Commute: 14 minutes by subway (1 train to 72 Street, 1 min. walk), 18 minutes by Uber
Intensity: Low impact
Price: $37 for 2 classes introduction special! $37 per class
Take this class: for a booty and thigh burn!
Levels: Beginner
This week, I checked out my first Barre class in the city. I’ve tried Barre3 back home (another great option if you like Barre). For those of you unfamiliar with Barre classes, there’s a few key characteristics that run through all Barre classes, regardless of the studio you visit. Barre stems from the concept of small, controlled pulses repeated over long periods of time, thus stimulating a burnout and therefore muscle growth. Burnouts are often done with very light weights, and Barre classes are no exception. Hand weights usually range from three to eight lbs. per class. Barre has also adapted a few aspects of ballet into workouts, hence the name; a portion of Barre classes are completed at a barre, just like one you’d find in a ballet class. In addition, many of the movements are done with your toes pointed out, often in first position relevé or wide second.
At Physique 57, studios have carpet floors. You can buy specific Physique 57 socks, but I just wore my normal socks without a problem. The class begins in the center of the room with arms and shoulders. You’re instructed to grab either a five or eight lb. hand weight. This is significantly more than what I’ve been given in other Barre classes; however, the arm and shoulder workout was much easier. The instructor will start off with simple lifts over your head, and she’ll slowly add elements, all with small ranges of motion to target individual muscles to “get that burn.” After about 10 to 15 minutes, you return your weights and head over to the bar for your legs and booty burnout. This workout includes a variety of small lunges, squats and leg lifts, in which you’re only moving an inch up and an inch down. These small movements allow for isolation of individual muscles, especially the ones we tend to forget in our own workouts, including the upper hamstrings and gluteus medius. This is the part of the workout where you really start to “feel the shakes.” The instructor is upbeat and keeps telling you to push through the shaking and pulse to the beat of the music. In the end, there’s a small set of abs for no more than 10 minutes—completely manageable. It’s more of a cool-down than anything else, but it does, once again, push you to access those muscles you don’t normally exercise: in this case, your obliques. After you’ve finished that, the instructor leads a short stretch and breathing exercise to cool down.
There is one unique characteristic of Physique 57 that I have yet to encounter in other Barre classes. In between the sets, the instructor allows you at least five minutes of recovery time before moving onto the next set. While this allows your body to entire into the next one fully refreshed, it also returns your heart rate back to normal, meaning that your heart isn’t working as hard to keep up. Thus, by the end of the workout, my muscles were tired, but they weren’t fatigued completely. In addition, my heart rate was barely elevated throughout the entire hour, and I’d barely broken a sweat. So, if you’re looking for a calorie burner or a cardio workout, this is not the class for you. However, it is a great class for those of you who need something very low-impact and would like to target those muscles you can’t normally exhaust on your own.
To check out Physique 57, download the app MindBody to find their schedule and pricing. Physique 57 also has three other locations in Manhattan.