and traveling trails. As time passed, those challenges grew greater in difficulty and began to necessitate more deliberate training in order to prepare.
Now, as co-owner/trainer/coach at Wy’east Wolfpack in Portland, Oregon, I do a great deal of exercise and activity overall—but too often life gets in the way, and with personal clients it can become a “do as I say, not as I do” scenario for the day-to-day essentials. That’s where barre3 comes in.
Mixing one or two classes a week into my usual training and active lifestyle, which includes hiking and trail running plus sporadic body-weight exercises when leading workouts, feels like a game-changer.
Here’s how:
- The repeated small movements in barre3 help develop strong stabilizer muscles in my legs and feet, and they increase threshold for lactic acid in my quads, glutes, and calves. As a result, I’m more stable on varied terrain, which translates to increased confidence and enjoyment.
- Being mindful is tough for most of us, especially these days where distractions and stressors feel ever-present. An hour-long barre3 class brings me into the present and helps me turn down the mind chatter and turn up the focus. Connecting with my breath and my body and pushing to find the “comfort with discomfort” in a rigorous activity grounds me in the moment. The mind is like any muscle: When we exercise mindfulness, our ability to be in that state becomes stronger. For the often long-distance, long-duration activities I love to do, a strong mental game is absolutely essential.
- Some days I feel strong, some days I’m sore. My exercise philosophy says that modification is wise not weak, that there’s an ebb and flow to fitness and each individual’s journey within it. I appreciate how barre3 believes in the power of modifications, too, and speaks to it throughout the classes, providing a space where it feels empowering to modify.
My next big self-planned challenge involves two of our favorite local mountains, visible from right here in Portland: Mt. Hood (Wy’east) and Mt. Adams (Klickitat.). My goal is to climb both in a single day. It will be a long and grueling effort, physically and mentally, and I know I need to prepare for a wide array of difficulties and complications to be thrown my way. I’ll be making my attempt sometime in mid June and will be keeping barre3 in my arsenal of training tools throughout the process. Stay tuned for more!
Looking to take your performance to the next level? For a limited time, you can get two weeks of unlimited studio classes for just $49, or 15 days of unlimited access to barre3 Online for FREE.
Photo by Steven Mortinson
With our emphasis on building a strong, stable core and a balanced body, barre3 is gaining a following among athletes looking to take their performance to the next level. Willie McBride is doing exactly that. The co-owner of Wy’east Wolfpack, an organization that connects people to the joys of physical activity, Willie is training for a major physical challenge: climbing two mountains in one day (!). Read on to learn how barre3 is helping him prepare for this feat.
From an early age, I’ve loved getting outdoors whenever possible, away from the city and into places with forests and mountains. I grew to love challenging myself physically—and mentally—in those special places, climbing to mountaintops and traveling trails. As time passed, those challenges grew greater in difficulty and began to necessitate more deliberate training in order to prepare.
Now, as co-owner/trainer/coach at Wy’east Wolfpack in Portland, Oregon, I do a great deal of exercise and activity overall—but too often life gets in the way, and with personal clients it can become a “do as I say, not as I do” scenario for the day-to-day essentials. That’s where barre3 comes in.
Mixing one or two classes a week into my usual training and active lifestyle, which includes hiking and trail running plus sporadic body-weight exercises when leading workouts, feels like a game-changer.
Here’s how:
- The repeated small movements in barre3 help develop strong stabilizer muscles in my legs and feet, and they increase threshold for lactic acid in my quads, glutes, and calves. As a result, I’m more stable on varied terrain, which translates to increased confidence and enjoyment.
- Being mindful is tough for most of us, especially these days where distractions and stressors feel ever-present. An hour-long barre3 class brings me into the present and helps me turn down the mind chatter and turn up the focus. Connecting with my breath and my body and pushing to find the “comfort with discomfort” in a rigorous activity grounds me in the moment. The mind is like any muscle: When we exercise mindfulness, our ability to be in that state becomes stronger. For the often long-distance, long-duration activities I love to do, a strong mental game is absolutely essential.
- Some days I feel strong, some days I’m sore. My exercise philosophy says that modification is wise not weak, that there’s an ebb and flow to fitness and each individual’s journey within it. I appreciate how barre3 believes in the power of modifications, too, and speaks to it throughout the classes, providing a space where it feels empowering to modify.
My next big self-planned challenge involves two of our favorite local mountains, visible from right here in Portland: Mt. Hood (Wy’east) and Mt. Adams (Klickitat.). My goal is to climb both in a single day. It will be a long and grueling effort, physically and mentally, and I know I need to prepare for a wide array of difficulties and complications to be thrown my way. I’ll be making my attempt sometime in mid June and will be keeping barre3 in my arsenal of training tools throughout the process. Stay tuned for more!
Looking to take your performance to the next level? For a limited time, you can get two weeks of unlimited studio classes for just $49, or 15 days of unlimited access to barre3 Online for FREE.
Photo by Steven Mortinson
