Barre is a mix between ballet and Pilates, and it’s a good addition to any training modality as it helps with building muscular endurance and targets both your small and large muscles. If you’ve ever done barre before, you already know just how tough of a workout it can be. And if this is your first barre workout, get ready for a mental and physical challenge.
IBBFA-certified barre instructor Britany Williams, a Sweat app trainer and the creator of the Barre With Britany program, put together this 10-minute lower-body barre workout to build strength and increase flexibility, coordination, and control. Her program fuses traditional elements of ballet and Pilates with athletic high-intensity movements, and this particular workout will help you improve your lower-body muscular endurance in addition to helping you improve your balance.
If you’re looking for a quick challenge, grab some water and a towel and get ready to light up your muscles.
Britany Williams’s 10-Minute Barre Workout
Equipment needed: a chair, a barre, or a sturdy object to balance on.
Directions: Before getting started, you can do a few dynamic stretches or whatever you need to feel prepared for the workout. The workout will be completed as a circuit, meaning you’ll perform each exercise for the designated time, taking little to no rest in between each move. After you complete one round of all the moves, repeat for one more round. After the workout, be sure to cool down with light stretching or foam rolling.
- Slow plié: 60 seconds
- Step back in turnout: 30 seconds on each side
- Attitude lift in turnout: 30 seconds on each side
- Bicycle in half foldover: 30 seconds on each side
- Half foldover side pulse: 30 seconds on each side
Love trying new workouts? Want a community to share your fitness goals with? Come join our Facebook group POPSUGAR Workout Club. There, you can find advice on making the best of every sweat session and everything else you need to help you on your road to healthy living.
Related: Kayla Itsines's Sweat App Launches Barre and Yoga Workouts Featuring New Badass Trainers
Sweat app
Slow Plié
- Start in first position, facing your chair/support, with your heels together and your feet open in a “V” shape.
- Engage your core and slightly tuck your hips to keep your back neutral. Rise to your tippy-toes, keeping your heels touching.
- Slowly bend the knees, lowering the body toward the ground, taking three to four seconds to lower before taking three to four seconds to lift back to the starting position. Do not come into a fully standing position; keep a slight bend in your knees.
- This counts as one rep.
- Repeat for 60 seconds.
Sweat app
Step Back in Turnout
- Start in first position, facing your chair/support, with your heels together and your feet open in a “V” shape. Rise up so that you’re balancing on your tippy-toes with a slight bend in your knees.
- Step your right foot back about one and a half feet, pulsing low through the body as you step back.
- Step forward, returning to the starting position, pulsing through the body again. Make sure to keep your toes turned out throughout the entire movement
- This counts as one rep.
- Repeat for 30 seconds on each side.
Sweat app
Attitude Lift in Turnout
- Start in first position, facing your chair/support, with your heels together and your feet open in a “V” shape. Rise up so that you’re balancing on your tippy-toes with a slight bend in your knees.
- Step your right foot back about one foot. Lift your right leg up as close to hip height as you can get while maintaining a braced core. You shouldn’t feel pain in your right hip. If you do, lower your leg down to a height where you no longer feel pain. Make sure to maintain a neutral spine and avoid arching your back. If needed, your standing foot can be flat.
- Once you’ve lifted your leg as high as you can while maintaining proper form, lower your leg back to the ground, stepping the foot behind your standing leg so you’re in a narrow lunge. You should have a slight bend at the knee in both legs throughout the entire movement.
- This counts as one rep.
- Repeat for 30 seconds on each leg.
Sweat app
Bicycle in Half Foldover
- Start standing with both feet flat on the ground. Bring your left forearm to the chair/support and place your right hand on your hip.
- Slightly hinge (bend) forward toward your chair, keeping your abs engaged. Lift the right leg up straight behind you, keeping your hips slightly open. Be sure to maintain an upright posture and a neutral spine.
- Slowly draw your right knee in toward your shoulder, then extend the leg straight out to the side, then slowly slide the leg back behind you. Your leg should be straight throughout the entire movement. Make sure to stay tall and avoid arching or bending at the spine.
- This counts as one rep.
- Repeat for 30 seconds on each leg.
Sweat app
Half Foldover Side Pulse
- Start standing with both feet flat on the ground. Bring your left forearm to the chair/support and place your right arm extended straight out to the side at shoulder level with your thumb facing up. If you need a modification, you can place your right hand on your right hip.
- Lift your right leg about a foot off the ground and pulse your leg up a few inches.
- With control, lower your right leg back down a few inches. Your right foot should never touch the ground.
- This counts as one rep.
- Repeat for 30 seconds on each side.
