Bar Method Review

Wednesday morning, I ventured to south Lake Union for a Bar Method class. I had several reasons for trying a bar class.

First, since they are touted as being somewhat of a dancer workout, I thought I would really enjoy the approach. I figured I would not only be pretty good at it, but I knew it would be a good workout.

Second, the gym I work at wants to eventually incorporate a bar-type class into the group fitness schedule. They have asked me if I would be interested in teaching a class like this, so I figured I should probably figure out the general idea behind the "bar" classes that have been popping up everywhere. 

Third, I just like to try new workouts! It's fun to challenge yourself in a completely different way than your body is used to.

I walked in and was immediately greeted by two friendly faces! They made sure I filled out all the paperwork and showed me around the studio, making sure I felt more than comfortable and knew all the policies. 

Before class, you are supposed to hang on one of these bars for as long as you can.

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The general idea is that you are supposed to stretch and elongate your body. I thought this was an interesting concept, but figured I get enough bar-hanging at Crossfit!

Anyways, I got into class and we started in the center with some small handweights. I looked at the 3 and 4 pound weights the instructor had recommended to me and had a moment of superiority.

3-4 pounds?! I can deadlift half my body weight! What is this?

Little did I know! I barely made it through that warm up. We were lead through a series of bicep and tricep work. By work, I mean: holy cow my arms were going to fall off! We would basically get into a position and do small, barely visible, pulses for what seemed like an eternity. It was definitely a humbling reality check for me when I barely made it through the warm up!

The rest of the class comprised of similar movements, but in different positions and working different muscles. We did a few things at the bar: calf raises, pulsing with bent knees, pulsing with leg lifts, etc. 

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OH SO MUCH PULSING!

We progressed to some ab exercises and I definitely felt the burn through even more PULSING! I was definitely using muscles I had neglected and was feeling the burn all over!

The class ended with some planking (thank goodness the pulsing was over) and light stretching. 

Whew! I left with some shaky muscles, that's for sure! 

Bar Method was a great workout, and everyone in the class seemed to really be getting into it! I enjoyed the class for what it was, but was a little disappointed at the lack of dance there was. Don't get me wrong! Bar Method was a great workout, but it was more of a conditioning workout, which I'm sure is great for the majority of people. I definitely missed the artistic side of dance, though, and just felt like I was being tortured with an extra long and hard barre. 

That being said, I'm definitely excited to learn more about bar classes and see what else is out there! Who knows, maybe I'll head back to Bar Method Seattle again!