The Barre Body...why Barre?

The BARRE Body…WHY Barre?

If you have taken any kind of barre class, you know it’s hard work! You may have loved it, or you may have decided to never go back, but regardless, most people finish their first barre class feeling they’ve worked muscles they didn’t even know they had.

My first encounter with the Barre concept of movement was in the early 1970’s, when I happened upon a book called “Awake, Aware, Alive”, by Lydia Bach. I practiced the exercises diligently and loved the method as well as the results I got in my body---I became stronger and shapelier.

Later I learned that Lydia Bach had studied the technique from Lotte Berk, who is the creator of the original Barre method of exercise. Much has been written about Lotte, and I will write more about her later, but for now, suffice it to say that barre began with Lotte Berk. Her original class is still being taught by her daughter Esther Fairfax near London, and Esther has trained up instructors who are teaching the original technique and training even more instructors. Lotte’s original work is being rediscovered, and there is truly nothing like it.

I love barre; I love teaching it, and I love the results I see in my own body and in my clients. We range in age from 50 to over 80, and we represent many different body shapes and sizes; all of us benefit from barre!

As a movement specialist, however, I need to know more about the why and the science behind any movement practice I teach. At The Impulse Studio, we teach primarily the original Lotte Berk barre class (we are certified in The London Method www.thelondonmethod.net), and Callanetics (callanetics.com). The benefits of barre that I mention here will refer to those two methods, both of which utilize the “secret ingredient” that makes barre so effective: the tiny “Pulse”.

In The Impulse Studio classes we move the body through large ranges of motion and isometric holds but our primary movement is the all-important pulse. Positioning is precise, and positions are held while the tiny pulses are repeated over and over (and over!) until the muscle trembles and fatigues. These little micro movements that cause muscle fatigue ( the shaking and trembling!) are deceptively simple looking but they are surprisingly difficult and powerful in creating changes in muscle shape.

Thomas Myers, author of Anatomy Trains, explains that the muscles that need toning are often the deeper muscles underlying the larger surface muscles. These smaller, deeper muscles can be thought of as postural muscles as well as core muscles.

The Impulse Studio exercises are specifically designed to reach these core muscles--the deeper muscles of the hip and shoulder, the inner abdominals, the diaphragm, and the pelvic floor. Our technique of toning the behind goes right past the usual emphasis on the gluteus maximus to reach into the deep lateral rotators, and gluteus medius. Our exercises reach into the core of the shoulder (rhomboids and serratus and levator), and to the often-ignored adductors of the inner thigh. These exercises are remarkably effective in producing a change in shape, often within just a few months.

Activating the deep muscles PULLS THE OUTER MUSCLES IN,

for an overall change in muscle (and body!) shape.

Nerve conduction and muscle fibers play into this process, but what you really need to know is that holding and using a muscle long enough for the gamma motor system to reset muscle spindles results in a muscle that has been reset to a more toned state.

Here is the exciting part that makes all the pulsing so worth it: Activating the core muscles strengthens postural muscles, and pulls the body's outer muscles along with it, for an overall change. Yep! Activating the deep muscles PULLS THE OUTER MUSCLES IN, for an overall change in muscle (and body!) shape.

Taking at least two Impulse Classes a week will give you better posture, better alignment, stronger all-over-core muscles AND a shapelier body due to shapelier muscles (remember that pulling-in effect?!).

Our class format is designed to work the back, front, and side of the body in many planes of motion; we elongate one side of the body while strengthening the other. Every class includes stretching, which we integrate throughout so students can catch their breath and take on the rest of class!

Barre is FUN, it’s for women of sizes and shapes, all ages and for anyone who wants a fitter, shapelier body.

“ There is no need to be shapeless. You can be plump, but be a shapely plump.”_Lotte Berk