What is Barre?

You might have seen Barre classes on our schedule as a recent addition at our Glenville location.  We were lucky enough to inherit dance studio bars in Studio B from a previous tenant, and our awesome instructor Gabby Hogan achieved her Barre teaching certification to make this class possible!

If you've never taken a Barre class before, you might be wondering what it's all about.  Luckily, we've asked Gabby to answer some common questions about Barre!

What is Barre class?

Barre is a workout that is inspired from ballet, pilates, and yoga. It focuses on strength, flexibility, and muscular endurance. In a Barre class, we are targeting the slow twitch muscle fibers with high reps and low intensity movements to push the muscle to the point of exhaustion, which means, yes, you are doing it correctly if your legs start to shake!

What are the typical exercises you do in a Barre class?

The typical exercises we do are always changing! We do a lot of pile squats, which look a lot like sumo squats that we do in our Girl Fight classes. For many of the exercises, we use the barre, as well as blocks and balls, to help make the movements that much more fun!

Is a Barre class okay for beginners?

Absolutely! With the Barre class, any level can take the class. We focus on smaller ranges of motion with higher reps. There are many modifications to all the movements.

Do you have to be coordinated or have dance experience to participate? 

No! All you need is yourself and be ready to have some fun!

What is your favorite thing about teaching Barre?

My favorite thing about teaching Barre is hard to choose. There are so many things I love about teaching it! I mean, for starters, I love the energy with each class and with everyone taking the class. I love the fun we can bring to the class with a little sing-a-long dance workout listening to Grease! I love it also because it helps you become more self aware of your body and focuses on the smaller ranges of movement, which is so helpful when taking other workout classes!


We hope you consider coming and checking out a class with us soon!

Building Strength for Women

As women, sometimes it's overlooked to focus on muscle strengthening... until our doctors tell us to do it.

Or maybe you understand the importance of it, but just don't know how to get started.

The great news is it's very easy to get started.  Even just incorporating 1-2 strength workout sessions per week can make a huge difference in your fitness.

Not only does lean, toned muscle help protect your bones and joints (think of it as armor around your body), but performing weight-bearing exercise prevents against weak bones and diseases like osteoporosis and osteopenia -- which is increasingly important as we age and our hormones change.

Here are some quick and simple workouts that you can add to your weekly rotation to make sure you're strengthening your body.

Basic Strength Training Workout

Perform each exercise for 30 seconds each, moving quickly from exercise to exercise. At the end, rest for 60 seconds and repeat 1-2 more times (depending on time and fitness level).

• Squats (with or without dumbbells)
• Pushups (feet or knees)
• Lunges - left leg only (with or without dumbbells)
• Dumbbell overhead shoulder presses
• Lunges - left right only (with or without dumbbells)
• Dumbbell curls
• Lying leg scissors
• Triceps pushups (feet or knees)

Time-Crunch Strength Training Workout

For busy women short on time, this workout combines two movements in one to make sure you get a great workout in less time.  

Perform each exercise for 30 seconds each, moving quickly from exercise to exercise. At the end, rest for 60 seconds and repeat 1-2 more times (depending on time and fitness level).

• Squat with an overhead dumbbell press at the top
• Plank with alternating dumbbell row (feet or knees)
• Woodchops (with dumbbell) - left side
• Woodchops (with dumbbell) - right side
• Dumbbell curl to overhead press

The Most Important Love is Self-Love

It’s that time of year again when all of the roses, chocolates, and candies come out to celebrate love on Valentine’s Day. Whether you live vicariously through America’s notorious rom-coms or enjoy dinner out with a loved one, we want you to remember that it’s not just about showing love and affection to others. Self-love is important to your journey on this crazy ride we call life and not just on the 14^th, but always.

I know, I know… this doesn’t sound fitness related right? Well… At Girl Fight Fitness, we believe that a woman’s fitness journey includes overall health, mentally and physically. We all experience challenges in life that can result in neglecting ourselves. However, self-love can help us cope better with challenging days and keep healthy habits in place. Melanie Greenberg PhD, Psychology Today

Self-Love is about simply being kind to yourself, reminding yourself what you excel at, and making time for you. As a way to help through the hard and good times alike, we put together a list of activity-based self-love that may help you cultivate your relationship with YOU:

• Exercise
• Read
• Sing
• Dance
• Meditate
• Creating Art
• Journaling/Drawing
• Cook/Bake Healthy Recipes

While we certainly wish that “Netflix & Chill” could be on this list, make sure to do something active for your mind AND body often. You are your own powerhouse…so make sure to take care of yourself to sustain all aspects of life, both required and desired.