by Chrissy Iley
For the past few years barre classes have been the go to workout for women in LA and New York. Actresses have more than once turned up to be interviewed by me in their barre outfit looking lean and balletic and confessing to more than a slight obsession with their new workout.
I am in London and missing my Best U classes so I thought I would try Barrecore. They have two busy London studios, Mayfair and Chelsea, with around 70 classes per week over the two studios, so it’s easy to find a class that suits.
The Barrecore regime was founded by Niki Rein, who started her fitness career in LA working for Tracy Anderson, the celebrity pilates trainer credited for creating the stunning Gwyneth Paltrow body and before that Madonna and Jennifer Lopez were her disciples.
Rein’s idea is to make every class slightly different, to confuse muscles and help you tone more quickly.
I arrived at the Mayfair studio where there are in fact two studios often with different classes going on at the same time, some involving more cardio interval training and fat burning (HITcore) some involving more resistance training where the class is spiced up with added resistance bands (BarreBands).
Everyone starts off with Barrecore Mixed. Apparently a reminder normally goes out that you have to wear socks. In my case it didn’t so to do the class I had to purchase Barrecore socks for £10.
The class was a small group of about six women all in much better shape than me. I am used to being the worst in any sort of class, so it’s not something that usually bothers me. I just get on with doing the best I can.
However, this class was hard. Much harder than I expected it to be. Even in the warm-up the use of the side plank flummoxed me. But you can’t expect a class that promises you’ll see a difference in your mind and body after one class to be easy.
Long term benefits are said to be firm elongated muscles, reduced body fat, high muscle definition in upper arms and upper legs, flat abdomen, toned physique, lifted seat, improved body alignment and increased energy and sense of wellbeing.
After the warm-up you go to the barre. I’m not sure why I’d imagined the barre to be all gentle, a couple of pliés here, a couple of leg lifts there. This is hardcore.
Squats on tiptoes, leg lifts with balls and on tiptoes: it is devastatingly difficult.
The teacher was good and informative and told me I would improve. A very nice American fellow exerciser told me that this was her fourth class and finally she was getting it and you get dramatically better with each class, which was good to know. There is no painless way to reshape your body, of course.
I did notice that afterwards I felt energised and alert. The thighs that had been shaking for an hour felt a gentle buzz for the next few hours. I can see why people are addicted.
It did make me miss Best U studio in LA. Kodi Kitchen’s classes are if anything harder but a lot warmer and I don’t just mean you sweat more.
One other small note about Barrecore: They have mats, but if you occasionally plank off the mat as I did you end up with carpet burns. I wish they had a wooden floor instead of a carpeted one, but despite that today I’m aching in body parts that I didn’t know I had. It’s a thorough and clever workout and I’m sure I’ll be back.
Barrecore Mayfair, 6 Cavendish Square, Lower Ground Floor, London W1G 0PD. Tel: 020 7637 8458; Barrecore Chelsea, First Floor, Atlantic Court, 77 Kings Road, London SW3 4NX. 020 7349 7500; Email: info@barrecore.co.uk.