Two weeks ago I received an email inviting me to a media preview of the new barre3 studio coming to Lakewood Ranch. Part of me was excited and part of me was scared. I don’t workout in public. I am obese and I haven’t worked out in public in several years. I’ve really wanted to try a barre workout though so I emailed back and asked some questions. The kind words of the PR person put me at ease and I accepted the invitation.

What is barre3?

barre3 is where ballet barre meets yoga and pilates:

Our signature 3-step sequence delivers a balanced, total-body workout that you can do anytime, anywhere. All movements are low-impact and designed to burn fat, build muscle and break through plateaus.

Isometric holds work your muscles to their deepest point and increase strength and endurance. Holding still strengthens your muscles continuously; it also gives you time to make sure your alignment and posture are perfect before you move.
Next, we add controlled 1-inch movements. These create just enough relief in the muscles to maintain the integrity of the hold for maximum benefit. By layering on one inch, you heat the body, increase your core strength, and rev your metabolism.
After completely taxing the muscles, we flush out the body with functional, large, dynamic moves. This cardio blast lifts the heart rate, improves circulation, and energizes the body.

Mom Maven’s Thoughts

I was the fattest person in the class, but only I seemed to notice. The staff and other classmates were all welcoming and accepting. During the class our instructor, Beth, kept telling us that this was our workout and to do the moves at our pace. She also shared several modifications for those of us with knee, neck or shoulder injuries. Throughout the hour long workout Beth also offer more difficult options for those wh wanted to go “turbo”. The class was a mix of men and women of all ages and there were times we groaned in unison during the floor work!

I’ll be honest, 15 minutes in my feet and thighs were on fire and I thought I was going to die. I was sure I would never last the hour. By the time the hour was up I felt a lot of pride and satisfaction of surviving the class. It is a great workout in a warm and inviting positive atmosphere. I hope to go again soon.

barre3 Info

barre3 Lakewood Ranch opens March 2, 2015 and they are celebrating their grand opening with FREE opening week classes. Visit the barre3 Lakewood Ranch website to register for your class today. Currently there are 70 studios nationwide if you would like to see if there is one in your area visit the barre3 website. They also offer 200+ streaming workouts online, bestselling DVD’s, a Rodale-published book (Love Your Lower Body), branded fitness gear and a Mobile App. If you are looking for a new way to workout check out barre3.

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This tool is Break Pal. Break Pal is a new application that delivers micro workouts to your desktop via a yahoo widget. You set how often you want to do your 3 minute micro workouts, you can chose 15, 30, 45 or 60 minute intervals. When it is time to work out the alert pops up and tells you it is time to work out. Click on the pop up and it takes you to your exercise choices, click on your choice and workout with Liz.

Break Pal is also a social network where you can meet other peple who workout at their desks just like you. It adds a fun way to be accountable to others, another aspect that keeps us motivated to work out.

I know, now you are thinking, this sounds great Cindy but how much does all this cost? Break Pal costs $9.95 a month (I’ve paid a lot more than that on gym memberships that I never really used!) But… Break Pal has given me 1, 2, 3, 4, 5! A total of 5 full,  no expiration memberships! That is worth $119.40 a year!!

How to enter:

Main entry visit Break Pal then come back here and leave me a comment telling me what about having a Break Pal membership excites you the most.

Bonus Entries in addition to your main entry-leave a separate comment for each one you complete

• Tweet about this giveaway using this message “Exercise at your desk with @MomMaven and Break Pal. Enter to win here 1 of 5 memberships here http://tinyurl.com/cgcjby Pls RT”put the tweet URL in your comment
• Sign up to use Gravatar. I like to see who I am connecting with http://en.gravatar.com/
• Blog about this giveaway and post the link in your comment

This giveaway will end Tuesday 5/5/09 at 10:00pm Good Luck!

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