If you are looking for a killer workout or to add variety to your strength-training routine you need to check out The Bar Method. Never before have such small movements made me so sore! The exercises are designed to strengthen and stretch every major muscle group, and let me tell you from experience they do!
The work is definitely ballet and dance based, but no dance experience is required to reap the benefits of the class. Standing at the bar for relevés (heel raises to work the calves) and stretching your legs might just bring out your inner ballerina, and there is nothing wrong with that. This is definitely strength training with poise and faulty posture will be corrected by the instructor, so if you tend to slump this class will help you stand tall. All the movements, no matter if they are for your arms, legs, or abs, are best described as intense and minute. The work is very detailed oriented, which helps keep your brain engaged while your quads or abs scream for you to stop pulsing in a small range of motion. I really appreciated that a considerable portion of the class focuses on working the legs and glutes – two areas I love to work.
Want to know how much it costs? Then read more.
Even though the movements are small, you will sweat; you keep moving for the entire 60 minutes of class to keep your heart rate elevated. The music and instructors are very motivating and positive. Stretching is incorporated into the exercises and sets of push ups pepper the class. The arm section uses light hand weights (and believe me you want to use light weights) and medicine balls are available to increase the difficulty of the ab work.
Classes are expensive though, $24 per session, but you can buy packages of classes to decrease the overall cost of each class. Here is a list of studios, which are located on the West and East Coasts, with one in the Windy City. If there are no studios close to you, try the The Bar Method Body — Fat Free DVD in the comfort of you own home.
Have you tried the Bar Method? Tell me all about it in the comment section below.
Versace
Lipsy
Tom Tailor
i have been taking classes at physique 57 (www.physique57.com) which comes from the lotte berke method. we have core fusion in nyc which also has its roots in lotte berk. we do a lot of exercises with the ballet bar. i wonder if the bar method is similar? physique 57 is amazing and is the best work out i have ever done!
1LOVE LOVE LOVE the Bar Method!!
2I used to do ballet years ago but I had to leave it because I had no time. It requires a lot of discipline, efford and sacrifice. For years I didn't wanted to know anything about ballet, since I had some very bad experiences back them. But I might get this DVD, for old times' sake.
3I do the Dailey Method and I love it!
4i love the bar method..unfortunately they stopped selling the dvds and now they sell for ridiculous prices on ebay...like $160 for 2 dvds!
5Has anyone tried the Fluidity Bar? I always see the Infomercials and want to try it. It doesn't actually seem that expensive - it's something like $250 for the bar and a few DVDs, which is not that bad considering gym memberships PLUS extra classes, you know? I'd love to hear if anyone's tried it.
6Supposedly this is what Drew Barrymore has been doing lately....
A Bar Method studio just opened in Chicago & is getting lots of press; too pricey for my YMCA gym budget, but it looks interesting.
I've also read how the creators were connected with Core Fusion (exhale spa), but that is another class that is too $$$ for moi.
7Obsessed!
8I wish we had these classes in my area.
I got the Lotte Berk Method 4-DVD set for Christmas. However, I'm lazy & a huge procrastinator when it comes to exercise! I haven't even removed them from the packaging! I'll do it soon, though. They say you can just use the back of a chair, if you don't have access to a bar.
I've also wondered about the Fluidity Bar. I would really love one of those things.
9LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Bar Method!!!!
10Awesome!!
11interesting. i was a ballet dancer for years, until a knee surgery and college got in the way, so this sounds pretty enticing.
12They stopped selling the DVD's? That's crazy! There aren't enough Bar Method studios to satisfy the demand, so they've got to continue making the DVD's available.
I bought both DVD's on Amazon last year and have been very happy with them. They're damn hard, but totally worth it. The thigh work, in particular, is brutal but GOOD. My thighs have never been this toned (or this small!).
13I love Bar Method! It's much tougher than it looks.
I am trying to make sure that my next job allows me to attend classes regularly at either the Marina or Downtown location.
14Duffy, I have a fluidity bar. If it's something you'll actually use, I think it's totally worth it (though if you fold it up and stash it somewhere each time you use it, it's a workout in itself just setting it up and taking it down!). I like that it comes with 3 levels of DVDs so you can start at beginner and work your way up to advanced without getting bored, and within each DVD there are adaptations for beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Plus, you can buy any of the other bar method type DVDs later on down the road and use it with the Fluidity bar if you want a change of pace from the Fluidity-designed method.
15I've never taken bar method before but I did take beginner ballet and other dance classes centered around the bar. I was in the best shape and had the most energy when I was taking those classes. I'm thinking of getting their dvd since they don't have any classes in my area and am rather excited about it!
16I would love to take a class but there are none.
17Been taking them for the past 2 months in downtown SF. Love them! Intense workout though I still can't make it through the thigh section without breaking - my legs shake like bowls o jelly! All the stretching has also made me a lot more flexible.
18Yes, this is what Drew Barrymore does and she looks great! I've taken a few classes at the LA studio and have seen her there. It's the best work out...beats yoga. You'll be sore for days the first time you try it!
19Duffy. I have not tried the Fluidity bar but I do know that this and what they teach at Physique 57 in Manhattan both originated with a woman who's name was Lotte Berke who started all this many years ago. She had a sudio here in NY and many NY women were obssesed with it. When it closed a few years ago, one of her students opened Physique 57. THe Fluidity infomertial you have seen is the same thing - i guess they cant call it Lotte Berke any more. I have been so tempted to buy it but I wonder about storage since I live in a one bedroom!! Like any excercise tapes one buys, the bottom line is that you have to be really disciplined and actually use it otherwise you end up collecting tapes!!
20I've been taking Bar Method classes since March 1, and already I am hooked on it! The intro special ($100 for 30 days of unlimited classes) is definitely a good deal, and the West LA studio (where I go) is offering a spring sale: $500 for 90 days of unlimited classes. Even though it's a huge chunk of cash, I'm going to fork it over because already my arms, abs and inner thighs are more defined. Thanks to the Bar Method, I am now more toned than I was before I got pregnant (I have an 8-month-old baby). Before starting class, I'd lost my baby weight, but I wanted to get back to my "old self" in terms of being toned. Well, it's definitely working, and if I can do it, anyone can! I'm good about aerobic exercise but have always slacked on toning, and the Bar Method really whips you into shape.
All that shaking during the exercises from
muscle exhaustion is worth it!
21love love the bar method. nothing has got my body in shape like he routine done in the Bar Method classes. i go to west hollywood, just finished by $100 introductory series and now im hooked. i never thought id pay so much for classes, but this workout truly makes a difference..and its a lot of fun at the same time!
22hi- i live in essex county, nj. are there any bar method type classes or particularly good classes that anyone knows of in that area? I am obsessed with the bar method but the one near me in summit is ridiculously overcrowded. you have to book classes two or so weeks in advance and for 250 dollars a month, it just isnt worth it. any suggestions??
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