I went to a barre class near BC and it almost killed me

I am not a peppy Plex-goer

You know those people who epitomize the “BC perfect” stereotype – eating only healthy food, well-dressed every class, looking like they breeze through academics while balancing a jam-packed social life and being a devoted daily plex-goer.

Maybe you’re one of those people.

Or, maybe, like me, you’re absolutely not one of those people.

Yes, I like being healthy, and exercising makes me feel great, but at what cost?

Besides being overly crowded, perpetually humid, 15 degrees too hot, not aesthetically pleasing (to put it gently), I find it hard to motivate myself at the Plex.

I get a lot of cardio done while watching Netflix on the elliptical, but when I go to do abs most of the time I end up just laying down on a mat. I boldly walk downstairs to enter the male-dominated free weight territory and end up just standing there, staring into space, realizing that doing almost anything else sounds more appealing.

This is why group classes are great – I’m more motivated and engaged when someone is leading the workout and I’m not doing it alone. I needed to get out of my workout rut, and luckily one of my roommates invited me to a Barre class at Modern Barre studio right next to campus.

I’ve tried barre a couple times but had always been a bit skeptical. Barre class looks cute in the pictures – well-dressed, toned, smiling women without a bead of sweat or a hair out of place, but claims to actually be a tough workout.

The studio was adorable. The yoga mats we each needed were laid out when I got there and the other equipment – small hand weights, a little ball that looks like a playground ball, and a squishy blue disk were neatly organized.

Our instructor came in, turned on the music, and thanked us for “joining her at Barre before the bar.” Clever, barre instructor.

The music was great, a nice mix of more dance-style songs I hadn’t heard but had a great beat for working out and some pop songs I know and love (here’s to you, Britney). The music switched each time we worked a muscle group.

After warm-up we started on the yoga mats with some ab work. It wasn’t too bad, but this was just the beginning.

We moved to arms – triceps, specifically. The weight choices are only two to five lbs. so it wasn’t intimidating and, again, looks cute.

But I didn’t look cute.

The pace was quick. One minute we were lifting and lowering, and then lifting and squeezing, and then lifting “for two” and then suddenly we were doing a new exercise. The pace coupled with the pulsing movements had my arms burning in no time.

Arms were nothing compared to legs. I wasn’t in agony, dripping sweat, or out of breath, but my muscles were “feeling the burn.” T

he movements isolated a muscle group, so when I was fatigued I couldn’t just transfer the work to another body part (my usual cheat). This is where the playground ball comes in. We put the ball between our thighs and did variations of the infamous torture exercise, the wall sit, including a version with heels lifted.

There was more pulsing.

I finally cracked and took a break for a moment.

The other leg portion was no picnic either. When someone says “plié,” you don’t think of shaky muscles but when there’s that many eight-count movements and pulsing sets, it’s exhausting.

After more abs and stretching we laid down, dimmed the lights, and did shavasana – my favorite yoga pose ever because you can fall asleep. Except, plot twist, our instructor came around with lavender oil and rubbed a bit on our shoulders which may have been the most relaxing thing I’ve ever experienced.

Leaving class, I wasn’t that exhausted.

My heart rate hadn’t gotten too high, I hadn’t sweat too much, and I didn’t feel any physical pain.

Maybe I was just distracted by the lingering lavender scent, but I felt relaxed, and the endorphins I lacked during my workout rut were back in full force.

I felt great, even though I didn’t feel that same “I’m going to puke or pass out and I don’t know which it’s going to be” feeling I get after a hard erg or Crossfit workout.

So I went to sleep proud I had worked out and thought I would go to the Plex the next day for a hard workout.

And then I woke up.

Every muscle group I had worked felt sore. It hurt to lift my arms to wash my hair, to laugh, to walk. Basic life movements.

Turns out it wasn’t just those few moments my muscles were really suffering in class that had made a difference.

Barre claimed to be a full body workout and it didn’t disappoint.

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