The Bar Method is in a Class by Itself

The “Bar fitness trend has become so popular in the past half decade that when you tell a friend, Im going to a barre fitness class, shes probably going to visualize you holding onto a ballet bar, not lifting some kind of detached bar or swinging yourself around a pole. It’s definitely time for these bar-based classes to have their own name, but grouping them together can also be misleading. Unlike Pilates, which grew from an established technique developed by Joseph Pilates, “bar fitness” can apply to any workout that happens to use a bar. You won’t necessarily get the same experience when you take different versions of it. Bar Method students whove gone to classes elsewhere, for example, often come and back tell us that, they just werent the same as the Bar Method.

Like these students Ive taken bar classes at other studios, and I agree with them that the Bar Method is different. Here are 10 ways that, in my view, the Bar Method stands out.

1. Bar Method teachers know what theyre talking about.

The Bar Method rigorously trains its teachers. All Bar Method teachers learn anatomy and physiology and are tested on their knowledge of them. Then before being certified every Bar Method teacher-in-training must demonstrate that she knows and understands the technique and can teach it effectively.

2. The Bar Method is safe.

The Bar Method keeps students’ joints safe by following the recommendations of physical therapy and sports medicine. In a Bar Method class you will never do unapproved moves like lifting free weights to the side above the shoulders, doing pushups with the shoulder blades pressed together, doing reverse pushups with the shoulder blades and upper arms at different angles, dropping down to the heels during thigh-work, and over-flexing the spine by pressing the waist into the floor during round-back.” You will exclusively perform exercises that are endorsed by our medical consultants.

3. The Bar Method custom-tailors its exercises to a variety of body types.

Bar Method teachers give options to students with different bodies-types and conditions. Students with short hamstrings, for example, have lower bars to stretch on available to them and straps to hold onto. Petite students get risers to sit on. Tall students have a high bar. Those with sensitive shoulders get options that allow them to keep their arms below shoulder height. In a Bar Method class youll see a wide variety of students, one reason being that the Bar Method accommodates all of them.

4. Bar Method studios rooms are equipped with inch-deep rubber padding under carpet:

This feature may seem like a detail, but in my view it’s one of the fundamental differences between the Bar Method and other workouts. A hard floor is an ideal surface on which to do aerobics, but bar fitness classes press students balls of feet, insteps, shins, knees, hips, spines, elbows and shoulder blades into the floor. The Bar Method enables its students to work comfortably and safely by equipping its studios with cushioned floors and thick floor mats.

5. The Bar Method keeps students in the muscle long enough to change their bodies.

The Bar Method changes students’ bodies quickly by using an interval training format. Each class leads them through eight rigorous strength intervals ending with a “grand finale” of 10, 20, or 30 reps that give students an exciting challenge to work through. Other bar classes give more but briefer intervals with final counts or only four or five, lessening the body-changing potential of each strength set.

6. The Bar Method then stretches muscles deeply:

The Bar Method intensely stretches muscles to make them look and feel longer and more graceful. Other bar techniques give fewer stretches, more like steady-state aerobics but a less body-elongating approach.

7. Bar Method teachers face their students.

A key component of the Bar Method teaching style is that teachers observe their students throughout the class. Teachers of other techniques lead their students in a Simon says, Simon does” manner, consequently turning their backs to them. This practice harks back to the aerobics classes of the 80s that didn’t call for the attention to form that bar workouts require in order to keep their students safe and in the right muscles.

8. The Bar Method supports, connects with, and guides its students.

Bar Method teachers address their students by name to encourage and motivate them. Uniquely in the bar fitness world, teachers stop speaking at moments just to watch their students and give them the stage. The effect is a fun, interactive and social experience thats distinctively Bar Method.

9. Bar Method teachers count accurately and on the beat!

How accurately teachers count may seem like a minor detail, but try getting through the last reps of a strength set when your muscles are on fire, and you’ll get a new appreciation of how important an accurate number sequence can become when you’re pushing through the last counts of a strength set.

10. Last but not least, the Bar Method is consistent in the high quality of its classes everywhere.

Becoming a Bar Method teacher involves passing an audition, a three-month training course, and a series of exams. Teachers then undergo yearly evaluations. This system has established more than 60 studios all over North America where students can be sure they will always get a great body-changing workout.