How Incorporating Barre into my Workout Regimen Made Me a Better Athlete
An avid soccer player and runner for the majority of my life, I never thought that a “dance” based class, such as barre, would ever be of interest or benefit to me. Anything that involved dance just was not my thing. My mom signed me up for dance class when I was in second grade- I refused to wear a leotard and pledge to my six-year old self that I would never go back. So, when barre classes started popping up left and right across fitness world, I was quite perplexed, yet extremely intrigued.
I had the urge, despite my 15-year old promise to myself, to test out this work out and see why so many swore by it and how this workout changed their bodies in the way they claimed it did. But before we get into that, let’s talk about the general anatomical strength profile of female runner.
If you think about running, all the motions are performed in a forward linear motion. There is no side to side movements involve, no external rotation of any extremities, and not a whole lot of extension (think about how as we run and begin to fatigue, we start to hunch forward). In turn, running leaves us with over developed quads, underdeveloped hamstrings and glutes, and tight front-upper body (rounded shoulders) and hips. The worst part of all (and I am so guilty of this) is that we get so addicted to the “runner’s high” that we become sucked into a cycle in which we think the only way to become a better runner is to, of course, run more.
This is the exact point in which barre came to the rescue for me. The first barre class I ever attended (fun fact- the class was taught by Jen!) was very difficult for me. I could run 5-miles, climb stairs forever, and squat and lunge like there was no tomorrow. But the targeting of the smaller, stabilizing muscles that I had failed to attend to in my body, illustrated to me that I was not as strong as I thought I was. It took time, as all things do, for me to start to feel my strength improve in classes- specifically in the barre focused areas- my hips, glutes, core, and shoulders. Then, something I never thought would happened occurred… my running performance began to improve as my barre performance improved.
This blew my mind at first, but after talking about it with a physical therapist I realized it all made sense. Barre targets the muscles that we fail or forget to focus on in our typical routine. Barre pushes you out of your normal positional comfort zone and challenges your muscle to work in these positions until the fatigue. Its low impact nature makes it a great addition to any runner’s routine; by giving those knees, hips and low back a break from pounding the pavement, but still challenging your body to push its limits, while building a more well-balanced strength profile. Barre also focuses on opening the hips and promotes a great mind-body connection and mental focus (just try one thigh song at the barre when your legs are shaking like crazy and you’ll understand).
So, to all the runner, bikers, lungers, squatters, and barre newbies out there…. Come on in to Empowered Body and SHAKE things up!
