My First Barre Class: A Staff Member's Experience

This firsthand account was written by Allison Cohen, Director of Marketing & Communications at the JCC.

Barre class is one of the hot new millennial fitness trends, with studios dedicated to it popping up all around the country. But on Staten Island, barre is incredibly hard to find. That’s why I was so excited when—partially based on my urging—the JCC’s Fitness Department started offering classes this October.
 

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I felt like I had to try it, not just because I’m a millennial and wanted to look as cool as the influencers I follow on Instagram, but because it looked like a fun workout. I’m no fitness newbie, but I usually stick to spin class or yoga, with an occasional weight-lifting session thrown in. Still, I was scared, because from everything I had heard, barre is hard.

​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.

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• You will feel it the next day (or days)

I forgot my phone in class, and as I walked down the stairs to get it a few minutes after class ended, my thighs hurt. They continued to hurt a little bit for a few days after the class. But even though my body hurt from doing new and intense moves, I was already starting to see results in better muscle tone—especially in places I didn’t expect (Teri noted that barre is sometimes called “booty barre” for a reason!)

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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

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