What is Barre?
Barre combines strength and balance training and is about pursuing the connection between mind and body. Barre will push you to your limits as you move towards your fitness goals at your own pace.
This class combines attributes of Yoga, Pilates, Dance, and Functional fitness training. Incorporates small isometric movements to help fatigue the muscle, large range of motion to elevate the heart rate, and sequencing that incorporates both the upper and lower body to make every second count. This results in a total body workout that leaves you mentally healthy and feeling accomplished. A combination of happy instruction and music provides the fuel needed for not only an intense workout but a fun one
Barre Posture
Proper posture in Barre is #1 on the list of importance – Because better form during workouts = injury prevention!
Good posture is also known as “neutral spine”. When we have good posture, the muscles surrounding the spine are balanced and supporting the body equally.
- Reduce low back pain
- Less tension in your neck and shoulders
- Strengthen core from head to toe!
Pelvic Tilts to Bridge Pose
✓ Strengthen and support muscles around the low back, organs, and bladder.
✓ Low back pain relief.
✓ Lengthens Low back muscles and strengthens the core.
Bridge Pose
(Setu Bandhasana) can be whatever you need—energizing, rejuvenating, or luxuriously restorative!
✓ Stretches the chest, neck, and spine
✓ Calms the brain and helps alleviate stress and mild depression
✓ Stimulates abdominal organs, lungs, and thyroid
✓ Rejuvenates tired legs
✓ Improves digestion
✓ Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause
✓ Relieves menstrual discomfort when done supported
✓ Reduces anxiety, fatigue, backache, headache, and insomnia
Kneeling Cat-Cow – Core Strength
Improve posture, balance, and core strength. The benefits of this synchronized breath movement will also help you relax and ease some of the day’s stress.
✓ Begin kneeling with a ball or cushion under your seat with a neutral spine and hands on your hips. As you inhale and move into cow pose – lift your sit bones backward (arching the spine), press your chest forward opening the collar bones, and allow your belly to sink. Lift your head, relax your shoulders away from your ears, and gaze straight ahead.
✓ As you exhale, slowly one vertebra at a time round into cat pose – rounding your spine and tucking in your tailbone and drawing your pubic bone forward engaging the pelvic floor and abs. Release your head toward the floor (just don’t force your chin to your chest).
Most importantly, have fun letting go!
You can increase the intensity by adding in the arms opening wide on cow and round forward on cat
Seated Torso Twist – Core strengthener
You can stabilize your spine with these torso twists by coordinating with the pelvic muscles. Your muscles work together to flex, extend, rotate and bend. Torso twist exercises can improve movement involving flexion and extension or bending forward and backward.
You will love the benefits of these seated twists! Your increased mobility and strengthened obliques will work your body towards creating that hourglass shape!
Seated Torso Twists – Core Stability
Reclined Abs with Bicep Curl Variation
✓ Tighten and strengthen your core muscles
✓ Improved posture & better balance
✓ Muscles work together to support your spine
✓ Create lean biceps
Chair Squats
Chair squats are a great way to build up the strength in your leg muscles – works your glutes, hamstrings, and quads!
Chair pose strongly strengthens the lower body while stretching the upper back while invigorating and energizing the whole body!
✓ Tones the leg muscles excellently
✓ Strengthen the supporting muscles of the major joints – hip flexors, hips, knees, calves, and ankles
✓ Develop core strength
✓ Strengthen the quads and glutes
✓ Help protect the knee joint by building stability
✓ Build heat in the body
- Try performing 15-20 chair squats
- Add 2inch pulse up/down for 10-15 reps
- Added challenge – add in alternating heel raises!
Chair Squats
Done properly and consistently, the most noticeable benefits include:
✓ Tones the leg muscles excellently
✓ Strengthen the supporting muscles of the major joints – hip flexors, hips, knees, calves, and ankles
✓ Develop core strength
✓ Strengthen the quads and glutes
✓ Help protect the knee joint by building stability
✓ Build heat in the body
- Try performing 15-20 chair squats
- Add 2inch pulse up/down for 10-15 reps
- Added challenge – add in alternating heel raises!
Add Your Own Flavour Squats!
Squats are great for the glutes but you can make them even better with resistance bands – these banded squats are definitely a great way to build muscle and strength.
Resistance bands work well because they control the movement of squats from beginning to end. They provide the much-needed resistance when you lower into a squat and also provide resistance when you go back to the standing position. This essentially means is that your muscles are working under tension throughout the exercise! You will fire up your glutes and legs in the best way possible.
Try any combination, add your “flavour,” have fun with it and #feelthegluteburn ?
Lunges
✓ Lunges are a great strength training exercise to strengthen, sculpt, and tone the body, while also improving overall fitness and enhancing athletic performance.
✓ Lunges work the large muscle groups in your lower body, which builds leans muscle and reduces body fat. The single-leg movements activate your stabilizing muscles to develop balance, coordination, and stability.
