New & Improved – Fun Fitness Activities to try out in 2013: Barre Concept

Imagine taking three of the most popular fitness trends from the last few years and putting them altogether. That’s exactly what Barre concept does. 

Barre Concept is one of the latest fitness trends to take off in Ireland. It mixes the strength of Pilates with the flexibility of yoga and the elegance of ballet all the while working your muscles, helping you tone and perhaps most-importantly making you sweat.

The class is great fun especially for, but not confined to, those who have danced before. It uses the movement and positions of ballet to work all parts of the body from your shoulders to you butt to your calves. This is then mixed with the core-strengthening aspects of yoga and Pilates.

But don’t be fooled because this exercise regime will leave you feeling like you’ve worked out which is a great thing, despite how sore it might feel the next morning. You really do feel the burn and it is equal to if not more intense than if you were spinning or running on a treadmill. Trust us, we know this from experience!

The great thing about Barre Concept is that it caters for all different fitness levels from gym virgins to fitness bunnies. And you can do the moves that suit your ability which not only allows you to control the pace at which you’re going but will highlight your progress from week to week. 

Speaking about how it differs to other fitness classes Dublin fitness instructor Fiona Kearns says: “It’s a low-impact class which doesn’t involve jumping around. Instead it focuses on sculpting and toning. It’s more intensive and involves isometric movements.

“It will give you a much leaner look because it works smaller muscle groups so it’s more like fine-tuning, not that you don’t work hard!” Well we can certainly vouch for that point!

As for the results, it works very quickly as Fiona explains: “Like anything, it depends on how hard you work during the class. I’ve done and taken a lot of classes but I have to say that with this you really notice a change after the first two weeks.”

We don’t know about you but that definitely puts us in the mood for dancing!

 

All this month we're running Her Fitness Revolution in association with PomeGreat Pure Plus - check back to our Health section here for daily updates on how to make of your body this New Year!