Barrecore in Wimbledon

I managed to persuade my friend Ali to join me for a free trial class at the newly opened Barrecore studio in Wimbledon Village, but judging from the grimace she shot me just 5minutes into the session, she may have quickly regretted that decision!

Barrecore is a low impact, full body, interval training program using isometric exercises alternated with stretching. You use the bar to do ballet style moves round the edge of the room, and floor exercises using small weights, straps and exercises balls.

The movements are small with high repetition to overload the muscles (and make them burn!) followed by stretches to help create a lean physique.

Each 60-minute workout is designed to target the major muscle groups and improve posture and alignment. We started with a warm-up, which launched us straight into the class! Then we did 10minutes of Upper Body- lots of planks, press-ups, and some movements with small dumbells.

This was probably the only point in the class when I felt comfortable and could definitely have used heavier weights- bicep curls and chest fly's with 1.5kg didn't really do much. In fact I felt more burn from the wide arm circles we did without weights afterwards- who'd have thought this move could hurt so much!

That was definitely the theme of the class though. I started off the movement thinking "this is quite easy" but after 20-30 repetitions my body began to disagree!

The middle part of the class consisted of 25minutes of leg and seat exercises mostly at the barre. There were two different foot positions for a lot of the moves, described by our teacher as "kitten heels" and "stiletto heels" to indicate the height of your heel/arch. She offered these as "challenge" levels to modify/upgrade the basic move to a harder level, instead of offering easier options. This was a nice way of doing it so you didn't feel like you were taking the easy way out!

Some of the moves at the barre really emphasised my runner's inflexibility especially with the hip opening movements and left me feeling more like flailing duck than graceful ballerina swan. But the novelty factor of working out at a ballet barre was fun.

We finished with 20 minutes of core conditioning and a 5-minute relaxation, which was definitely needed!

I really enjoyed the class, trying something completely different was engaging and the tiny moves were surprisingly very challenging. The variety kept the class moving along quickly however, and Stephanie's teaching method was enthusiastic and encouraging. Having a friend to pull faces and laugh with also helped!

The only negative element of the class was having to purchase non-slip socks. These are mandatory for Barrecore, and must cover your entire foot. We bought some from Sweaty Betty (the Barrecore studio is located in the shop basement) but at £10 a pair they weren't cheap and meant the "free class" wasn't really free (although definitely cheaper than paying for it full price). This requirement was stated clearly on their website however so I did know beforehand. I have read that you can buy Barrecore socks at the other studios for £5 too although this isn't confirmed. I guess because the Wimbledon studio is within the Sweaty Betty shop they probably have an arrangement with them to only sell their socks...

Even though the class wasn't high impact cardio Ali and I both worked up quite a sweat!

The Barrecore website has online classes if you fancy giving some of the moves a try at home (£4 to watch) or classes at the London studios (Mayfair, Chelsea and Wimbledon) are £28 each.

Have you ever tried Barrecore or any other ballet style workout?

Beki x