Understanding Barre and How It Can Help With Your Fitness Goals

March 2025

Barre Training

Barre, pronounced bahr, is fairly new to the fitness world. In essence, Barre is like doing dance or ballet while using a stable bar or stable object to hold onto for support. According to www.stroops.com, “Barre focuses on small, repetitive movements performed at a barre or other sturdy object for support."

These movements target major muscle groups, improve flexibility, and enhance overall body alignment and posture. By incorporating elements of ballet (and Pilates, to a degree), barre training aims to strengthen and tone muscles while promoting grace and fluidity of movement.

Adding resistance band training with Barre

Hand weights are not an ideal addition to barre training because your hands are helping you hold your position while exercising, but resistance bands are the perfect complement up the fitness challenge to barre training.

Photograph showing ballet moves (Barre training) with resistance bands

According to stroops.com, here are a few benefits of Barre with resistance band Training:

1-Enhanced muscle activation: "This external resistance intensifies the muscle engagement during Barre exercises. This helps to strengthen and tone targeted muscle groups more effectively. Using resistance bands during Barre training helps keep the pressure off of joints."

2- Increased range of motion: Using resistance bands helps you lengthen and stretch your muscles beyond their usual range of motion. "This promotes flexibility, joint mobility, and improved muscle function. Flexibility and mobility are core goals of barre training."

3- Added Challenge:  "The varying levels of resistance bands allow you to gradually increase the difficulty of exercises as you progress. Barre training shouldn't be excessively strenuous or taxing, since the exercise is more focused on balance and toning."

4-Improved Mind-Muscle Connection: "Resistance bands require greater focus and control, enhancing the mind-muscle connection during barre exercises. Resistance band use forces you to work harder to stabilize your muscles, which leads to better mastery of yourself and your muscle groups."

Ask your trainer to help you use resistance band barre exercises such as:

A) Band-Assisted Plies

B) Band-Assisted Arm Work

C) Band-Assisted Leg Lifts

D) Band-Assisted Core Work

To Your Good Health and Nutrition

Healthy Eating Made Easy

Frozen Fruity Yogurt Bites

Prep Time10 minutes

Freezing Time 2 hours

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: Vegetarian

Servings: 12 bites

Ingredients

• 7 oz. Yogurt of plain/vanilla Greek Yogurt

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

• Handful of fresh raspberries

• Handful of fresh blueberries or combination of berries

Instructions

• Gather together your ingredients.  Lay out approximately 12 paper cupcake cups or silicone muffin cups on a small baking sheet or tray (this will need to fit in your freezer, so it may be worth checking it for size before you start).

• Mix in your vanilla extract if using plain yogurt. Using a spoon, dollop some yogurt into the bottom of each cake cup until all the yogurt has gone.

• Place a few pieces of fruit into each cup, pressing them down lightly into the yogurt with the tip of your finger.

• Place the cups (still on the baking tray) into the freezer and leave to freeze for a couple of hours until set solid.

• Once frozen through, remove from the cases and serve (or bag up and pop straight back in the freezer to eat later).

  
  

Tips and Tricks for preparing for the arrival of Spring.

I wish Spring would get here already! Here are a few ways to get a jump on Spring:

1- Stay active: Get physical on a regular basis to help improve mood. Walk in summer places like the beach or a favorite park or near a waterfall, run, ski, skate, etc. Just get your body moving.

2- Get plenty of sleep/rest: Listen to your body at this time of year. Inadequate sleep can cause us to get sick easier and worsen feelings of sadness.

3- Eat Healthy: Concentrate on foods rich in Vitamin D to help boost brain health, mood, and strong bones. Drink plenty of water. Dry air causes our bodies to become dehydrated quickly.

4- Sunshine: Let in as much natural light as possible. Welcome the change of clocks to celebrate longer daylight hours. Open the blinds or use light therapy aids.

5- Practice Mindfulness: Make time for you. Time to laugh, time to meditate, time to read, time to organize, time to plan for summer weather, time to do more of what you love and enjoy.

Call to Action:

What are your favorite ways to prepare yourself or the arrival of Spring?