✓ Lunges strengthen your back and core muscles without putting too much stress or strain on your spine.
Curtsy Lunges
Curtsy Lunges + Plies Squats!
The curtsy lunge and plie will build serious lower body strength. Because the cross-legged nature of the motion may seem a bit foreign at first, this exercise can be a smart way to mix up your lower body workouts.
➡️ Stronger Legs & Sculpted Glutes: this exercise will help to give your butt a balanced, well-rounded appearance.
➡️ Improved Balance: As you cross your leg behind you, muscles in your ankle, calves, quads, and core all work to stabilize your body during the curtsy lunge. This will help improve your body control.
For an even harder challenge, practice completing each repetition in slow-motion or adding pulses!
You will feel a greater muscle activation and a heightened connection between your mind and body, which is an important skill involved in balancing!
Squat Variations
When you strengthen the muscles in your lower body, you’re better able to execute full-body movements with correct form, balance, mobility, and posture!
The list of squat benefits is lengthy, but to summarize:
➡️ Strengthens your core
➡️ Strengthens the muscles of your lower body
➡️ Boosts athletic ability and strength
➡️ You can do them anytime anywhere!
➡️ Crushes Calories!!!
Clam Shells
Strengthen the gluteus medius, which lays on the outer edge of the buttocks and is responsible for stabilizing your pelvis.
Tips:
✓ Keep your core engaged! This will activate your abdominal muscles and protect your spine
✓ Try to isolate the glutes. You should only be rotating from the hip socket, not the lower back.
✓ Be sure your neck is in a neutral position so you don’t strain it
Plank Walks
The plank is an endlessly variable exercise, which is good, because the classic version is about as boring as an exercise can be, even if you spend the entire time thinking about how much good you’re doing your core.
The core challenge of a classic plank is well known, and adding in the movements only adds to this. You’ll also hit your shoulder, chest, and arm muscles hard, meaning the walking press-up is a fine all-around addition to the workout of anyone keen on carving out a more impressive upper body.
✓ Strengthens your core
✓ Increases strength and core stability
✓ Strengthen shoulders, chest, and arm muscles
✓ Stabilize, balance, and power the body!
Donkey Kicks
If you’re searching for an exercise to target and tighten your rear end, look no further than the donkey kick!
What are donkey kicks, and what makes it the best go-to exercise for a firm and plump bum? Donkey kicks target the glutes in a way many other compound exercises can’t. They can improve mobility and activate hard-to-reach muscles without putting much pressure on your joints.
The traditional execution of this exercise is the best for beginners without the resistance band – Focus on form, ensuring the back isn’t sagging and your glute is doing all the work!
*Please note if you suffer from low back pain we recommend performing the clamshell version instead.
Blalanced Arm Raises
Balanced Arm Raises are a fabulous way to strengthen, tone, and stabilize your shoulders.
These upper body moves will help you support proper posture and even make daily and athletic movements easier.
Sit, stand & laugh!
Try something different on this #wellnesswednesday
Sit down cross-legged without assisting yourself with your hands on the ground.
Be sure to laugh plenty! ??
Easy Pose (Sukhasana)
This pose strengthens the back and stretches the knees and ankles. It also opens the hips, groin, and outer thigh muscles (abductors). Sitting upright with your spine aligned also reduces stress and anxiety. It calms the mind and is known to be therapeutic for stress.
Practicing Sukhasana in correct alignment will automatically begin to calm your mind and senses.
Sukhasana is a simple and basic pose to come into at any time. Whenever you need to find peace, simply bring yourself to the ground and sit quietly. As you slow your breath, your mind will begin to calm down. Regularly integrate Easy Pose into your practice and into your daily life — you may notice serenity and ease flowing through all areas of your life!
Reclined Butterfly Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)!
This deeply relaxing pose is easy to try for all levels. It strengthens and improves flexibility in the inner thighs, hips and soothes any menstrual or digestive discomforts. It’s also a great way to release some emotions from our bodies!
Supported Savasana
Savasana is one of the most important poses we can bring into our practice but is often practiced too quickly, without attention to alignment, and without clarity about how to deepen it. We fidget. We daydream. We snore. We start thinking about dinner. And then it’s over! Once in the pose, the mind needs a few minutes to slow down as you give yourself permission to rest.
The addition of props can make the feeling so luxurious and inviting that you have no excuse but to drop into rest. Each bit of support can potentially remove small amounts of discomfort and tension throughout the body that otherwise would have made you wiggle, squirm, and itch. But performing this pose with the knees supported can help to relieve tension in the lower back and the entire body to relax.
Having the knees propped by blocks or bolster/stack of pillows/blankets helps reduce tension in the lower back and sacrum allowing you to melt into this shape. Add extra support to your low back by folding a blanket and placing it behind your bottom. You can also use a towel or sweater to create a neck pillow, which allows your bones to rest in a neutral position.