Does Pure Barre Work? Getting Fit with Barre Classes

According to their website, Pure Barre is a “total body workout that uses the ballet barre to perform small, isometric movements, which burn fat, sculpt muscles and create long, lean physiques.” We’ll get into my experience with the classes and my overall fitness impressions, but first a little background.

After I went undercover at Orangetheory, Crossfit, and BODYPUMP, I received a few emails asking my opinion of Pure Barre and I apologize for it taking me this long to get to it. I finally signed up for two Pure Barre classes: the Classic class and the Empower class. Both of which left me shaky and sweaty.

What Is a Barre?

First things first, for those of you who didn’t grow up doing some sort of dance class or other and also managed to escape watching TV shows like "Fame" or "Bunheads," let’s clarify what exactly a barre (not a bar) is.

It’s pretty simple actually. The barre is a horizontal pole (usually wooden, like a staircase banister) that runs at waist level on which ballet dancers rest a hand (or a foot) for support during exercises. The barre usually runs along a wall (often a mirrored wall) but can also be free standing in the middle of the room. Got it? Good.

Signing Up to Pure Barre

Right off the bat, I have to hand it to Pure Barre for having an easy to use website and a reasonable introductory offer. Unlike Orangetheory though, which offered a free trial that easily got turned into two free trials, I did have to pay for my classes. But $21 for a full week of unlimited sessions isn’t bad and honestly, during my first class, I was so busy making sure that I was doing the exercises correctly that I didn’t have time to form a solid opinion.

I was happy that I took some time the night before my first class to do some reading up on Pure Barre etiquette. The fact that you can’t wear shorts to the classes threw me for a bit of a loop. I run hot. And that means I sweat a lot. Which means, I like to workout in shorts and a tank top. I do own some running pants that I wear in the winter (occasionally) but for my first class I actually ended up wearing some woollen longjohns that I usually wear under my snow pants while skiing or snowshoeing. So yeah, I was a sweaty mess. Sorry ladies.

Are Men Allowed at Pure Barre?

Which leads me to a...

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