Right before the new year, my friend Marissa and I were talking about our goals for 2016. She mentioned that she wants to take advantage of those free introductory fitness classes. And I’m like yes, sign me up. It gets boring doing the same thing over and over and yo, it’s expensive. Each fitness studio has their own package deal. And depending on the day, I may want to do Pilates, yoga, barre, or just run.
Long story short…I tried a barre class at The Barre Code‘s new location (right by my Trader Joe’s..win!) and was blown away by how awesome barre is.
So I get there and everyone is just hanging out..not looking at each other..not really talking. And I’m like shit, what did I get myself into? Naturally, I took a spot in the back and then found out that people new to barre should probably be closer to the front. Yep, put me right by the instructor when I’ve never done this before. Because that isn’t mortifying for me.
Turns out, everyone is so focused on what their muscles are doing that no one cared.
Dude. I was tapped out when it was all said and done. We used a smallish ball as our “resistance” in the class and focused on working the muscle out entirely to the point of fatigue with focused, precise movements. Like, I was on my toes barely holding onto the barre and using my quads to raise and lower my body. Just my quads. And if your heels dipped, Vanessa came around and held them up.
Basically if your muscles aren’t shaking, you’re doing it wrong.
Vanessa told us to pick a mantra to get you through class and say it over and over when you wanted to give up. While I completely appreciate mind-over-matter thinking, I’m pretty sure this was just to get our minds off of how much it all hurt and how many seconds of pain was left.
Does it sound like hell? It really isn’t, I promise! It’s the best.freaking.feeling ever to walk out of that class knowing you a) didn’t die b) didn’t fall over and c) didn’t give up.
Seriously, I need to have someone standing over me holding me accountable to doing the full 30 seconds or I would be like, I’m just gonna half ass these last few reps…
I signed up for a Barre Code class, but there are other tons of other classes to try out depending on what you want to do. I was really excited to try a class at The Barre Code, especially now that I know it is a completely accessible workout and makes you feel like you’re floating on air when you’re done.
