Barre Fitness Craze

This week, I had the opportunity to try Barre-based classes from two different studios, Metropolitan Fine Arts in Alexandria, VA and Lava Barre in Arlington, VA.

Barre fitness is described as ballet meets Pilates meets yoga and often credits Lotte Berk, a German dancer, as having developed this method which targets specific areas for strengthening and flexibility training.


Both classes I attended were 60  minutes long and lively, upbeat (current top 40) music was  played to go with the workout. Both studios provided props used during the classes:

• Mat
• Hand weights
• Strap
• Ball
• Ballet bar that is affixed to the wall

My daughter takes her dance lessons with Metropolitan Fine Arts so I'm very familiar with this place. I purchased a 5-pack class MetroBarre package from Groupon for $29 which was a really good deal. They do offer a free first class. Most the classes are in the evening and the location is convenient to my home with plenty of parking spaces in the strip mall where the studio is located. Vibe of the place is typical dance studio with parents waiting for their kids to come out of class and students (kids) waiting for their class to start. During this class, I wore black cropped leggings and a CRB. No socks required. No need to pre-register since the studio is large and can accommodate a big group.

I discovered Lava Barre through the Lululemon Clarendon store. They offered a free class but since it sold out very quickly, a coupon code was made available to take the class at their studio for free. Studio is smallish for no more than 12 people at each class. They share the space with Saffron yoga studio and the vibe is more grown-up - tranquil and spa-like. They require participants to wear grippy socks which they also sell instudio for $12/pair. They handed out lavender scented cold towels after the practice (just like some Bikram studios.) Parking is very limited but it is two blocks from the Clarendon metro station. Vanessa, one of the studio founders, taught the class and she was and excellent teacher. I found this class harder than the other one but it could also be because my muscles felt tight from last night's Kazaxe class. I will write about Kazaxe some other time because I absolutely love that workout.


Photo from Lava Barre website

There's a couple more Barre-fitness studios in the DC area (bFit and Barre3) and I'm plan to try them all. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Movements are small but the reps are higher past the point of fatigue. You really get a good workout (and sweat) without the jumping around of a cardio workout. You don't need to be a dancer or ballet training to do well and enjoy this workout. I will definitely incorporate Barre in my regular fitness cycle.