About a year ago, my roommate during my semester spent in New York City started mentioning this “Pure Barre” class that she was starting to get into. The first thing you should know about me before reading the rest of this is that I absolutely, completely, utterly DESPISE working out. I attempted going to the gym during my ambitious freshman year since it was free after all, but after a few weeks, all motivation and hope had died out as I stopped for a water break basically every 2 minutes on the treadmill. So, my immediate reaction to my friend asking me to try a Pure Barre class with her was “hell no.” My “you’re out of your mind” reaction was even stronger when she would mention that she signed up for 8am classes or classes during my favorite happy hours. Clearly, she raved about this class all the time, and I could tell that there were so many benefits to it that I just wasn’t willing to go for yet.
After returning to campus in the spring and having all my classes literally a 3-minute walk away from my room, I lost the feeling that I was still in shape from those night-walks down Park Avenue. My friend continued to go to the studio in Greensboro after recruiting her roommates to join, but I was still a solid “no.” Then, the sun came out and summer was quickly approaching. That’s what I realized it was time for me to get my (physical activity) sh*t together if I had any plans of wearing a bathing suit. Knowing a Pure Barre studio was a short 12-minute walk away from my summer apartment in Manhattan, I finally signed up, ready to enter an unknown abyss of lifting, toning and burning.
I instantly became addicted. For one thing, the instructors were so kind and helpful. When you go in for your first class, they show you what equipment you need, set you up with your sticky socks and teach you some of the lingo. They also advise you to sit towards the front so that you can watch more closely, and they can help adjust your form out more often. Even more so, they remembered your name. Hearing “great form Natalie!” yelled in the middle of class was the most incredible feeling. The room was filled with other women focusing on their own forms, with similar goals as you. There were lots of beginners, too, so I never felt like an outsider.
I began going almost every day, waking up for 6am classes to go before work because it was such a great way to wake up in the morning. A mixture of ballet, pilates and yoga, it wasn’t cardio intensive, and was absolutely relaxing (well, at least AFTER the shaking and burning). You start out with a warm-up, then move onto some arm work with weights, then three sets of thigh exercises (my personal favorites), two sets of seat exercises on each side and then abs, all while stretching your muscles in-between to make them leaner, all in a short 55 minutes. The music is always fun and up-beat during the exercises, then calming and soothing during stretches. I found myself de-stressing during and after classes because you’re so channeled into the class that the outside world is completely blocked out. So far I’ve done 85 classes, and I’ve never regretted a single class. Going to Pure Barre became one of my best decisions ever, and my only regret is not listening to my friend a year ago. If I can do it, as someone who literally hadn’t been to the gym in over a year, so can you!
Check out Pure Barre packages and classes at the Pure Barre Greensboro and New Garden studios!