Pool barre

On the phone with my mom after work last night discussing my evening plans….
Me: Mom, I’m going to do barre at the pool!
Mom: You’re going to a bar at the pool? Good for you!
Me: noooo, a b-a-r-r-e class. At a rooftop pool in DC.
Mom: oh, well that would be fun too, I guess.

Hahahaha. I could’ve used a trip to the poolside bar after last night’s barre class. I tried my first one last Tuesday at a studio in Arlington called Lava Barre, and wasn’t sure I was into it enough to become a real follower. But then a friend wanted me to join her in going to the weekly rooftop poolside class that this studio just added to their schedule for the summer, so I bought a pack of classes (last week’s I tried for free) and we made the 4:30pm drive over the bridge into DC to make it to the hotel it was at by 5 (not fun!). The class was way more enjoyable than the last one was. I also loved being outside, enjoying the view, being amused by the expressions of pool-goers as they stared at the group of us 7 girls doing pliés, leg lifts, and lots and lots and lots of pelvic tucks. Haha! The hour passed much faster, the breeze was fabulous, and I am definitely feeling the soreness today. I have to say, when I feel like I’m in good shape with lots of running, lifting lots of weight in Crossfit, and doing yoga as often as I can, it is SO humbling to realize how easily I want to lay down and cry after standing in a second position plié for a few minutes with one heel up and pulsing an inch up and down. Or just doing arm weight lifting. Or old school glute work by being on all fours, lifting a leg at a time behind you and poking the sky with your toes. I think I took for granted how well-rounded my muscles were in all my years of dancing. After I moved to DC post-college I only made time to take a drop in class at a studio once in awhile. But maybe a barre class mixed into my other workout routines will help round out the very targeted strength and toning that I have missed all these years.

I’m curious if other people are on the barre kick?? It is so popular here! I think I might try to find some barre-type workouts online that I can do on my own when I don’t feel like paying to go to a class.

Here are some pics from last night: