Happy Friday, bloggers! I can’t believe we’ve made it to the last blog post of the semester. With that being said, I’ve successfully completed a considerable amount of the workout classes offered here at Penn State. To be honest, I’m actually really proud of myself and can thank this blog for forcing me to go the gym on the days I was feeling lazy. With the stress of school this semester, I’ve really come to realize how beneficial these workout classes have been from not just a fitness prospective but a mental health prospective as well. I’m also now considering becoming a fitness instructor here at some point, which I think would be super fun! I definitely enjoyed every class I attended this semester, and I’m hoping some of you went to one after reading a blog post.
Thankfully, I can say I ended this blog on a high note with such a wonderful and rewarding workout class: Barre! My friend Emily from my previous post came with, and we definitely had ourselves a time. The class was an hour long, and I can for sure say this is one of the more difficult classes offered here! However, it was still super fun. For any of you who enjoy ballet, you would for sure love this class according to Emily!
For those of you who have no idea what barre is like, it’s essentially a ballet inspired course with weights and pilates. This class can be pretty challenging at times since it’s heavily focused on working specific muscle groups for a long period of time until it’s nearly unbearable. However, this approach was appealing in a way since you knew you were working your absolute hardest.
To get started, when we walked into the class, there were already ballet bars set up for everyone, so we all just grabbed a matt and weights from the back of the room.
We then began by standing in first position, which is one of the basic ballet positions. From here, we would plea, which is simply bending your knees slightly and coming back up. We also did deep pleas as well, which is almost like a low squat. After focusing on pleas, we then pointed our toe to the side and brought it back in, known as a tendue. Keep in mind we did this class without shoes on, so it wasn’t hard to perform these ballet positions. Although all of this may sound pretty easy, focusing on pleas and tendues for such a long time became super tiring!
From first position, we then moved into second position. From here, we did more pleas. We also went on relevé as well, which is essentially just lifting your toes. We would then bring our toes back down. You could really feel your calf muscles getting worked with this exercise. While in relevé, we also bent our knees and went into a deep squat. I ended up really loving this part of the workout because it wasn’t too difficult, and it also utilized your hamstrings, calves, and ankles.
After finishing up at the barre, we then moved to weights. I know this may sound ridiculous, but Emily and I only grabbed one pound weights and still found our arms feeling tired! With so much repetition, barre can be super tough on your muscles. To begin, we started with basic arm curls. We also did lateral arm raises, upright rows, and overhead dumbbell presses. After standing while focusing on arms, we then went into a deep lunge position. While holding the lunge, we would then pull our weight upward and also extend it to the back. To be honest, this was definitely the hardest part of the workout. We had to hold this lunge with a flat back, which was extremely difficult since we stayed in this position for a good amount of time.
After arms, we then moved into another part of the workout: legs and butt! I cannot stress enough how hard this part of class was. To begin, we set our mat down and got on all fours. From here, we would lift one leg up into the air and slowly bring it back down. We also did this with our knee bent as well.
We then moved into the fire hydrant exercise, which really stresses both your glutes and hips. We also pulsed our leg in this position as well, which was extremely hard considering it was the last part of the leg workout and I was just ready for it to be over with!
At last, we moved into the final part of the workout: abs! We began by holding a plank, and then we moved into crunches. We also focused on cross crunches too, which I personally enjoy since it focuses on the side of your abs. We also transitioned into bicycle crunches, and lastly, the lemon squeezer!
Although this workout was definitely a tough one, I really enjoyed knowing I was getting a good workout in. I totally recommend this to anyone who is up for a challenge and ready to feel accomplished. Out of all the workout classes I’ve completed this semester, I can definitely say this was one of the toughest. However, I absolutely loved how unique and rewarding this class was. I’m happy I found such an amazing class like this before the semester ended.
First off, I really liked the way that you described the class! You definitely captured exactly what the class was, and explained it really well. Also it was a good idea that you included pictures about some of the exercises and poses that we did, it definitely showed how hard that class actually was! I’m still sore! I thoroughly have enjoyed reading your blogs, and I’m glad you inspired me to try some of the classes with you!
This class seems really challenging but really rewarding. Anytime you have to put so much effort into a class to the point where you are so tired while doing it is the best feeling. I have heard about barre classes before, specifically hearing about how difficult they are. I had no clue this class was offered here and so I definitely want to try it. Best of luck with your blog next semester!
I think it is so interesting how something that people typically think is easy, dance, ended up being the hardest class you attended this semester! It’s crazy to think about how many different muscle groups you are able to work in a single workout, as usually workouts will focus on 2-3 specific groups in rotations throughout the week. I liked that you included the different things that you did within each muscle group, as that adds to your blog in the sense that it gives a more real feel to what goes on during the class. I really liked reading your blogs this semester, I’ll have to look into these classes sometime!
I would have loved this class. I’m a dancer trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, and modern so I am very familiar with the barre and the different ballet positions. This is definitely something I would be interested in going to with a friend. I like that it’s a way to workout and incorporate ballet.