You find muscles you never even knew you had!
Throughout my life, I've taken part in various workouts to keep myself fit. Dancing, cardio kickboxing, spinning, circuit training, yoga, pilates and of course, barre classes were always in the rotation. There was even a point in time where I obsessed over P90X videos in my own living room. Since moving to Hoboken, I've been dedicated to yoga and barre classes and find that they work best for my body type. In Bar Method classes, we don't sweat, we glisten, but the fine-detail toning is thanks to isometric movements. Here's how it works. Bye-bye burpees!
Isometric exercise works on targeting and strengthening muscles by making the range of motion super small. We work each muscle group until we burn them out and then move on to the next. Unlike standard strength training, isometrics allow you the freedom to practice them anywhere without needing weights or special equipment. The sequence of Bar Method classes is super strategic. They pride themselves in reshaping by rewiring the muscles’ interconnection.
As Lucy and Melissa, Co-Owners of the Bar Method Hoboken explain, in class for example, thigh and seat work are performed in sequence. During the thigh section, the seat muscles come alive towards the end of the exercise to intensify the elongating contractions of the thighs.
Their most important tip is to make the range of motion really small – only an inch. Because of this range of motion, you're able to target your muscles in a big way; it isolates the muscle, without impacting joints, and reshapes the muscle all at once.
I find that if you're in shape, the Bar Method gives surprisingly quick results, through targeting muscles with precision. Of course if you're looking to lose a lot of weight, a more intense cardio workout is necessary and will compliment the class.
