Two of the first three Runners Try were far flung from the typical runner's day. Rock climbing and SUP aren't exactly expected forms of cross training. This week we ventured closer to expected cross training to see what all the fuss is behind barre3. If you're like me and you run past your local barre3 studio and just see a bunch of perfectly coiffed ladies working on their plié, this Runners Try is for you. Because damn.
First I have to give a huge thank you to Kimberly at barre3 Roosevelt for taking on this group of newbies and helping us embrace the shake. Oh and if you're wondering what the 3 in barre3 is? Me too! Here's your barre3 cheat sheet. Now let's get to it.
LOGISTICS
- Barre3 studio pass (or subscribe to videos online)
- Liability waiver
- An hour
WHAT TO WEAR
- Long seamless shorts, compressive knickers, or tights (Vela Seamless Shorts and Joggings)
- Form fitted top (The Suspension Shimmel is born for this)
- Sports bra (OP Bra under the O Snap Tank was a gem)
- Socks - only if you have sticky ones
CHALLENGES
- Getting to a studio
- Embracing the shake
- Letting go of competitive spirit
- Using tiny weights (see above)
- Dealing with the mirror, like live race day photos
BENEFITS
- Strengthens those teeny stabilizer muscles we ignore
- Moves your rigid runner body into the lateral plane
- Low impact - high benefit
- Improves flexibility - long and strong
- Body awareness
NUMBER OF TIMES WE FELL
- None! But number of times we shook so hard we could have been a jackhammer? Lost track.
We'll be back for more soon! Do you do barre3? How has it impacted your running? Tell us with #runnerstrybarre3.
