Last fall, while I was training for my first marathon, a college friend moved to town and joined me for some of my running workouts. We had trained together for previous half-marathons, and she had always beaten me in past races. In short, Sarah Mae was and is the cheerful and motivating training buddy that you want with you for the last month-and-a-half of marathon training in the hills of Greenville, SC. We had many enjoyable conversations on our running dates, and apparently Sarah Mae's comments about how much she loved Barre Evolution classes were more persuasive than I thought. When I saw an advertisement towards the end of winter, I recruited another Barre Evolution newbie and signed up to try barre.
After the first class at Barre Evolution Greenville, I was both very sore and very much in love with the teacher, the workout, and most importantly, the playlists. In eight years of cross country and track team workouts, racing five half-marathons and one full marathon, several years of yoga classes with a few pilates and Zumba workouts thrown in along the way, I had never done anything like the Barre Evolution method. I simultaneously felt like I had never worked out before and felt empowered to quickly learn and master these moves. Why yes, the varsity college athlete mentality is entertaining in the real world.
I recently gifted myself a month of unlimited barre classes at Barre Evolution Greenville. Before beginning Boston qualifier training, I was strategically avoiding doing any significant running for a few months. After trying a few classes in March and unexpectedly falling for the Barre Evolution method, now that I was back from vacation and steadily treading through the busy season at work, I was ready to attend as many classes as possible. Between May 15th and June 13th was my time to embrace barre.
In 30 days of classes at Barre Evolution Greenville, I learned both hilarious and profound things:
- Barre is the hardest and best workout you’ll ever do without shoes on. It is no dance class.
- Shaking is desirable, and it continues even after you’re in good shape. Keep working hard to get even closer to peak strength and toning. Fitness is a process, not a destination.
- Your least favorite teacher can become your favorite teacher. While I certainly respected and appreciated the guidance of all of the Barre Evolution Greenville teachers, I figured out towards the end of the month exactly which classes I enjoyed the most. Each teacher has their own style and you will figure out whose style is slightly more enjoyable and challenging than the others.
- Your "navel" and your "seat" are your new key body parts. Don't worry, though: your glutes and your thighs can escape Barre Evolution without being renamed a la Ellis Island.
- Music is one of the best motivators out there. Notably, Katy Perry medleys are fantastic (as if I needed a reminder), and “Budapest” is not George Ezra’s only great song featuring a European city: listen to “Barcelona.”
- Two pounds is a lot of weight. Believe me, I know that it doesn’t sound like it, but please do all of the arm-targeting repetitions with great form and without breaks before you tell me that you're too good for the two pounders.
- Tell your coworkers that you are going to ballet barre class, or you might accidentally influence a rumor that you enjoy the bar a little too much.
- Barre exercises are very beneficial for your posture. The combination of yoga stretches, core and back-strengthening, and continual reminders to “tuck your seat” has improved my poise. I even get less sore than I used to due to life’s usual stressors.
- Voluntarily leaving home before 6 am can feel great—if you’re heading to barre class, that is. I took two of the 6 am classes and I’m so glad that I did. I will admit, I didn’t quite know what to do when I left class and discovered that my first-choice of coffee shop had not yet opened for the morning. Good thing that there was another excellent choice already open just around the corner.
- Dry shampoo is even more awesome than I thought it was. One of my favorite parts of barre class is that you get a high-quality, challenging workout but don’t have to shower before returning to the office or heading to happy hour. The doubting newbie has become a believer.
- It is possible to do 40 pushups. This does not mean that I didn’t doubt or that I didn’t get tired while on my way towards having better form, doing more repetitions without taking a break, and finally, feeling moderately proficient at those elusive standard pushups. In the words of Dory, “Just keep swimming.”
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Barre Evolution and hope to continue taking occasional classes. I feel the strongest and most toned that I have been in a while. Now, I’m off to Boston marathon-qualifying, then perhaps a sprint triathlon, and then maybe-just-maybe one of these days barre classes will empower me to do a full split like six-year-old Jessica could. With the right playlist for motivation, who knows?
