I’m not a fan gimmicky workouts or fitness fads but I’m not a total snob in that I’ll try anything once – Flexi-Bar, Aerial Yoga, Restorative Yoga, SH’BAM, – even if I don’t expect it to be a “real” workout. I figure if it turns out to be a joke, I can always return to my regular program the next week and at least I’ll be able to say I got out of my comfort zone and tried something new.
Such was my rationale for trying a Barre class at the Clarity Centre on Friday. I only have a few classes left on my Groupon pass so I decided to try a class I’d never been to before.
For those who don’t know, Barre is a ballet inspired workout that incorporates yoga, pilates and ballet moves using a hand rail.
We started out doing some stretching on our mats before moving to the bar. Once there, we did a few yoga flows using the bar, which was an interesting twist but not exactly challenging (in fact, it’s a lot easier moving through a flow sequence using the bar for support).
After the yoga warm up, we moved into the ballet moves, which were basically just a series of calf raises and plie squats. Here’s where the class could have become challenging but we didn’t do enough reps of any one move to really get a good workout. The whole thing was kind of pointless.
You’d think that experience would have put me off trying new classes for awhile but on Saturday morning, my sister and I decided to check out a freestyle spin class neither of us had been too before.
And *sigh* it was awful – all we did for an entire hour was switch back and forth between a minute of climbing and a minute of recovery. For sixty minutes. No variation in pace. No intervals. Nothing.
To make matters worse, after about 30 minutes, the instructor kept saying we only had one more track left – she said that about six times before the class was actually over. By that point, I had totally checked out mentally. The whole thing was just sheer torture.
I finally had a good workout on Sunday morning – BodyPump Express and CXWORX. Both of which are tried and true favourites of mine.
Have you ever tried a fad workout that you found completely pointless?
![IMG_0110[1]](http://burningitoff.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/img_01101.jpg?w=150)
Oh dear, that spin class sounds brutal. I would have checked out too! I haven’t tried a lot of fad workouts, there aren’t many available where I live. But I’m always open to trying things!
Yikes!! They both sound so boring, especially that spin class. I tried a Tracy Anderson DVD (yes, really), and it was such a snooze fest.
OMG I saw a clip of a Tracy Anderson workout DVD and I couldn’t stop laughing – I don’t know how you got through it, it looked like absolute torture! Hahaha…
Dangg. That sucks. I died Insanity for a MONTH. Religiously. I hated it.
I’ve always been curious about Insanity (and P90X). I think I’d hate it too but I still want to try it one of these days. I can’t believe you stuck with it for a month even though you hated it – that is some serious will power! Thanks for stopping by and commenting
Oh I hate boring classes!! What is CXWORX Like? I am about to give it go next Monday at my gym.
I really like it – it’s 30 minutes of mostly core exercises (planks, crunches, etc.) but you also do some squats, lunges and shoulder work (although even within those exercises there is always some core/balance work involved). I wasn’t totally sold on it at first but once I got the technique down, I found it to be a pretty effective workout. I can really feel my core and back muscles the next day after a class. Hope you enjoy it! And thanks for stopping by