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Fit For You: Barre Class

Barre studios and classes have become very popular over the past few years, but the practice itself has been around since 1959.

Professional ballerina Ladi Burke developed the barre method after injuring her back. Still wanting to be active and conditioned, Burke combined her dance exercises with rehabilitative therapy to maintain greater flexibility, balance and strength.

"It's a nice, beautiful fusion of Pilates, yoga and the ballet barre, but you don't have to be a dancer to do it," says Jules Philippi. In addition to being a barre and group fitness instructor, she's a personal trainer and programming manager for the Wisconsin Athletic Club - North Shore.

Philippi notes that not every barre class is the same. In her own class, the barre is not utilized until the last few segments. Instead, participants are challenged by using their own body weight and various resistance intensity levels. A series of movements in her class also utilize light weights, resistance bands and other equipment.

"Challenge yourself. You'll find that change and it's worth it." - Jules Philippi

"One aspect that separates barre from other strength classes is the unique method used to target muscles: isometric contractions," she says. "Compared to a full bicep curl or leg extension, barre tenses the muscles without changing length and limits contractions to a two inch pulse."

"Once we pre-fatigue the muscles, we do the pulsing, then we hold and then that's where that shaking starts. That really separates it from a lot of different strength training classes...and also targets little muscle groups," explains Philippi.

In a typical barre class you can expect a mat-based warm up, upper body exercises and use of the barre for lower body conditioning. Philippi prefers structuring her class to target the whole body through core stability, upper body (both on the floor and standing), thigh work, seat work (floor and standing), core strength and stretching.

Philippi jokes that participants need to "earn the burn" in order to see the change they seek.

Credit Michelle Maternowski

"A lot of times, people will come back to class and say, 'I’m sore in areas that I have never thought possible.' It’s just that type of program set-up and that design that helps target that, and really wakes them up a little bit, and I think that’s the biggest surprise," she says.

Whether you're 25 to 60 years old, an athlete working to prevent injury, trying to increase your flexibility or even pregnant, Philippi emphasizes that barre is a "method accessible for every body" despite the dancer image.

Credit Michelle Maternowski

If done consistently in addition to other cardio exercise, barre can build and maintain muscle strength, promote weight loss, increase flexibility and improve your overall body posture, she says.

In addition to physical conditioning, barre classes are an exercise for the mind. "Your mind is going to give out before your legs do," Philippi notes. "It's not until we find that challenge that we're going to find change."

Philippi recognizes that barre and other group fitness formats can be intimidating for new participants, making getting in the door an additional challenge to overcome. However, she says that in order to make positive change, there needs to be some discomfort.

"You're not all going to look the same, and that's great! We don't all move the same, we don't all look the same." With barre, modifications for each participant can easily be made. But what is most important is that barre is done in a supportive, yet challenging environment, Philippi stresses.

"You walk in the door because you're looking for some sort of change and you can find it one day at a time with the support of everybody around you," she says.

Audrey is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.