A barre instructor recommends this four-move workout for beginners to build muscular endurance and functional strength

Ever wondered how ballet dancers can hold such beautiful, challenging positions for so long? It’s because much of their training builds muscular endurance.

This concept is what inspires barre training, a low-impact type of exercise that combines ballet-inspired moves with the principles of Pilates and yoga.

“Barre is a muscular endurance workout, rather than a muscular strength workout,” explains instructor Siri Chilazi.

“Instead of lifting a heavy weight a couple of times like we would if we were trying to build strength and grow muscle, we’re working with bodyweight or light dumbbells, but we’re moving for longer so we’re training muscular endurance.”

Chilazi says muscular endurance can be just as important as muscular strength in everyday life.

“If you’re on an airplane and you have to lift your heavy carry-on into the overhead bin, that requires strength,” she says. “But carrying your kid for 10 minutes or walking home with grocery bags for 10 blocks requires muscular endurance.”

Chilazi has shared a home barre workout designed to improve muscular endurance through variations of squats, holds and pulses. It’s designed to be done with no rest but listen to your body and rest in between sections if you need to or if your form is compromised.

How to do the home barre workout

Chilazi has selected four straightforward exercises, but asks you to perform a sequence of reps, half reps, pulses and holds for each exercise. This means your muscles will be under tension for longer than if you performed straight reps, which develops your muscular endurance.

Watch this Instagram post to see Chilazi demonstrate the five-step sequence you should apply to each exercise.

If you’re unable to watch the Instagram post right now, in brief, perform four to eight reps of each of the following five movements:

1. A full rep
2. A half rep: From the bottom of the rep come halfway up, then return to the bottom of the rep.
3. Lift/lower: From the bottom of the rep rise one inch up then lower back to the bottom of the rep.
4. Pulse: From the bottom of the rep, rise and lower rapidly, moving less than an inch.
5. Hold: Hold the bottom of the rep for 10 seconds.

Here’s how to do a full rep of each of the four exercises.

1. Plié squat

Reps: 4-8 each stage

How to do it:

• Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart.
• Turn your toes out so they are pointing diagonally.
• Bend your knees to lower, keeping your torso upright.
• Rise to standing.

2. Barre squat sequence

Reps: 4-8 each step

How to do it:

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, an arm’s length away from a sturdy surface you can hold on to, like the back of a couch.
• Take hold of the surface and bend your knees and push your hips back to lower, keeping your torso upright and your shoulders stacked over your hips.
• Press through your feet to return to standing upright.

Progression: After the static hold, you can add alternate heel raises in the bottom position, and then, for an even greater challenge, you can alternate toe taps, tapping your toes to the side of you.

3. Supported side-lying leg lift sequence

Reps: 4-8 each step, on each side

How to do it:

• Stand right-side-on to a sturdy surface, an arm’s length away.
• Keeping your feet in place, lean to your right, placing your forearm on the surface.
• Keep your body in a straight line from head to ankles.
• Raise your left leg as high as you can, keeping your hips and toes facing forward.
• Lower your leg.

4. Supported push-up sequence

Reps: 4-8 each step

How to do it:

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, facing a sturdy surface like a wall.
• Place your hands on the surface about shoulder-width apart.
• Walk your feet away from the wall, so your body forms a diagonal line from your head to your toes.
• Keep your heels raised and engage your core.
• Bend your elbows to lower your chest toward the wall.
• Keep your elbows tucked or angled diagonally at 45° away from your body, not flaring out to the sides.
• Press through your hands to extend your arms.