Pure Barre for Runners

Right now I’m in the midst of training for my 7th half marathon. I started running half marathons 3 1/2 years ago as a way to challenge myself. I often get into the same workout rut  and I thought that having something to train for would give me a little boost to my exercise routine. It’s true what they say about running competitively. After you’ve done it once, you want to do it again. While I don’t run many races each year, the few that I do help to keep me to push myself outside of my comfort zone and stick to a training routine.

Since I’ve caught the running bug, I’ve always struggled with incorporating other workouts into my exercise regime. I’m a firm believer that if I’m not breaking a sweat then I didn’t work out hard enough which I know is not entirely true. I run a few times a week and I’ve always struggled with sticking to a stretching/yoga once a week routine. It all goes back to the I need to do cardio and strength training to feel like I got a good workout in.

This is why I’m so glad that I discovered Pure Barre. While it’s a low impact exercise, it’s a full body workout that challenges me and I sweat like crazy during class. Since I’ve been starting to increase my running mileage with my half marathon approaching, I’ve started to notice that running isn’t as hard as it used to be for me. I feel lighter on my feet, I’m not in as much pain after a long run and it almost feels easy to me to run for awhile now. And I’m crediting all of this to Pure Barre. Here’s why ::

• Stretching

While Pure Barre is all about lifting, toning and burning your muscles, one of the biggest things I love about it is the stretch after we work each muscle group. Even though I’m not anywhere near as flexible as I was in my days as a dancer, I’ve noticed improvement in how far I can go in my stretching now. All of the stretching in class has lead to less injury and soreness before, during and after my runs.

• Total Body Workout

You work everything in class from your arms to abs to seat to thighs. It’s a total body workout and a great replacement workout from doing just free weights at the gym.

• Low Impact Exercise

As runners, we don’t want to run consecutive days in a row. Running is such a high impact workout for your whole body that you need some rest in between your runs. Pure Barre is such a great alternative because it’s low impact while still getting in a great full body workout.

• Core Muscle Strength

The ab work in Pure Barre classes are no joke. There’s a solid 10 minutes of abs but since you are also balancing and using the ball in exercises in class your abs are always engaged. My core has never felt or looked stronger and this has really helped me in my long runs.

• Stronger Feet

Is it even possible to get stronger feet? I’m not sure if there’s a scientific answer to this but I believe mine have gotten stronger. Since you do class in socks it forces your feet to work harder than they normally do. I used to suffer from plantar fasciitis which was so painful in the arches of my feet. I haven’t noticed any pain in my foot after my runs and lucky for my husband, he doesn’t need to massage my feet anymore!

• Challenging For Your Body And Mind

Not only will your muscles shake during class because you’re working them in new ways, but class also challenges your mind because it requires you to focus. It’s almost like meditative time for me. Having this dual challenge has helped me in my running because it causes me to only focus on my run and nothing else around me.