Pray often. Eat your veggies. Move your body. Love yourself + others.
With benefits like a stronger core and leaner legs, the barre trend continues to attract women into boutique fitness studios across the country.
The downside, you won’t find a barre studio in rural fitness centers. And if you are located near a studio, you still have to foot the bill as classes can run on the upside of $20+ per sweat session. The solution, this completely free, yet seriously effective routine you can do in the comfort of your own home {or your friend’s apartment in Seattle}.
These 10 moves are exactly what you’d do in the arms and legs section at the beginning of my class at Haute Barre Studios.
Each exercise requires core engagement and targets both the large and small, stabilizing muscles in your arms and legs. Layered with some large range of motion movements, like the chair squats with overhead raise, to elevate your heart rate.
Not that I don’t love my jump squats, burpees and plyometrics in general, but sometimes your body needs a rest from high impact routines. And these 10 Barre Moves you can do anywhere are the perfect way to maintain an intense, yet low impact, total body workout.
This was the perfect vacation workout to supplement my usual Friday morning barre class while I was in Seattle this past weekend. I subbed the light dumbbells for a medium resistance band {much easier to pack than dumbbells}.
{music: can’t stop the feeling — justin timberlake, get more songs currently rocking my workout playlist here}
Complete 12 repetitions per exercise and repeat the entire routine x 3 sets. All you need is a light set of dumbbells; I recommend between 2-10 lbs {I’m using 5 lb dumbbells in the video above}.
see video above for complete workout and proper exercise form.
Modify: Eliminate dumbbells and perform the movement with your bodyweight. You may also shorten the range of motion.
Make it harder: Add a jump at the top of your squat; exploding through the bottom of your feet and reaching upward with your arms overhead as you leave the ground.
Modify: Use lighter weights or eliminate the weights and perform bodyweight arm pulses.
Make it harder: Relevè up onto to your toes or balls of your feet; while squeezing your knees together to create inner thigh engagement.
Modify: Lighten or eliminate the weights and shorten the lunging range of motion.
Make it harder: As you stand up out of the lunge to tricep kick, simultaneously raise your back, right leg to add additional glute work and balance challenge.
Modify: Drop your back, right knee to the ground or perform the tricep extensions in neutral standing position, removing the lunge altogether.
Make it harder: Increase your weight and relevè up onto to your front toe for additional balance and leg engagement.
Modify: Keep both feet firmly planted on the ground as you hinge slightly forward at the hips and perform a back fly.
Make it harder: Relevè up onto the toe of your standing leg to create a difficult balance challenge. You may also add a leg lift on your rear, right leg with each back fly repetition for additional glute work.
Modify: Eliminate dumbbells and perform the movement with your bodyweight. You may also shorten the range of motion.
Make it harder: Add a jump at the top of your squat; exploding through the bottom of your feet and reaching upward with your arms overhead as you leave the ground.
Modify: Use lighter weights or eliminate the weights and perform bodyweight arm pulses.
Make it harder: Relevè up onto to your toes or balls of your feet; while squeezing your knees together to create inner thigh engagement.
Modify: Lighten or eliminate the weights and shorten the lunging range of motion.
Make it harder: As you stand up out of the lunge to lateral shoulder raise, simultaneously raise your back, left leg to add additional glute work and balance challenge.
Modify: Drop your back, left knee to the ground or perform the front shoulder raises in neutral standing position, removing the lunge altogether.
Make it harder: Increase your weight and relevè up onto to your front toe for additional balance and leg engagement.
Modify: Keep both feet firmly planted on the ground as you hinge slightly forward at the hips and perform a back fly.
Make it harder: Relevè up onto the toe of your standing leg to create a difficult balance challenge. You may also add a leg lift on your rear, left leg with each back fly repetition for additional glute work.
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lightweight vsx sports bra {old, similar linked here}
Complete 12 repetitions per exercise and repeat the entire routine x 3 sets.
This is a super tough workout!! Thank you for all the great options.
MaryEllen! Glad you loved this barre workout as much as I do and I hope you keep coming back for more! xo-Lindsey