My First Ballet-Inspired Workout: Pure Barre Review

Hi friends! I hope you had a good morning! Mine started off bright and early with a new-to-me workout: Pure Barre. I’ve wanted to try an in-person ballet-inspired class ever since my first introduction to Physique 57 (I’d only tried the book and my friend reviewed a class in NYC). I’d been meaning to check out the new studio that opened a few months ago in town, and when I met the owner, Carolyn, of the Pure Barre Winston Salem studio over the weekend (she was so nice, btw), it inspired me to go soon.

The instructor of the class I attended, Traci, was so nice and welcoming – especially for a 6 AM class! 😉 I was a bit nervous since I’d heard unfavorable things about the attitudes of other ballet-inspired studios but that was not the case here!

The studio is so pretty! I loved all the holiday decor too. You wear socks – no shoes and not barefoot – for the workout and yoga-ish clothes. I learned why the socks were necessary during the workout since some of the moves involve sliding your feet across the carpet. (I missed the memo to wear black socks – I was the only one with white socks! hehe)

I grabbed a small ball (like a playground ball but about 4″ across), a resistance band and a set of weights. I grabbed the 3 lb weights (they had 1 lb, 3 lb and 5 lb options). I usually lift with 12-20 lb dumbbells for my upper body so I thought 3 was gonna be a breeze. But since I’d never been I decided to temper my ego and do the 3 instead of the 5 lbs. I’m SO glad I did!

The class started with a few minutes of core work before moving to arm work. The core work was tough but just when I thought I was going to have to take a break, we’d switch the type of move we were doing and that provided enough relief so I could keep going. It was the same with the upper body – we did triceps, biceps, shoulders and some minor back/chest work. Those little weights had me shaking! We did high reps and small movements – I definitely felt the burn!!

After core/upper body, we moved to the bar for some ballet-inspired moves. Leg lifts from all angles with slow controlled movements to the beat of the perfectly timed and current pop music and also small pulsing movements. Again, like the core workout, just when I thought I couldn’t do any more, we’d shift the moves so I could keep going. We alternated between the barre and the floor for the lower body workout. We also had a few segments of stretching interspersed which felt soooo good.

To finish class, we did more core work at the barre (super interesting moves – so hard to describe…you’ll have to try it in person! 😉 ) and again on the floor. I was shaking and sweating by the time I left, but in such a good mood! I loved the class! And I love the location in Reynolda Village – such a pretty place.

Later at work my legs were still burning and I can still feel the soreness tonight. I fully expect my abs to be sore tomorrow (I usually have a day delay with soreness so the leg soreness this soon was unexpected.)

Bottom line:

• Do I recommend it? Based on 1 class, definitely! I think it’s a good addition to a well-rounded workout. It reached muscles that are easily neglected. I’m also excited to have another non-impact workout (in addition to the yoga I do) in my line-up, but it definitely doesn’t have the mental/spiritual aspect that yoga provides me.

• Would I spend my own money on it? Yes, and I did. I didn’t get a free class. The drop-in rate is $20 which is pricey compared to local yoga studios (most drop-in rates are $15) but they have passes that drop the per-class fee. I don’t think I’d give up yoga to divert my fitness budget to Pure Barre, but I’m definitely going to try to find a way to fit it in at least a couple times a month. (But I’m sure I won’t see the results as much as I would if I were regular. If only I was made of money and unlimited time. :))