Over the last year I have tried a lot of various barre classes from coast to coast. What can I say, when I love something on the verge of slight obsession I try to get my fix in whenever and wherever I can. Barre is different from other workout classes though. Unlike a spinning class where even if an instructor is just ok or the music is not as motivating as you would like you can still always manage to get a great workout in. The same is not true for barre.

A barre class can range from feeling like a slight warm up where you leave feeling relaxed and stretched or it can be a full on sweat heart pounding session. If barre is going to be my primary workout for the day then I prefer the later. However after a cardio session a more mellow class can be preferred. For myself there are very few barre studios out there where the class feels like a truly hard workout. However it has happened. I can now say I have finally found my match and its name is Pure Barre.

I have wanted to try Pure Barre for a while, but since the only two locations in the city have never been the most convenient to where I live I just never got around to doing it. A couple of month’s ago I decided it might be time to try one out. I had gone to a spinning class in the morning and after a stressful day at work I thought why not do a barre class to help me relax and unwind before heading home. I picked Pure Barre based on the time and figured it would probably be a mild workout at best so my body would not be too exhausted from what I had already done. Wow was I wrong.

Unlike most barre classes where you focus on a set of work and then follow it by stretching the muscles you just used, Pure Barre just keeps you moving through sections one after another, after another, after another. Essentially the class is “Pure Barre.” Just when you think you are going to get a break from a hard sequence and be rewarded with a nice downward dog or leg stretch you are hit with another set. Every part of my body was shaking and quivering throughout the hour session. By the time the cool down hit I was truly worked, but in a way that brings a giant smile to your face.

I have now been to Pure Barre over a handful of times at both locations. Each time I leave happier then when I entered. Their studios are not as posh as some of the other barre studios in the city, aka Pop Physique in Russian Hill with the hard wood floors and floor length windows overlooking the lush trees in the back or The Bar Method in the Marina with the glitzy chandelier and velvet couches in the main lobby. However there is something I appreciate about a place that holds itself up on the content of what it has to offer. A truly hard, fun, and uplifting workout. Just writing this makes me want to sign up for my next fix.