Roller Coasting

A place where I write about my life

[loveannebalfour]

Why I Hate The Bar Method

I took my first Bar Method class as part of a 4 hour fitness crawl and just loved it! As a Barre3 disciple (4 years and counting!) I felt at home and refreshed by a different approach to barre. There were a number of newbies in the class so I wasn’t surprised by the constant form corrections. When I received their trial month offer, I purchased it without a second thought. 

My first class was to be expected: lots of feedback, mostly in the form of corrections. But I enjoyed it overall. I was surprised I didn’t feel any soreness the next day (I’m usually destroyed by barre) but I figured I was in shape and rocking it. 

Fast forward to class 5. I’m getting exhausted by relentless nitpicking. Raise up your butt, straighten your back, wrap all 5 fingers around your weights (what? seriously?!). My back was getting sore from pelvic tucks and, by implementing form tweaks I knew weren’t right for my body, I was working all the wrong places (eg, hip flexors instead of glutes). I was going to get hurt. 

So, I went back to Barre3. What a breath of fresh air! The class was much more athletic. The instructors were fun, motivational. They reminded me I’m strong.  And the next day I could actually feel the workout.

So, yeah. Many people love Bar Method. But it wasn’t right for me and I don't think I could in good conscience recommend.

[loveannebalfour]

Oh, the difference a year can make

Last year at this time I was deep in mental prep for Boston. It ended up being the most challenging and disappointing race I’d ever run. All that training time, I thought, for what? I struggled to recover physically and emotionally. I convinced myself that if I had the chance to redo it, I’d feel better. So I made the mistake of prioritizing running over almost everything else in my life. A year later, though, I have found balance. Forced time off has put family and friendships back into focus. I’m finding fulfillment in my job again. And I have a new perspective: running makes me happy, but it isn’t the reason I have happiness. That realization was worth the wait.