Do You Barre?

I had a great workout last night. So great it reminded me why I love to workout and inspired this post.

I attend barre classes at Neighborhood Barre here in Knoxville. NB is a boutique barre studio, and it's the best EVER. There is another barre studio in Knoxville, but it doesn't hold a candle to NB. Let me tell you how I met NB.

Last fall, Knoxville was buzzing about the fact that we were getting a barre studio. It was a franchise studio to open in Spring of 2012. Let's call this studio FB. I was fed up with my workout routine and was happy about trying something new. I fully intended on buying a membership to FB when it opened. A couple months later, I saw a Groupon for NB. I immediately purchased it. I guess I thought I wanted to try barre before buying a membership. It didn't matter to me that it was at a different studio.

When I showed up at NB I had no idea my life was about to change. I LOVED IT. I felt like barre was the way my body was meant to be exercised. The instructor was wonderful. She gave excellent cues and encouragement, but what was so great about her was that she didn't accept excuses. She would say things like "your legs are supposed to shake" and "if you're not hurting you're not doing it right." The workouts are high energy and intense. At the same time, you never feel like an idiot if you needed to take a quick break. Trust me, during thighs, you need to take a break. NB combines elements of dance conditioning, pilates, and yoga using small isometric movements to carve the muscles.

This class at NB made me even more excited to join FB when it opened. When it opened, I attended a free class. Well, FB was nothing like NB. NOTHING LIKE IT. It was much slower paced and more yoga based. It was geared more toward finding balance. The instructor kept saying "honor your truth." What does that even mean? It wasn't for me.

I went back to NB and purchased a membership, and I haven't looked back. It just works for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure FB works great for some people. It just wasn't what was best for who I am and what I want. I have no doubt that there are people feel the same way about FB as I do about NB.

So, if you haven't had the opportunity to try a barre based fitness class you should try it. You might even get your own personal love story like NB and me.