Can You Build Muscle with Barre?
“Okay, but … are you building muscle?”
Believe it or not, we get this question A LOT. It could be from experienced barre-goers, newbies to barre, or those who have not yet tried barre. (Hint, hint: go try a barre class!)
It’s a common question. And this is okay.
But get this: it’s also a common MISCONCEPTION that barre does not build muscle or strength.
So, does your barre practice help you to build muscle?
Short answer: Yes. Yes, it does.
Well, how?
Glad you asked. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Barre actually does more for your body than just building muscle and strength. It also builds endurance and resilience. Let’s dive into each category a little deeper.
𝘽𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚
When you take a barre class, you primarily activate muscle fibers called type I fibers (or slow-twitch muscle fibers). These fibers are not known to give a lot of force, but they are highly resistant to fatigue. This is why light weights and high reps are used in barre classes. We intentionally build that muscular endurance and resilience. When you activate these fibers with lower weights, or even body weight, you are building endurance. You may be able to lift your arms over your head longer than the largest, strongest bodybuilder in the gym. Why? Again, muscular endurance.
Why is building endurance a good thing?
- We can actually fight against gravity more easily when we’ve built up our muscular endurance. This is over a long period of time. For instance, barre-goers may seem taller than others. Barre-goers may have better posture than others. We are more resistant to a slumping posture because we have built enduring muscles that can withstand the forces of gravity over a longer period of time.
- Building endurance can help decrease risk of injury, and can improve other activities in your life, such as swimming, rowing, tennis, or other sports. You may even be able to hold your baby longer without fatiguing!
- You may notice a stronger core that can work to support your back during different movements in your daily life, including heavy lifting. So, building muscular endurance can be very functional and can help in day-to-day life.
- Building muscular endurance can boost exercise performance and can help prevent burnout. You may be able to more efficiently get into an exercise, align yourself, and feel that contraction and engagement before you start to work.
Now, when you are training endurance with lighter weights, it is still possible to tap into the type II fibers here. You can reach a point of muscle failure and fatigue and really work to build up your level of strength with light weights and body weight. In our BarreAmped® classes, we take into account gravity and the body’s position, maximizing force output.
Speaking of strength…. Let’s get into that. While, yes, we can build muscle and strength with light weights, we have developed an even more effective way to build muscular strength in our classes.
𝘽𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙘𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝
How do we activate our type II fibers in our BarreAmped® classes? This can be achieved with lifting heavier weights in the barre class, and can even be achieved by just body weight alone, specifically for the lower body. As we talked about above, this is because we work with gravity and take into account physics and the position of your body. So, even body weight lunges can build muscle!
But, wait… Heavier weights? What?!
Yes! We have added NEW exercises that include HEAVIER WEIGHTS in our classes.
You’ll see UNIQUE exercises in BarreAmped® classes that you won’t see in other barre methods that challenge the body in different ways. The heavier weight emphasis is actually NEW in our LEVEL 3 training, where we are not only working in light weight and body weight, but we are also using heavier weights and working in different positions to maximize results. You will see a whole new take on classic exercises like lateral raises. We teach a NEW position that can withstand the heavier weight option, and maximize force in the shoulder while decreasing force in the neck. We are all about research and finding the most optimal ways to work the body while preserving the joints. Did you know that you take more weight in your neck when you’re standing doing lateral raises than when you take lateral raises on your side on the mat? You’ll learn more about that in our BarreAmped® LEVEL 3 training. We want to optimize work where we are focusing the work. So, for instance, for lateral raises, we want to focus on the mid shoulder. If we are lifting a heavier weight, we take that exercise into a new position to ensure safety and also effectiveness. Our instructors will teach you how to set up correctly so you’re getting the most bang for your buck. Barre classes can help us build strength and muscle in places we didn’t know existed, as well as teach us how to breathe and how to stabilize. We want to preserve your body’s integrity while also building it up.
Always listen to your body
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆. (Even experienced barre-istas should be mindful of this!) You do not have to immediately gravitate towards the heavier weights (even when that option is offered in class). You could still go light, or even drop the weight entirely and make a fist. We use a phenomenon in our classes called “perceived effort.” What this means is, you activate and engage your muscles with intention and imagine you are lifting even heavier than you actually are. You can generate more power and force through those muscles. This can even be achieved by making a fist instead of holding a weight. Or maybe you’re holding a plank or doing push-ups. How is your form? How is the engagement? Are you tuned in? Are you focused? Is every single inch controlled? How is the intention? Are you just hanging out in your joints or are you actively pushing the floor away? Act like someone is trying to push you over. How strong can you be? How intentional can you be? Let the quality be there.
BarreAmped® is all about the FOUNDATION. One of the ways we build that foundation is to start with the basics. Start where you can. When you take a class, see how you do with body weight alone. Then try a light weight. Then progress to the heavier one. We want you to properly warm up and learn how to connect to your body. We want you to build strength and start to build that muscular endurance. We want you to develop more of a mind-muscle connection and even a mind-joint connection. Over time, you’ll notice a deeper and more efficient connection to your body, where you can test out the heavier weights. When we lift heavier, we obviously cannot go as long as we could with lighter weights. But we have built that base strength and that muscular endurance.
We do want you to challenge yourself while also paying attention to the cues your body is giving you.
Is the exercise not working for you?
Adjust the position. Re-engage through the core. Modify. Maybe drop the weight. Maybe slow it down. Maybe take a smaller range of motion. You could even select a different exercise. We want the exercise to work for YOU. BarreAmped® instructors are taught how to work with the client to ensure they are getting the most out of their work. They are taught to instruct modifications and position variations. What works for one may not work for the other.
How to build muscle with barre fitness
When we work with the heavier weights, we can get to a point of muscular failure. This means it becomes harder to lift the weight. Your reps slow way down. You may feel like you only have one or two reps inside of you. Congratulations! You’ve activated your type II fibers. You feel that temporary muscle weakness called “inroading,” and now your muscles need to heal from the work that was done.
You could achieve muscular failure with just heavy weights, or you could start with bodyweight, then grab light weights, then move to heavier ones. Or you could even start with heavier weights and then do a “burnout” set with lighter weights. You can reach those type II fibers either way.
Remember you WILL feel the BURN in a BarreAmped® class, but it is not REQUIRED in order to build muscle (or, I should say, in order to break muscle down.) What is a tell-tale sign of muscle breakdown? It is that feeling of temporary weakness at the end of a set, where your muscles turn to jelly. You may even be shaking! What’s REALLY fun is experiencing all of it in one class – the burning, the fatigue, and the shaking. This experience is GUARANTEED to put a smile on your face. Why? You’re working HARD and you’re also melting off some stress at the same time! When you walk back down the stairs after class (assuming there are stairs, of course) you may feel that shaking, jelly-leg feeling.
Make sure to take time to heal and nourish your body as those muscles build back stronger.
Now, get to shaking!
Or, breaking down… and then building your muscles up!
Eh… You get what I’m trying to say! 😉
