I swapped out Pilates for this barre routine—these are my honest thoughts
I love Pilates—could barre win me over?
I've been doing Pilates workouts for almost a year now and I've found them to be a great way to build strength, while improving posture and coordination.
That's why I was intrigued by barre, a similar style of movement with small, controlled moves but inspired by ballet training. Like Pilates, it focuses on building strength but often with the addition of light weights.
Trainer Britany Williams recently shared a barre routine designed to target the entire body.
Most of the Pilates routines I do are equipment-free but this barre workout required two dumbbells. I decided to try it to see how barre compares to Pilates for building strength.
How to do Britany Williams' Barre workout
A post shared by Britany Williams (@britanywilliams)
A photo posted by on
This workout only requires a pair of dumbbells since the movements target smaller muscles so you'll feel your muscles being challenged without the need for heavy dumbbells. I used a pair of 2kg dumbbells.
To complete the workout, do each exercise for 30 seconds (on each side where applicable) with no rest in between. Perform two to three rounds, resting for 30-60 seconds between rounds.
My experience trying Britany Williams' barre workout
The first few exercises in this routine focus on engaging the lower body. Moves like the shiva squat and step-out squat pulse effectively engage the quads and glutes—I felt the burn after only a few reps.
Get the Fit&Well Newsletter
Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox.
This highlighted a benefit of barre for me. While I enjoy Pilates for core and upper-body strength, I find it doesn’t engage my lower body as much as weight training does.
This workout also required good posture and coordination, offering similar benefits to Pilates. By the end, my heart rate was up and my muscles were burning, so I'd definitely consider barre again for building strength and improving fitness.
I might choose barre over Pilates when I want a tougher workout, but I'll still turn to Pilates for days when I want low-impact, effective movement.
Alice Porter is a freelance journalist covering lifestyle topics including health, fitness and wellness. She is particularly interested in women's health, strength training and fitness trends and writes for publications including Stylist Magazine, Refinery29, The Independent and Glamour Magazine. Like many other people, Alice's personal interest in combining HIIT training with strength work quickly turned into a CrossFit obsession and she trains at a box in south London. When she's not throwing weights around or attempting handstand push-ups, you can probably find her on long walks in nature, buried in a book or hopping on a flight to just about anywhere it will take her.
-
Three bodyweight exercises you probably haven't tried that can help you build full-body strength
Turkish getup Bored with your workout routine? Try these moves
By Alice Porter Published
-
Build core strength and stability with this trainer's single dumbbell workout
Workout This ladder workout targets the mid-body muscles with just one weight
By Maddy Biddulph Published