How I Survived the Bar with Barre

Hi everyone!

It's been awhile since I shared something on Beth's blog, but a few weeks ago I e-mailed her asking if I could share my recent workout experiences.

Since I last posted, I graduated from law school, moved to D.C., and took the bar exam. I also won this SWEET hat in one of Beth's contests. I LOVE it.

For those who don't know, the bar exam is a test all wannabe lawyers must pass to become licensed in the state in which they want to practice. The exam is brutally hard and only offered twice a year. This is NOT something you want to take more than once.

I started studying right after Memorial Day weekend in May and studied for 8 weeks - until July 29 and 30 when I actually took the test. My entire life this summer was about studying for the bar exam. One thing I absolutely wanted to make a priority was eating well and fitting exercise into my schedule.

As you know if you read some of my other posts, I like high intensity workouts like Jillian Michaels or some of the BeachBody dvds or Chris Freytag's 10 pound slim down extreme. When I started studying for the bar exam, those were NOT working for me. They HURT - and not in a good way. I have no idea what changed - maybe because I was hunched over my notes all day jumping and lifting heavy weights felt like more stress on my body.

I had to find an alternative, so I dug up dvds I had purchased from a living social deal about a year prior called Barre3. I dismissed these after I initially bought them because I didn't think they were challenging enough to allow me to maintain my current weight.

I was VERY wrong. Barre3 is a combination of yoga, pilates, and ballet movement. It's designed to be low impact, but produce really great results. I found as I continued doing these on a more regular basis, they got HARDER. I did these workouts all summer - it was the only thing (aside from going for a run here and there) that actually felt good after studying. Best part? I toned up a bit!

Up next is a series of pictures of me doing Barre3 so I can better explain. I hate sharing pics of myself, so that should tell you how much I love this program.

This is a move called power leg. And that's my dog, Piper, blocking the picture of me doing power leg.

Better, though you can still see her chair. Barre3 utilizes small weights (I use 3 lbs), a chair, and a core ball. As you can see, the movement is small - I'm not very low. But my legs are SHAKING. You squeeze the ball in between your thighs and the result is crazy. I've never had my muscles shake so hard. This is a popular Barre3 move; they do all sorts of things to change it.

They have you do a lot on your toes slightly squatted down. There's also alternatives where you don't have to be on your toes.

As I mentioned, it incorporates yoga, pilates, and ballet moves. They love side plank - they'll have you move from side plank into regular plank and back again. Really good for your core.

Almost every move incorporates your core in some way because they put a huge emphasis on creating better posture, which was SO helpful while studying for the bar exam. I was constantly hunched over a computer, book, or my notes, so 30-40 minutes of helping my posture was excellent. They have you do a lot of core work on the floor with the ball under your tailbone. It takes a lot of pressure off your low back. As someone who has felt that pain while doing crunches in the past, this was a big eye opener. 

Anyway, the point of this post is two-fold: (1) try something new - you never know what you might get from it, and (2) I love Barre3 and I'm a true believer in the results. Ultimately what mattered to me this summer was that I was doing something that FELT good to my body. The results that came were just icing on the cake.

In addition to the dvds, when I really got into Barre3, I signed up for their online workouts. For $15 per month (and I got the first month free - just google 'Barre3 coupons'), you get unlimited access to their online workouts. They range from 10, 30, 40, or 60 minutes and there are SO many options. I love having lots of options because I get bored easily.

And that's it! I won't know if I passed the bar exam until October 31, but I worked my butt off this summer (in more ways than one). Beth, any thoughts on barre-like classes? Done them? Love? Hate?

I love this post!

Madeline, I have never been to a Barre class, so you got me!  I will check some out and offer idea piles coming up.

I think this puts a highlight on what a lot of individuals, little and big, are gearing up to do!  Sit...Sitting combined with stress can really set us up for some tightness, and poor alignment.

I think it shows good awareness that you recognized that your body wasn't coping well, and finding something that worked.  

I love Pilates!  And after doing the Tupler Technique certification on diastasis recti have eliminated crunches from all my client programs and if I was a sea creature I'd be a plankton cause that is how I approach a lot of my clients core fitness.  

Pricewise that is super affordable for in home workouts, of variable length etc.

Thanks for the awesome post, Madeline!

Also cute workout outfit!