Anonymous wrote:I love Pure Barre! The first time I went, I thought, this is too easy. Then I realized that as your technique improves, it gets harder. MUCH harder. It’s a great workout and a friendly atmosphere— it is not intimidating like I imagine some other programs probably are.
Anonymous wrote:
I'm sure they do, but their marketing is an enormous turn-off. Not so much because I'm that intimidated (it's more annoying than intimidating), but because I think it's lame. I'll stick to my super intense, not marketed towards perfection workouts.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I love Pure Barre! The first time I went, I thought, this is too easy. Then I realized that as your technique improves, it gets harder. MUCH harder. It’s a great workout and a friendly atmosphere— it is not intimidating like I imagine some other programs probably are.
Eh, I think intimidating is in the eye of the beholder. I'm much more intimidated by all the women looking perfect on their website than I am by the workouts that bill themselves as super intense physically. I can do super intense physically. Looking great while I do it? Not so much.
That's just marketing. Try a class-- you'll see it's actually not filled with 20-something models. People of all sizes and ages participate.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I love Pure Barre! The first time I went, I thought, this is too easy. Then I realized that as your technique improves, it gets harder. MUCH harder. It’s a great workout and a friendly atmosphere— it is not intimidating like I imagine some other programs probably are.
Eh, I think intimidating is in the eye of the beholder. I'm much more intimidated by all the women looking perfect on their website than I am by the workouts that bill themselves as super intense physically. I can do super intense physically. Looking great while I do it? Not so much.
Anonymous wrote:I love Pure Barre! The first time I went, I thought, this is too easy. Then I realized that as your technique improves, it gets harder. MUCH harder. It’s a great workout and a friendly atmosphere— it is not intimidating like I imagine some other programs probably are.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I've been to the Pure Barre in Roland Park and Harbor East (both in Baltimore) and everyone is definitely not a size 2 in Lululemon (including the instructors.) So it might just vary by location.
I have to say I was really surprised at when I've looked at Instagram accounts of Pure Barre studios, how out of shape the people in their photos look. They post things like "Betty has completed 500 classes!" with a photo of Betty....and it's not good. At all.
Anonymous wrote:I've been to the Pure Barre in Roland Park and Harbor East (both in Baltimore) and everyone is definitely not a size 2 in Lululemon (including the instructors.) So it might just vary by location.
Anonymous wrote:Would an overweight (size 16) person be welcome? It seems like it's mostly women with 5 pounds to lose, not 50.
Would an overweight (size 16) person be welcome? It seems like it's mostly women with 5 pounds to lose, not 50.
You'd be very welcome but you depending on how secure you feel about yourself, you might not feel welcome.
It can definitely be intimidating because the type of exercise does lend itself to women who are already somewhat in shape. You have to wear more form fitting clothes for alignment and have to look in mirrors constantly, so personally I don't feel comfortable going when I'm larger. That's a personal issue, not a barre exercise issue, but I imagine I'm not alone in feeling that way about my body.
It's sort of a vicious circle. Overweight women feel intimated so they don't go, so then there aren't any overweight women there and new overweight women feel intimidated.
If you're unsure you could try starting with a barre class somewhere less branded than Pure Barre. Like at a community center. The cost of Pure Barre leads to a selection of women who are very polished and outfitted in the cutest Lulu while the group at a community center may tend a bit older and less Barbie-seeming.