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<\/strong><\/p>\nWhat is a Barre Workout?<\/strong><\/p>\n Barre is a total-body, low-impact workout that focuses on improvements in core strength, balance, endurance, and flexibility. It is all-encompassing and promotes a balanced body with its roots in ballet. It\u2019s not a dance class. Instead, it incorporates principles from ballet conditioning, Pilates, and yoga to take the entire body through a full range of motions. Further, it promotes the benefits of isometric strength and flexibility.<\/p>\n During your barre workout, you also get the benefits of a cardio workout, as your elevated heart rate responds to functional movements with your\u00a0 \u00a0body weight and sometimes incorporates\u00a0hand weights. Other benefits associated with using a barre workout as a form of cross-training include:<\/p>\n Who\u00a0<\/strong>C<\/strong>an\u00a0<\/strong>U<\/strong>se\u00a0<\/strong>B<\/strong>arre for\u00a0<\/strong>C<\/strong>ross<\/strong>-T<\/strong>raining?<\/strong><\/p>\n For the general fitness population, most people use barre to add cross training into their regular workout programs. However, a few key groups\u00a0such as running and endurance\u00a0athletes\u00a0will maximize the benefits associated\u00a0with going to a group fitness class specializing in barre.<\/p>\n Runners specifically put themselves at risk for overuse injuries by the nature of their sport. It\u2019s high impact and repetitive \u2014 and people who love to run don\u2019t want to give it up. So, when pain or injury come up, it can be devastating. It\u2019s common for runners to use HIIT\u00a0(high-intensity interval training)\u00a0as part of their cross-training.\u00a0While this type of cross-training is great for runners, it doesn\u2019t help with the injury prevention side of things.<\/p>\n Many times, running injuries are related to tight (or overactive) hip flexors, hamstrings, and calves. Core-strengthening exercises and hip-lengthening activities can improve these symptoms. Other risks runners expose themselves to include:<\/p>\n Weight\u00a0<\/strong>L<\/strong>oss<\/strong><\/p>\n When trying to lose weight, it\u2019s important to stay injury free, but also to keep a negative energy balance. This means if you\u2019re trying to decrease body fat, you\u2019re going to want to burn more calories than you\u2019re eating. In barre, you\u2019re introducing a unique form of resistance training into your\u00a0 \u00a0exercise\u00a0program. This means you\u2019ll be burning calories during your workout, but also for the next 24 to 48 hours as your muscles work to recover and restore themselves. This is critical for weight loss and allows participants to get the weight-loss benefits from the strength achieved in barre without the obvious increase in muscle size (hypertrophy). If you\u2019re working on shedding pounds and don\u2019t know if you\u2019re into resistance training.<\/p>\n Strength\u00a0<\/strong>Tr<\/strong>aining or\u00a0<\/strong>A<\/strong>dvanced A<\/strong>thletes<\/strong><\/p>\n When trying to put on lean body mass, you must overload the muscles to the point of fatigue. When training for goals like this, certain muscle groups start becoming overactive, thereby reducing your range of motion. As a weightlifter, if you start cutting your range of motion short, then you\u2019re not getting what you could be getting out of each repetition. Further, training large muscle groups tends to reduce your focus on training smaller, stabilizing muscle groups. When this happens, you become more prone to injury and reduced performance.<\/p>\n By using barre as part of a cross-training program, strength training athletes will experience:<\/p>\n Yoga\u00a0<\/strong>P<\/strong>articipants and\u00a0<\/strong>I<\/strong>nstructors<\/strong><\/p>\n Yoga is an excellent choice for improving flexibility, isometric strength, core stabilization, and overall balance. However, just like with any other form of exercise, if you do it over and over you cap out on your gains. This is just as true with yoga participants. If you love your yoga sessions, especially the mind-body connection and benefits your body realizes, barre is a smart choice for you. In barre, you\u2019ll find you\u2019re able to continue increasing muscle tone by performing high repetitions of low-intensity strength training. Unlike isometric strength, in Barre, you\u2019ll be taking your limbs through a full range of motion many, many times. This overloads the targeted muscles and leads to greater adaptations in strength, performance, and overall function. It will elevate your yoga results by challenging different movements and in different planes of motion, plus you get the mental connection seen in yoga.<\/p>\n Common Exercises in Barre<\/strong><\/p>\n New to barre and don\u2019t know what to expect? Not to worry! The movements, while foreign at first, are easy to catch onto and are the common theme among various classes. Although each class might be slightly different, there\u2019s a common focus this type of training entails. These exercises include:<\/p>\n\n
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