Bellying Up to the Barre

Have I mentioned I like to sign up for things? Errrr, ummmm, yeah, I think that’s been said – it’s pretty much a theme here. I’m almost afraid to admit that I was a wee bit impulsive and signed up for another (running) race – but I’ll post about that insanity another day. (Hint: 3 words. The first is Glass, the second is Slipper, and the 3rd is Challenge.)

Hand in hand with the love of signing up for things is a love of trying new things. I’m always game to try any new workout, fitness class, DVD, group run, join a team – anything that will help my (ongoing) quest to lose-the-baby-weight-and-get-fit. Said baby is 18 months today and I am serious about it – after 3 kids I am ready to feel my best and be fit enough to tackle new challenges. Well, I am serious about it except for about 45 minutes ago when I had a (small) piece of cake. NOW I’m serious about it again. My only obstacle is TIME.

Today I found myself with a couple of hours between the regular work day and a work event at about 9pm. I pondered my choices:
A) Keep working straight through (I could always use the extra time in the office)
B) Eat and drink excessive amounts of calories
C) Shop for my trip (did I mention I’m going to Switzerland and Italy next week?!)
D) Exercise

First, let me explain that I live too far to go home in between these two things. I would battle insane amounts of traffic only to see my kids for 5 minutes and then turn around and drive back downtown, leaving two boys in a puddle of tears because I came and went so quickly (my daughter’s pretty blase about it). Without quality time at home, it’s better to just avoid the two hours of driving.

So last night it hit me: I would have TWO HOURS OF KID FREE TIME. Um, hello!!! I’m always stumped with what to do at times like these because it feels like a race to cram a bunch of errands or work or catching up on emails or tracing the two hundred check boxes on my endless To Do List with all its sad little empty check boxes calling attention to the fact that I never have time to do all of the things I need to do.

So naturally, I stared at the big list of empty check boxes and promptly booked an exercise class. Gone are the days when I’d spend those two hours making progress on my To Do List, or sitting eating a calorie-fest dinner with a calorie-fest drink while working through a project on said list. Lately, I’ve been putting my Quest For Fitness as #1! (Well #3 right after my family and work, of course.)

So as the work day came to a close at 6pm, I did a Superman change in the bathroom and went to a Barre class at Barre 3.

It was great, a really awesome workout but different from anything I have done! I have been doing so much running, and since the half marathon I’ve also branched out to biking, 30 Day Shred, gym workouts, and other weight and cardio workouts. And my weekly Pilates class. I’m enjoying variety and cross-training now that I’m not hyper-focused on a long distance running race. But this was different – a lot of small, repetitive movements and holding positions. We worked upper body, lower body, and core in an interesting way with a motivating instructor. I also liked how she spent time to show newbies like me how to propoerly position ourselves, without making me feel like an idiot – they were all about the positive energy at barre class.

Sometimes it almost seemed like not much could possibly happen from slightly pressing my thighs into this squishy ball while positioned in a particular way, but then – hello, the shaking. OMG the shaking. Apparently if you shake, you’re doing something right, and I was shaking like a leaf on a tree in a derecho. So I’m hoping I’ll see some results after a few trips to the studio.

I’m definitely going back, and glad I had booked the package of 3 classes at a newbie rate. It’s a bit pricey for regular thing, but maybe sometime in the future I’ll be as addicted as others and be reaping the benefits of regular barre workouts.

I do have one confession. I am still not used to non-cardio workouts and have trouble trusting that they’re working me like a good elevate-your-heart-rate run. But I know that Pilates has done so much for more core strength and this has transitioned into more solid posture, running form, and overall fitness and the barre wokrout was seriously hard – I could feel it working.

(PS – is this where I mention that nobody told me to say anything nice about barre workouts or this studio? I was just a regular newbie trying the class on my own and decided to write about it.)