Very popular for several months, this gentle and non-impact sporting discipline allows you to build deep muscles and sculpt the buttocks of your dreams.
Strengthening your buttocks, gently, without impact, this is a promise that makes you dream. Forget muscle strengthening with heavy weights and crazy disciplines. A very popular sport recently that allows you to obtain results quickly and without (too much) effort. Invented by a German dancer called Lotte Berk, it is a very complete training method based on the use of the stabilizing muscles.
It’s the 1950s and Lotte Berk injures her back. She has to give up dancing for a while and see a physiotherapist. An idea then came to him: combine his knowledge of classical and modern dance with his rehabilitation exercises in order to strengthen his abdominal muscles and protect his back, while maintaining the figure and strength of a dancer. We are witnessing the birth of what we today call Barre, a clever mix of yoga, Pilates and classical dance. We use the wooden bar as a support to perform repetitive micro-movements with body weight in order to sculpt long and thin muscles. Beats, plies, pulses… In 1959, she even opened her own studio reserved exclusively for women. “Lotte Berk’s vision was to get away from the very intimidating side of classical dance studios“, says Oriane, Barre coach in the Parisian establishment Chez Simone.
Decades later, this method continues to prove its worth, particularly when working on the glutes. Indeed, it uses deep muscles that are often neglected and allows you to work isometrically. “It is a muscular contraction very specific to the Barre: we hold the posture for several movements. This is what causes the muscle tremor that many people experience“, continues the professional. For example, during a kick of the right leg, the left buttock also works to ensure the balance of the body. “We also find micro-movements like the pulse, which allow us to test muscle maintenance.“, adds the sports coach. The amplitudes are controlled and the muscular activation is long, which has a real impact on the overall tone of the area. In the Barre, postural alignment also plays a key role. A good position allows you to further isolate the group you want to work, in this case the buttocks, and makes the exercise more effective. “To spice things up, we often add rubber bands or a small balloon.”
Be careful though, if your objective is to gain mass the Bar will not be your ally. It is made to shape and tone. “We are not going to create big muscles, but perhaps in the long term the buttocks will stand out a little more“, specifies Oriane.
To obtain results, the coach advises going to classes about three times a week. As the method is impact-free, it adapts to all levels and profiles, even for people with joint problems. In short, Barre is much more than a trend: it is the art of sculpting your body with the precision of a dancer and the strength of an athlete.
