Here at the JCC, we believe in promoting wellness. We want all of our members to get the most out of our facilities and achieve their goals. This is why we’re launching our official fitness app!

With our app, you can set goals, challenge yourself, and record all of your workout data to track your progress. On this user-friendly mobile platform, you can access specials, see our fitness schedules and add classes to your calendar, and more! It is also integrated with wearable technology—like that Fitbit you might have received for the holidays—and other fitness apps you may be using. And, because every goal is so much more attainable when we have support from others, you can even virtually cheer on all of your friends at the J!
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We’re so excited about how this app can improve your experience at the JCC and hope that you’ll take advantage of all it has to offer. It is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store—just search for “JCC of Staten Island.” You can also visit https://qrco.de/bbMVKI to download the app.

​Unsure of whether or not to brave barre, I took an Instagram poll to see what my friends thought. The results were overwhelmingly positive, with many friends and followers DM-ing me to tell me how much they loved barre. ​One friend who messaged me happens to work out at the JCC regularly and offered to take the class with me. We made plans to meet up that Tuesday after work.
 
Tuesday night rolled around, and despite the fact that I wanted to chicken out, knowing that my friend was coming forced me to take the class. Our instructor, Teri, asked everyone in the class if we had taken barre before, and it turned out we were all fist timers. Thankfully, Teri went slowly and gave modifications for anyone who needed them (aka me).

​Here are a few things I learned from class:

• It will give you flashbacks to your childhood ballet class

If you’re like me, you took ballet from early childhood through middle school. Even though I haven’t danced since I was 18, I still remembered a lot of the moves. Barre is technically ballet mixed with several other workouts (yoga, pilates, etc.), but it made me think back fondly on my pink leotard days every time we did a plie, releve, or arabesque.
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• Barre is best when you’re barefoot or wearing yoga socks

Many of the moves involve foot movement, so it’s best if your foot grips the floor well. This means no shoes or yoga socks with grips on the bottom. Many people in our class kept their shoes on, but I felt that going barefoot helped me get proper form and balance.

• The JCC’s barre class is fine for beginners (sort of)

Like I said, everyone in our class was new to barre, but I don’t think they were new to fitness. I wouldn’t recommend it to someone as their first ever fitness class, because it’s at more of an intermediate level, but it’s fine to take if you’re used to working out already. The moves were easy to learn, so you don’t have to have any familiarity with ballet to take the class.

• It works your whole body

The class began with legs. Then we worked our posteriors. We moved on to arms, followed by abs. A few minutes into the class, I was sweating and feeling the burn. I took heart knowing that every part of my body was going to look super toned after this—especially parts that I don’t normally focus on.

Overall, I had a great time in class. It was tons of fun, and I felt great afterwards, despite the burning sensation in my legs. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you’re interested in trying barre as a first timer, since it’s an uncompetitive and accommodating class. And if you see me in the back of the class, come say hi!

Pictured: Me right after barre class, in all my sweaty glory