Living by the Barre Code – My Fitness Routine

Instructors Lena, Meredith, Caitlin, and Cami (owner).

Leggings | Socks | Tank | Sports Bra

 Before I started taking barre, I was stuck doing hamster cardio at the gym a few times a week. I would go hide in the dark cardio movie room, away from the beefy guys doing squats downstairs, and do some running and elliptical work and call it a day. Every person has their own routine, so if that’s yours I’m definitely not knocking it, but it just wasn’t for me. Half the people at my gym seemed to be constantly looking over their shoulders to check each other out, and the other half were wayyy too intense for me (you know, the grunters). I was never excited to go work out, it felt more like a chore than anything, and I wasn’t really seeing results. It mostly just felt like something I was doing to keep my heart healthy.

So this past spring, as a recommendation from my friend, I started doing Class Pass where I discovered The Barre Code. I’d visited other great barre studios in Austin, but something about The Barre Code really stood out to me! For one thing, all the instructors were so friendly and welcoming (check them out in my pics above!). A lot of them got to know me by name after a few weeks, and they never made me feel intimidated or anything when I was a beginner and had a difficult time keeping up. I also loved the clean and new studio and the fun classes that changed every week. After getting my butt kicked every time I went to a class (in the best way possible) it was clear how effective these workouts were. I was noticing little muscles here and there that I had never hit before in any class, and bigger changes as well, and it was so exciting. I might have been burning calories during my treadmill workouts but here I was seeing real changes in my muscles like never before.

These classes at The Barre Code hit every inch of your body. Each 50 minute class is split up into upper body, core, thighs, and glutes, but in a different way every time. Also, they have a few different kinds of classes. There’s the classic Barre Code class, a TBC (total body conditioning) class, a HIIT (high intensity interval training) class, and Restore classes which have 30 minutes of work and 20 minutes of stretching afterward. So, unlike some studios, if you’re really into the cardio you can still get that by going to the HIIT and TBC classes! They are super tough, but everyone in there is sucking wind with you and no one is there to judge. Also, the accomplished feeling you have when you’re done is like no other.

The Barre Code also does amazing campaigns throughout their community that really focus on loving yourself and being positive about wherever you are in your fitness journey. I recently did a post on Instagram for their #barrecodelove campaign which was all about loving your body, whether it was a flaw you were embracing or a new awesome muscle you never had before. That kind of positive message is so essential in my opinion because fitness can be such a personal and difficult thing, so having women around you who are rooting for you makes it so much easier to get up at 6am for class.

I chose to partner with The Barre Code studio in Austin because of all these reasons! I get excited about going to workout and actually feel bummed when I can’t make it to a class every day, and I love that! It’s something I’ve never experienced before. If you’re in Austin, definitely give them a try to see if you’ll love it as much as I do. Gimme a shout, maybe we can go together 😉

Photos by: Carlos Barrón Photography