In ballet-inspired fitness classes, a little goes a long way, with small movements promising big results.
Two new studios, Pure Barre in Cherry Creek and The Bar Method in downtown Boulder, offer intense strength and conditioning workouts rooted in ballet and physical therapy. The exercises repeat small movements in targeted areas, with strengthening, fat-burning segments followed by stretching to build lean muscle without bulk.
Although both locations look like typical ballet studios, with mirrored walls and the requisite barres, dance is not part of this picture. Instead of jetes, think turbo- charged demi-plies, with a whole lot of shakin’ going on.
“It’s a combination of dance conditioning, isometric exercise and toning — and the principles of stretch — based in the science of physical therapy,” said instructor Leslie Rosenberg, who owns The Bar Method studio with her husband, Paul Wenig. “There are no large, gross movements. It’s meant to support and strengthen the whole core.”
The physical-therapy component is a big draw for those who are suffering injuries but who still want a great workout, as well as those looking to stay injury-free.
Take Michele Meininger of Denver, attending a Saturday morning class at Pure Barre.
“I used to do triathlons ’til I injured my knees. I needed something non-impact, but still hard,” she said. “There’s no jumping or lunging; you stay in one place.”
Pure Barre founder Carrie Rezabek calls it “smart exercise” — small movements that create no pressure on the joints. “It’s not cardio, but your heart rate will definitely go up.”
In one exercise at The Bar Method, for example, students standing along the barre placed their heels together, then slowly squatted an inch and rose back up repeatedly — all while standing on the balls of their feet. The exercise was done multiple times while squatting a bit further in each round. It seemed simple enough, but by minute five, legs were quivering all over the studio.
Muscle fatigue
“We want students to work so hard that their muscles start to shake,” said Rosenberg.
That quaking indicates a muscle has gone to fatigue and is beginning to stress, which means it will have to repair and build new muscle.
“It’s the same muscle fatigue you would achieve after a day of skiing,” said Rosenberg. “The method is extremely efficient.”
That suits Bar Method student Jen Winger. “The goal is to work to your challenge point. You should be shaking,” said Winger, who attends class five days a week. She prefers exercising outdoors in the summer, but during the colder months, this is a good fit.
“I did gymnastics from (ages) 7 to 22,” she says. “I find the conditioning in The Bar Method is very similar.”
Both Pure Barre and The Bar Method are derived from a regimen established in the 1950s by European ballerina Lotte Berk, who had suffered a back injury. She worked with a physical therapist to create a workout combining ballet barre routines and rehabilitative therapy.
“Lotte Berk had a few core teachers who updated the method,” said Rosenberg, “then they opened their own studios.” The Bar Method and Pure Barre are a few of the offshoots.
More than Pilates?
Some of the barre fitness movements and core-strengthening principles also are key in Pilates. So what sets this method apart?
“Pilates is great, but it misses a huge area for women — the hips and thighs,” said Rezabek, who was in town to help launch the Pure Barre studio that opened in October.
New mom Rosie Wiedenmayer of Denver did Pilates throughout her three pregnancies and calls barre fitness a different workout. “I feel like I’m tightening my frame.”
“Pilates definitely got me trim,” she said, “but I felt like I needed to do something more athletic because I don’t really break a sweat” in Pilates.
Not so at Pure Barre. “At one point, I looked around the room, and every woman was dripping in sweat,” she said. “You can’t cheat here.”
The pace at Rosenberg’s Boulder studio is more measured but still intense. “It’s always challenging,” said Winger. “If you do come consistently, there are always really small tweaks you can do.”
The studios offer varied difficulty options at every session as well as modifications for injuries or other conditions — even pregnancy — provided an instructor is notified before class. “It’s designed so you could do it every day,” said Pure Barre owner Lindsey Girardot, who recently returned to Colorado after 11 years as a dancer and actress in Hollywood.
