Questioning the effectiveness of barre workouts...

[fuzzie]

Brynn Jinnett - owner of Refine Method in NYC and former barre instructor at Core Fusion and Physique 57 - wrote an interesting blog post explaining why she is not a "believer" in barre workouts: http://www.refinemethod.com/blog/201...ing-the-barre/

IMO this is not an entirely unbiased opinion (she is selling her own method) but it is a worthwhile read. I look forward ot her Part 2.

[neatski]

Interesting.

Then again- some people are more focused on the visual effects of a workout rather than strength building or health advantages.

[cherimac]

Wow, thanks for posting Fuzzie, that was interesting. One of my problems with barre workouts after doing them long-term (about two years) was how thigh intensive they were, and how all the work on my toes killed my knees. Now, I do think a lot of that was probably ME, since I never took a live class and my form probably wasn't just right, but it's interesting to read this view. I'm looking forward to part two as well.

[BurnRN]

Excellent article. I still love my barre workouts though and believe they work for me. I love the work in releve--these seem to strengthen the muscles around my knees which is good for my knee tracking issues. I've never thought barre workouts are overly quad intensive. In fact, I usually feel like there is more glute work than I'd like but that could be simply because I am more interested in working the legs rather than glutes. Looking forward to part 2.

[Carb8985]

Interesting read, although I wish the article contained more than just blanket conclusions about why barre is not as calorie-efficient and not as strength-building as other forms of training. I'd like to hear about how she reached those conclusions as they are pretty strong ones.

In particular, she says:

"In comparison to full body exercises performed with greater resistance and fewer repetitions, high-rep activities burn fewer calories in the same period of time, build less strength and lean muscle beyond the beginner level, place higher stress on your joints and connective tissues (provided that both activities are being performed with good form and intelligent progression), and are generally an inefficient way to lose fat."

This seems counter to everything I've ever read about barre from Burr Leonard (on her own blog) and Lotte Berk herself, who both emphasize the safety of their methods and the calorie-burning effects as well.

Nevertheless, interesting point of view. Looking forward to Part 2.

ETA: And, from my own personal experience, barre strengthens my knees and has kept them pain-free and I don't find any imbalance in my quad and glute-strength. Also my endurance in other activities has only gotten better since doing barre.

[Nairobinicole]

I started doing barre work a couple of months ago. I started with Lotte Berk and have since moved on to Ballet Body. Before I did ballet body, I was not convinced barre work would be worth the effort and that traditional weighted leg work was the way to go. I have been doing ballet body 3xs/week since little before mother;s day and have noticed definite strength gains in my legs as far as muscle endurance when on my ellipitical. The only change I have made was barre vs traditional leg exercises and I have increased the resistance for hill climbs and have added a couple miles per hour to sprints when I do Cardio Coach cds.

One of my goals is to do a full pistol squat ( all the way down and then back up). I think that barre work (maybe not exclusively but in conjunction with other forms of strength training) is going to make that goal possible.

[Judith L]

Thanks for the article Fuzzie.

I was put off by what I felt was her misrepresentations of barre workouts and other things:

I don't think I've ever heard of barre workouts promoted as a way of losing weight or getting muscle definition. "Long lean muscles" refers more to the way the muscle is developped, I believe, not "getting skinny". I've never considered "toning" to necessarily involve muscle definition. And I've never looked to barre workouts as the most efffective way to burn calories.

I've never heard that one should do "killer quad work" to reshape one's body. But I've heard of using the lower body muscles as a group, specifically the glutes (which are the largest muscles) and the quads. And I don't think that barre work rests on the principle of doing "killer quad work". First, most barre workouts, I do believe, recommend doing plies with a turnout of the thighs (just as in ballet -- these are not squats, which differ not only in positioning but in the dynamics of the movements) which thereby recruits other hip flexors than the rectus femoris so as not to overwork (and bulk) the quads. Secondly, barre workouts emphasize working with a pelvic tuck (contrary to ballet) to engage the glutes and hamstrings. I think this a very distinctive method of Callan, Lotte Berk, and barre workouts. So I think Brynn is attacking a straw man she's set up here.

[Sophie]

Bit of a blast from the past in a thread from January

I do barre for knee rehab, so some of her points are moot for me. Still an interesting read, and looking forward to part 2.

[Lucky Star]

Very interesting, and the article sure was successful in that it stirred interest in me to discover exactly what a Refine class is like.

I've turned away from barre for the same reasons (burning fewer calories, quad-intensiveness and a general feeling of inefficiency for my purposes) although I still enjoy barre-ish routines like Tone-Up that incorporate lunges and more traditional weights for upper body. If I were already slender, I'd probably be tempted to test barre longer term. However, the workouts I do now seem a better use of my time in terms of developing all-over body strength and encouraging fat loss.

I'm also curious to read her part 2 follow-up.

[JackieB]

I found this an interesting read, also. I dabble in barre, but more along the lines of a fusion style like Ruah, Ellen or Karen Voight's offering, and of course Classical Stretch which is it's own method (or madness).

It seems that anytime I incorporate intense barre like P57 or Booty Barre , I get such excessive lower back, right hip, and calf pain I question whether this type of exercise is right for my body type.

I will also be reading Part 2!

Jackie