What to expect at a Barre Fitness class

Wondering which ‘en Joy dance fitness class is right for you? Next up in this series of in-depth blogs about our sessions is a focus on Barre Fitness with Helen!

What is Barre Fitness?

Traditionally, Barre Fitness incorporates basic ballet, yoga and pilates techniques, into a group fitness class, where non-dancers and dancers alike can enjoy barre work and improve strength, flexibility and functional fitness.

Barre Fitness was originally devised in the 1950s in London by dancer Lotte Berk, along with the help of an osteopath, initially in order to improve her own functional strength after an injury. Lotte developed the first Barre Fitness classes and believed that the class emphasis should be on fun and ‘having a laugh’, away from the stricter techniques and focus of a standard dance class and her classes were originally just for women, to help them feel empowered. Certainly, in my experience, what makes a Barre class much more fun than working alone in the gym, is the group laughter and comments, where you realise everyone is feeling the burn and supporting each other through it!

Barre Fitness today varies from class to class, but generally combines ballet, yoga and pilates inspired exercises, with the aid of a ballet barre for support and sometimes with added resistance such as light weights or bands to further challenge the body and increase the muscular strength demands. There are many types of Barre Fitness classes around now, from the classic ballet inspired workout, to those focused on stretching and even HIIT style cardio and conditioning classes.

The benefits of this type of class include improved core strength and muscular endurance, increased flexibility, mobility and joint stability, as well as better agility, balance and co-ordination.

What to expect at a Barre Fitness class with ‘en Joy dance fitness

I trained to teach Barre Fitness with Jayne Nicholls of GXT, founder of Freestyle Fitness Yoga and creator of Virgin Active’s Barre programme. I later took a course in Fitness Pilates Barre and Balance, in order to gain a well rounded knowledge of Barre and be able to add variety to my classes. As a trained Contemporary dance teacher with the NATD, my classes also have more of a Contemporary than classical Ballet feel. While there are some traditional ballet inspired elements to the class, such as some movements in a ‘turned out’ first and second position, the movements are predominantly fitness based, often with feet in parallel position.

You do not need any dance experience at all to take part in this class and of course you don’t already need to be hugely flexible or strong – that’s what the class is there to help with. It is totally beginner-friendly if you’ve never tried (or even heard of) Barre Fitness. Don’t underestimate this type of class though – you may well get the ‘barre shake’ through your legs as your muscles are challenged in a new way – which is a good thing and actually very common in Barre classes! A Barre Fitness class is designed to fatigue the muscles using small, targeted movements, ultimately building and strengthening those muscles. You’ll usually find the supporting leg fatigues quicker than the one doing the leg lifts, etc, as this one is supporting your body weight as you work through the exercises. If the discomfort becomes too much, participants are encouraged to pause and have a little stretch / wiggle the hips and join back in when they’re ready.

My Barre Fitness classes include interval style functional fitness exercises at the barre (usually between 30 seconds to 1 minute of focused, sometimes intense exercise, with short active recovery breaks). Optional use of lightweight resistance bands and/or light hand weights will be offered for some exercises, to help increase strength and flexibility and activate muscle groups. Overall, this class is focused on body conditioning, although there will be a light cardio element and you may well work up a sweat, even though you’re not jumping and moving around as much as we do in other classes. It’s all about high reps, resulting in a moderate – high intensity workout, but also one which is low impact, due to the lack of jumps.

In my Barre workout there is no floor work, it is all standing, interval-based simple rhythmic patterns set to upbeat music. There’s no complicated choreography, no need to worry about what comes next, the movements are all very simple and highly repetitive (as well as highly challenging in some cases!) The ballet barre is used as a support, to help you balance and let you focus on the exercises, although participants are sometimes encouraged to let go of the barre and test their balance in some exercises – if they want to!

My Barre classes incorporate various elements of fitness, from strength and resistance training and light cardio, to mindfulness, for a great all-round mind and body workout. I think of Barre as somewhere between a relaxing and uplifting pilates class and a HIIT session. While you’ll need to utilise a level of mindfulness to engage and focus on the muscles, you may well work up a sweat too. Not quite Zumba level sweat, but you’ll be working your heart and lungs as you would in a cardio class, even though you’re not travelling from one spot for the majority of the session. You’ll likely leave the class feeling both energised and relaxed, stretched and lengthened. You may well be a little sore the following day or so, but keeping the muscles mobile by walking or gentle stretching can help to ease this.

Many people like the idea of a Barre Fitness class as they want to achieve the traditional ballerina’s lean body shape, but there are many more benefits to Barre – it’s not all about getting a perky bottom! Strengthening the glutes, as this class does, also helps to stabilise the pelvis, helping to take pressure off the back, hips, knees, etc and the exercises help build core strength too, targeting the muscle groups which aid in balance. As well as maintaining muscle mass, this type of workout can also help to maintain bone density, something which tends to decline from mid-life onwards (particularly in women, as a result of hormonal changes) and the decline can lead to conditions such as osteoporosis in later life. Maintaining muscle mass and bone density through strength and resistance workouts will ultimately help maintain a good quality of life as you age.

This class has very limited numbers, to allow enough space at the Barre. The ideal footwear is slightly grippy studio/barre/yoga socks, or bare feet if you prefer. I’d advise against normal everyday socks which can be too slippery on a wooden dance floor.