A sporty friend, with fire in her eyes, talked about Pure Barre as a place she had heard worked every muscle to the point of fatigue. This thrilled her to no end and peaked my interest the way tornadoes do: with fear. Every muscle? To the point of fatigue? My partner on this site, Elizabeth, has also been going. She lovingly refers to it as Pure Hell.
Well, I can write about great jeans, shoes and dresses all day, but the way to make you feel the best in them is to be confident with your body.  A large calling that almost no woman succeeds with. I’m one of the masses and my issues are my thighs, my weaker arms and my three c-sections belly. I’m not above surgery mind you, but I’m not willing to “go there” without exhausting all possibilities. Actually, my fear of anesthesia will probably keep me at bay from the OR.
So, I’ve tried yoga.  I want to like it. I still go every now and then but I profess today out loud a secret with which I have been burdened: I hate yoga. It feels so good to let that go. I want to be a yogi and I still hope to become one. But, my weak, tendinitis-prone wrists hurt so much with all those dang down-dogs that I grit my teeth to just get through a class….but I do like how I feel when it is all done….so I’ll keep trying.
I go to Pilates classes at Willow. I love my classes, and have no plans to stop, but I wanted to try something different to kick start my need to love my body a bit more come Memorial Day and the pool.
The different is Pure Barre, a combination of Pilates and ballet. I want to share my Pure Barre experience today with you:
Pure Barre
The location is tricky.  Turning onto Crestmoor from Hillsboro Avenue, Pure Barre is located through the Rear entrance to the 2207 Building, this is the second building past Krystal on your right. You will open the door and walk into a stairwell. Yes, a stairwell that looks like a storage room. Five folding tables and a couch greeted my confused self today. I walked up the stairs wondering what hell hole I was walking into. Well, I found the studio on the second floor and it is very nice, new, clean and just wreaks fitness and health. I started to get really excited I was here.
I took advantage of the $100 new membership special which allows 30 calendar days of classes as many as you can take. As each class a la carte is $23, this was the way to go (well, I have another thought on this that I’ll get back to). A long lost acquaintance of mine walked in. She is a workout queen. She said she had been taking Pure Barre classes for three years as she takes them in LA. She said she loves them but that they are really hard. Gulp.  If she’s thinks they are hard, do I have a chance? Then, I noticed the slogan: Lift, tone, burn. Hmmmm…b-u-r-n.  Double gulp.
The people there today ranged from a Vandy College student to a much older lady covered in tattoos from head to toe (literally).  Size double 0 to 20 lined up on that Barre. A mom from every school in town was represented. What I mean by this is no matter who you are, no matter what age you are, no matter what the scale says to you, you will not feel out of place.
Class began and literally 60 seconds in I thought I would vomit.  My muscles, 60 seconds in, were already fatigued and shaky. Honestly, and I’m no wuss. I felt like screaming: I take Pilates! I work out on the elliptical! I have a trainer. This class will chew all that up and spit it right back at ya. 60 seconds into a 55 minute class I questioned my $100 month pass. Crap.  Have I just paid $100 for one class? Because I don’t think I will ever come back! But I powered through and I made it.  (But, consider that $100 payment if you think you really might only be in for one class).
Your muscles will shake.  I don’t care how many boot camps you’ve done. You will actually shake and grunt and cuss out sweet butterflies in your head. What you won’t do is give the hassles of your life a second thought for the full 55 minutes you are in that studio. You will not think about work, home, your family…nothing but cussing out those sweet butterflies and prayers for your set of exercises to end. And they do end and then you stretch and then you are back into another position as a new set of muscles start to shake and give in on you.
Kady, the owner, was my instructor today.  She pointed out people who were doing a perfect job. She is like your sweet Drill Sergeant in that I quickly came to the conclusion that all I wanted in life was for Kady to tell me my position and execution was perfect. I found myself wondering how many classes that would take. OMG, this is a drug.
Before my knees became so bad that my physical therapist asked me to never again run, I experienced the “runner’s high” I have never experienced that from anything else or so I had thought. I got that high today and I suddenly remembered dancing three times a week until I was 13 and how much I loved class and my legs shook there too. It releases all those endorphins and it sticks with you all day. I swear I’m writing this 12 ½ hours after the class finished and I’m still on the high….although my body is telling me to take some Advil very soon or I may not be able to get out of bed tomorrow.
Bottom line: a wonderful escape and a hard core workout that I challenge any boot-camp toned lady in town to take. But, I’m kinda scared to post this because I don’t want my class to fill up…..
Lastly, if you are looking for a great gift for a workout lovin’ friend, Pure Barre has a little shop within the studio with Pure Barre apparel and socks that just might be the ticket.
Pure Barre Nashville
2207 Crestmoor Road, Suite 203
Green Hills, TNÂ 37215
phone: 615.904.4585