A side benefit of barre fitness is flexibility. “I get the comment, ‘I have never gotten my nose to my knee,’ ” said Rosenberg, who finds that in athletic-minded Boulder, some students are using the classes to complement other routines.
“Triathletes use it to keep limber and injury free,” she said. For others, such as the trail-runner who attended a recent afternoon class after pounding the dirt, “their legs don’t feel like lead.”
Bulking up, however, is not a concern here. “Body builders get big muscles because they don’t stretch afterward. We immediately stretch after we stress a muscle to create lean muscles,” Rosenberg said.
Rezabek finds most people come to Pure Barre to change the shape of their body, not necessarily to lose 10 pounds. “We’ve had people come in, and after 4 weeks, they’ve lost 11 inches.”
What about the guys?
At both studios, there was nary a man in sight.
“The men really aren’t drawn to it. We target hips, thighs, abs and the back of the arms,” said Rezabek.
The Bar Method, however, which opened in Boulder in July, had its first men’s night last month — with an added attraction. “We gave them class, and then we served them a beer.”
Rosenberg said men, who tend to be less flexible than women, usually discover barre fitness through the women in the class. “One man was brought in by his wife. He had an Achilles injury and he was a swimmer, so he found that the two together made a well- rounded workout for him.”
Being in shape is not a requisite for barre fitness, she said, even though most of the students look pretty fit.
“If you can walk, you can take a Bar Method class,” said Rosenberg, who also has the franchise rights for a studio in Denver.
A ballet background isn’t necessary, either. “A lot of my instructors were Broncos cheerleaders and Nuggets dancers, but some are not dancers at all, just into fitness, running or the outdoors,” said Girardot.
The cost is comparable to yoga classes, although barre fitness has the added strengthening that yoga lacks.
“Students find it addictive, and say, ‘I can’t re-create that shaking.’ ” said Rosenberg.
Denver Post copy editor Valerie Mass studied at the Eglevsky School of Ballet in Massapequa, N.Y. She can be reached at vmass@denverpost.com.
Barre workouts in Denver and Boulder
Both The Bar Method and Pure Barre offer 30-day, $100 new-student specials, monthly rates and online class registration. Average class size is 15-20 students
Pure Barre, 201 University Blvd., Suite 107, in Denver. Open seven days a week. Free parking. 720-276-1493, purebarre.com/locations/denver-co.
The Bar Method, 2425 Canyon Blvd., Boulder. Classes Monday-Saturday. Free parking. 303-443-9191, boulder.barmethod.com.
For those more comfortable exercising at home, both also offer workout DVDs for about $20.
Leave the tutu at home: This workout is real
Pure Barre students, all of whom appear trim and fit to start with, grab small hand weights and an elastic strap before class begins. They are clad in yoga-type outfitsalong with mandatory socks — and after a standing warm-up, pulsing their arms to the back and then working to the front, they begin legwork.
The pace is quick and performed to a driving beat of dance music. At one point, the class is seated, performing a pretzel-like move involving pulsing one leg lifted slightly off the floor behind them.
Stretching follows. Later, students are on their hands and knees, one leg straight out, pulsing the buttocks. Then more stretching.
Before it’s all over, it’s on to abdominal work, with students sitting at an angle to the floor, squeezing a 5-inch playground ball firmly between their thighs while doing tiny crunches. The 55-minute class goes fast, and by the end, most everyone looks exhausted.
For beginners, soreness the next day is commonplace, and even hoisting oneself out of a chair can be an exercise in itself.
“I was sore in places I did not know I had muscles,” said Michele Meininger, pointing to the back muscles under her arms.
The routine is similar at The Bar Method, although the music is toned down a bit and students spend more time at the barre.
An added bonus: The stall bars near the entrance of the studio and along the hallway, which owner Leslie Rosenberg said one might find at a physical therapist’s office.
“You let yourself hang 30 seconds to 2 minutes. That’s a stretch for opening up the shoulders and decompressing the spine.” Valerie Mass
